Connect North America closes its doors in Presque Isle

Connect North America

closes its doors in Presque Isle

By Scott Mitchell Johnson

    PRESQUE ISLE – Connect North America, a New Brunswick-based telemarketing business that acquired the former MBNA site in Presque Isle nearly four years ago, has closed the local call center.

 

    CONNECT NORTH AMERICA, a telemarketing business based in New Brunswick, has closed its Presque Isle center. Officials with Northern Maine Finance Corp., which owns the 18 Greenhill Drive building, said Connect North America’s decision to leave the Star City was based on a decrease in business directed their way from the broker that they dealt with. A termination on the lease agreement with the company was signed last Wednesday, and the building was officially vacated at that time.

    According to Duane P. Walton, vice president of Northern Maine Finance Corp., which owns the 18 Greenhill Drive building, the premises were vacated last week.
    “We were notified in June that they were leaving,” said Walton. “What we understand from them, because of a decrease in business directed their way from the broker that they dealt with, the potential was there that they might have to close. They made that announcement 60 days ago. I went over and met with them and I also met with the employees that were remaining right after the closure to talk to them about how important it would be to maintain their work ethic and dedication to this type of work so that we could try to get another tenant into the facility.
    “Northern Maine Finance Corp. bought the building through negotiations with Bank of America when they closed it with the assistance of the state of Maine so we could save that facility and attract a call center in here which we did with Connect North America,” he said. “They signed a 10-year lease with us which was a longer period than most companies do. They had three locations in Canada and were doing well, but unfortunately with the downturn in the economy and the fact that call center trends today seem to be going to larger sites – those that employ 400-500 or even into the thousands at one location – it makes it hard for us to compete here in Aroostook County.”
    Walton said the Presque Isle building is 15,000 square feet and could handle an onsite staff of roughly 200 people.
    “With shift differentials and part-time work,” he said, “you could go up as high as 350-400 people. At one time, they were as high as 225 people. At the time they gave the notice, they were down to about 100 people, which is significant for our area. We want to get those 100 people back to work and maintain the site as a call center of some sort rather than it being converted to some other type of commercial business.
    “We worked diligently with Connect North America trying to help them locate additional contract work, but were unsuccessful in doing that,” said Walton. “At some point you have to stop the bleeding and the company decided that it wasn’t working and that they’d have to close.”
    Despite Connect North America leaving Presque Isle, Walton views the company as a “success story.”
    “We were able to acquire that building and put – at one time – 200 people back to work through soliciting and getting Connect North America to come here,” he said. “Normally we do not hold property that long; we acquire or assist in acquiring property to put it back into commercial use and then sell it or liquidate it and move onto something else.
    “Where this was a long-term lease rather than a purchase, we had to give some concessions on the amount of lease payments that we charged in order to make this happen which made it a little more difficult to sell it at that time,” said Walton.
    Other properties acquired by Northern Maine Finance Corp. include the former Kmart site in Madawaska, which has since been sold to Marden’s, and the former Department of Motor Vehicles building in Caribou, which is presently home to Visiting Nurses of Aroostook and some additional tenants.
    Walton said a termination on the lease agreement with Connect North America was signed last Wednesday.
    “At that time we also negotiated a settlement with the owner concerning our financial involvement,” he said. “They officially vacated the building Aug. 4.”
    Efforts to contact Barry O’Donnell, president of Connect North America, were unsuccessful.