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November 21, 2019

Visit from South Korea official part of FirstPark's 'wider net'

A woman and two men in discussion on the floor of a large manufacturing plant. Courtesy / Emma Dimock, Marshall Communications Joyce Galea co-owner of F3 Manufacturing in Waterville, talks to Jim Dinkle, left, executive director of FirstPark, and Kim Yonghyon, consul general of the Republic of Korea, during a tour of the plant this week. Yonghyon visited the Waterville area for two days at the invitation of Dinkle.
By Maureen Milliken

Kim Yonghyon, the Boston consul general from the Republic of Korea, made a whirlwind tour of Waterville-area businesses earlier this week, but the ultimate focus of the visit was FirstPark.

The commerce and technology park in Oakland is casting a wider net for potential tenants, and reaching out to international contacts is part of that, said Jim Dinkle, FirstPark executive director, after Yonghyon left Tuesday.

"On behalf of FirstPark, I'm working to building awareness of what we have to offer," Dinkle said. FirstPark is run by the Kennebec Regional Development Authority, which represents a collection of area towns and cities.

The 285-acre, 22-lot campus, is ideal for global companies, Dinkle said. It's a foreign trade zone, it has high-speed fiber optic broadband, its entrance is yards from Exit 127 on Intersate 95, and nearby Waterville has an intermodal rail center.

Dinkle said building a relationship with the Korea consulate — the country has topped the Bloomberg Index for most innovative country for years — is just a start of what he hopes will be more relationships that will bring international businesses to FirstPark.

Dinkle has been working to revive FirstPark since he took the executive director role in November 2017. Part of that was a more robust marketing effort, including hiring Augusta-based Marshall Communications last year, and a new website.

"We're casting a wide marketing net," he said.

Dinkle said that's paid off, with an uptick recently of traffic on the website, which can be translated into Korean, German, Japanese, French and Chinese. Three weeks ago, he was contacted by representatives from a southern European country that plan to visit FirstPark, and he'll also be hosting a group from a European Union country next month.

It's also about personal relationships. Dinkle met Yonghyon at Maine Trade Day in 2018, and connected him again at the event this year, in May. Dinkle said the visit will be reciprocal.

"It's a small step forward towards us leading a delegation to go to South Korea," Dinkle said.

A man sits at a table, gesturing as he talks
Courtesy / Emma Dimock, Marshall Communications
Kim Yonghyon, consul general of the Republic of Korea, at FirstPark in Oakland. Yonghyon spent two days touring businesses in the Waterville area at the invitation of Jim Dinkle, FirstPark executive director.

Waterville area business visits

Besides touring FirstPark, Yonghyon's visit to the Waterville area hit a number of business high spots. Among his stops, he:

  • Addressed the area Rotary Club at a Monday lunch, attended by about 60 business leaders;
  • Visited Bricks Coworking and Innovation Center to meet innovators and entrepreneurs in a tour and discussion led by Garvan Donegan, senior economic development specialist at Central Maine Growth Council;
  • Attended a Colby College roundtable with approximately 30 students, faculty and administrators to discuss economic issues, relations on the Korean peninsula, Korea’s emergence as a business leader in the world and the U.S. can build better cultural and trade relations with the Boston consulate and throughout South Korea;
  • Had dinner at Snow Pond Center for the Arts, in Sidney, with 20 members of the Kennebec Regional Development Authority board and guests, with Maine-sourced food;
  • Toured T-Mobile Technical Center at FirstPark, the business park's anchor tenant and, with 850 employees, the area's largest employer;
  • Toured F3 Manufacturing, at 977 West River Road in Waterville, one of Maine's fastest-growing businesses, and discussed exporting with co-owner Joyce Galea.

Donegan said that Maine’s trade with the Republic of Korea "continues its steady uptick."

The state's international trade "includes Maine exporting premium products and seafood, such as lobster, to growing trade opportunities within the bio economy," he said. "Similarly, Maine and the Republic of Korea’s economy share historically important industry similarities — from ship building to semiconductor fabrication. Growing this trade relationship and friendship through economic and education exchanges better positions the state of Maine in the 21st global economy."

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