York wavers on federal grant help for Maine Coast after owner's OUI arrest
File photo / Tim Greenway
The town of York may reconsider its involvement in a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant for Maine Coast after its owner, Tom Adams, was arrested on an OUI charge over the weekend.
Following the arrest last weekend of York-based Maine Coast owner Tom Adams on an OUI charge, the town of York may reconsider its involvement in helping the lobster wholesaler secure a federal grant that is a crucial part of a planned $1.2 million expansion of the company that could create more jobs.
Adams’ Ford pickup truck T-boned another Ford pickup at 11:35 p.m. on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, on York Street, near the Lilac Lane intersection, according to Seacoastonline.
York Town Manager Stephen Burns told the newspaper that Adams’ arrest could change the town’s support for the company, which is seeking a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant that Maine Coast would match.
“The question is, does it change the risk of the town?” Burns told the newspaper. “The business is obligated to create 10 jobs. If all of a sudden it’s impacted because of legal action, does that expose the town? Maine Coast had asked the selectmen to put the fundraise before voters in May and start the planned expansion this summer.
Before the accident, Maine Coast marketing director Annie Tselikis told Seacoastonline that the money would be used to buy storage, packing and shipping equipment for the 10,000-square-foot expansion of the company’s Hannaford Drive facility. The purchases would support adding 10 full-time employees, she said, six of whom will meet low- to moderate-income guidelines. Pay with benefits would range from $15 to $19 hourly, the company’s letter of intent said. The letter also noted that Maine Coast employed 12 people and had $7 million in sales revenue in 2011, but grew quickly to 44 employees with $55.2 million in sales in 2016. There now are 50 employees, Tselikis told the paper.
Since founding the company in 2011, Adams achieved double-digit sales growth every year, and was named a 2016 Mainebiz Next winner last October. At the time he told Mainebiz that the company had opened a 5,000-square-foot live lobster facility on the Boston Fish Pier in July 2016 that employed six full-time workers. He also was named a medium-company winner in Mainebiz’s 2016 Fastest Growing Companies in Maine.
Adams, 47, declined to comment to Seacoastonline, citing his lawyer’s advice. Maine Coast, founded by Adams in 2011, had $43 million in sales in 2015, according to the newspaper.
The accident sent York electrician Chris Welch, 43, of Martin Lane in York Beach, to the hospital with broken bones in his legs and back after he was ejected from his truck after it subsequently crashed into a tree. He was listed in good condition at Portsmouth Regional Hospital Monday afternoon, according to Seacoastonline.
York police told WGME TV 13 in Portland that Adams wasn’t injured, but his passenger was taken to the hospital and released.
Adams was released on bail and is scheduled to appear May 16 in York District Court.
If convicted, Adams faces a penalty of up to a $700 fine, not less than seven days in jail and a three-year loss of his driver’s license, Police Sgt. Stephen Spofford told Seacoastonline. He added that depending on the blood alcohol level, which still is being analyzed, the sentence might be greater. Speed also could have been a factor, the police said.
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