Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108We do. Leave ITto us. Whohasthetime todealwithdaily ITissues? 207.772.3199 syseng.com/ITME Local lender and national leader in rural business development We put millions of dollars into Maine’s creative economy, and we don’t stop there. To work with us, call 207-504-5900 or visit o c t o b e r 2 0 1 6 4 7 Arena. If they can’t–with- out the Pirates–make a fortune, they’re nuts. Spectra, who is run- ning it, runs venues all over the country. They’re owned by Comcast. Spectra has the connections to get every act here now. Phish, Kiss, rising musical stars, there’s a huge profit margin on this. You could have a group of morons sitting on the board in of Cross Arena now, and it still wouldn’t matter. If you can’t get the Jehova’s Wit- nesses to come, and every other organiza- tion, well–the convention center should be filled every day with a convention. Not on- ly not, but to draw from a bigger fan base, UMaine should play half their games in Cross Arena to draw from Boston alum- ni and north. I say the ‘Civic Center’ is go- ing to make it and make it big. If it doesn’t make it, I’ll be amazed. Who’sthenextdarkhorse? Saddleback Mountain. Chris Farmer, the GM for the last five years, went to law school and has deftly positioned it for immediate growth. They have 6,300-plus acres. They have 66 trails already, with all kinds of per- mits for growth. They have the infrastruc- ture. Fantastic. But here’s the telling statis- tic: They have 120 condos there but permits for 900 more. The Berry Family, the resort’s previous owners, invested close to $40 mil- lion in Saddleback before it closed. They made what’s about to happen possible. Two years ago, Ski Magazine rated Saddleback as No. 1 customer satisfaction in the East. Jackson Hole was No. 1 in the West. Saddle- back has a new lodge. It’s a gorgeous resort. It’sbeautiful.Butif there’ssomuchupside,whyhasn’tLes Ottenboughtit? Les Otten is too busy doing his project at The Balsams with, I guarantee you, none of his money up front. Some say Saddle- back is an unripe banana. But I hear they are talking to someone with deep pockets.