11/19/2008 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2008

Downtown Portland Corporation Honors Local Businesses
Richard Berman, Pierce Promotions and Ready Seafood receive top awards

What: This Thursday, the Downtown Portland Corporation (DPC) will present its thirteenth annual business awards to three local businesses that have played a major role in developing Portland’s downtown.

Richard Berman, a real estate developer responsible for a number of local projects including Stroudwater Heights, Gateway Court and Unity Village in Portland’s Bayside area, will receive the 2008 Economic Development Achievement Award for his Portland developments, including most recently the Chestnut Street Lofts. The Chestnut Street Lofts is a mixed use building with thirty-seven units and two ground-floor commercial units. The location was formerly a brownfield site, and Mr. Berman rehabilitated it by working with the DPC’s revolving loan program to fund the clean up of pollution from a long-defunct gas station. This development, together with Unity Village, added to the City’s Bayside Vision – a city initiative to revitalize and spur economic development in the Bayside neighborhood.

Located in the heart of Portland’s Downtown with more than 140 employees, Pierce Promotions, a national marketing firm representing TD Banknorth, Burger King, People Magazine and Discovery, will receive the 2008 Business of Year Award. Ranked among the top 100 marketing firms in the country, Pierce has experienced phenomenal growth with offices in Bentonville, Chicago, New York and Washington DC. The firm was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in downtown Portland at One Monument Square.

Receiving the 2008 Small Business of the Year Award, Ready Seafood located on Hobson’s Wharf has taken lobstering in a new and innovative direction. Its “Catch a Piece of Maine” allows people to purchase a designated trap, keep up with the trap’s catch online and receive the lobsters caught in the trap through the mail. Employing six full time and seven seasonal workers, Ready Seafood not only embodies Maine’s entrepreneurial spirit, but the company supports the city’s efforts to maintain a working waterfront.

All three award recipients will be recognized at the DPC’s annual event. The DPC was created by the Portland City Council in 1990 to create and foster a variety of uses and encourage economic development within the downtown of the city.

When: Thursday, November 20, 2008
4:30 PM – 6:00 PM

Where: Gulf of Maine Research Institute
350 Commercial Street, Portland
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City of Portland
389 Congress Street
Portland, Maine 04101
www.portlandmaine.gov
CONTACT: Nicole Clegg, 207-756-8173, 207-272-4477 (cell) nicoleclegg@portlandmaine.gov