NY firm scoops up PolicyOne
Photo/Whit Richardson
Jim Damicis, founder and president of PolicyOne Research, is merging the company with a New York firm
A New York firm is buying PolicyOne Research of Scarborough, author of several high-profile economic development and impact studies in Maine over the past eight years.
Camoin Associates of Saratoga Springs will acquire PolicyOne for an undisclosed amount, according to Jim Damicis, PolicyOne's founder and president. The merged company will be known as Camoin Associates, and Damicis will assume the new title of senior vice president.
Damicis says the merger, to be legally finalized in November, will not affect the business's presence in Maine or its two additional full-time employees. On the contrary, he believes the merger will eventually create more jobs at the Scarborough office. "If anything, we're going to grow employment in Maine," he says. "I'm not just blowing smoke. We are committed to staying and growing in Maine. I truly expect growth."
One of the reasons he expects growth is that the merger will create the largest economic development research firm in the Northeast and allow it to tackle larger projects throughout the country, he says.
Before the merger, PolicyOne averaged more than $300,000 in annual revenue, but the merged company will employ 10 people and bring in more than $1 million in revenue, Damicis estimates. "Together we can become the leading firm in the Northeast, and expand beyond the Northeast, as well," Damicis says.
PolicyOne and Camoin have worked together on several projects over the years. A few months ago, Damicis and Rob Camoin, owner of Camoin Associates and a friend of Damicis, met to discuss further opportunities for collaboration. During that discussion, Camoin floated the idea of a merger. At the time, Damicis wasn't looking to sell the company that he has shepherded through steady growth year over year since its inception in 2002. Damicis had grown PolicyOne from a one-man shop to an operation that at one time had five full-time employees (Damicis laid off two people in 2009, not because of a dropoff in work, but because he prefers to work with subcontractors than manage employees, he says). The company counts the state of Maine and several communities as clients.
But after considering the offer, Damicis decided it made sense. There were a few motives behind his decision, including desires to grow the business and focus his efforts on product development, sales and networking rather than managing employees. He believes the two companies complement each other in their expertise areas -- while PolicyOne maintains niche focuses in technology-based economic development and economic development evaluation, Camoin's core strengths are economic impact analysis and economic development planning.
Some of PolicyOne's notable reports include the annual Maine Innovation Index and an annual evaluation of state R&D investments, both for the Maine Office of Innovation, an economic scorecard for the city of Portland released this summer and an assessment of Maine's technology clusters, which it helped complete for the Maine Technology Institute in 2008.
"I thought it was the right deal," Damicis says. "We both thought it was the right time for two smaller firms each with its own niches to become one of the top firms in the Northeast in terms of economic development."
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments