June 2, 2025
From the Editor
Real estate is a common thread for nearly every business
Real estate coverage is a staple for many business publications, including this one.
The “street view,” whether it’s from Google Maps or one’s own shoe-leather perspective, is often a critical part of our understanding of the context in which a business is situated in a community. Real estate helps project a retailer’s image or a financial service firm’s status or an ad agency’s “brand.” Real estate helps convince recruits to join a firm and helps retain an employee once on board.
Real estate is very much at the center of Mainebiz coverage, with our weekly Real Estate Insiders and extensive coverage of sales, leases and the search for space. The cooperation of brokerages makes much of that possible, for instance by providing specific sale or lease information.
And the uniting factor that brings us all together is the Maine Real Estate & Development Association, or MEREDA.
For this inaugural Groundbreaking Maine publication, Mainebiz worked extensively with MEREDA, including Executive Director Shelly Clark.
MEREDA’s events are high points of the year and offer a wealth of information and networking opportunities. With this publication, we’re able to combine information on MEREDA awards and the Mainebiz real estate coverage that’s been a mainstay here.
One of the hot topics in the past several years has been Maine’s housing shortage. In this issue, real estate reporter Tina Fischer looks at the state’s big picture goal of building 84,000 housing units by 2030 and where we are today.
These insights sum up the situation:
- “For years we haven’t been building housing fast enough in Maine, and we’re falling farther and farther behind.”
— Nathan Szanton, Szanton Co.
- “When we think about young professionals and empty nesters, those are customers for our small business retailers, restaurants and professional services. They could also be employees or business owners in Gorham.”
— Kevin Jensen, Gorham economic development director
- “We have communities that are trying to hire doctors, who can’t move here because they can’t find housing.”
— State Rep. Traci Gere, D-Kennbunkport
For there to be new houses and commercial buildings, construction firms need qualified workers.
In a second story, Senior Writer Laurie Schreiber, who has been covering real estate for a decade at Mainebiz, looks at what construction firms are doing to build the workforce pipeline.
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