Midcoast cabinetmaker finds growing demand in Maine and beyond

The large white building at 900 Atlantic Highway in Northport has gone through a transformation over the last half decade.

Earlier in its history, it was a boatyard that served the maritime industries of the midcoast, first as Jeff’s Marine, and later as Northeast Marine Services.

But since about 2019, it has been home to Block Brothers Custom Cabinets, a rapidly expanding local business that sells handcrafted wood furnishings to homeowners across Maine and, increasingly, the Northeast.

Now, the business hopes to add more space to accommodate the growing demand for its high-end kitchen cabinets, and also to launch an apprenticeship program to help more new workers get started in the trade.

The growth of Block Brothers reflects rising demand both in- and outside Maine for the careful wood craftsmanship that some of the state’s coastal manufacturers have famously put into the construction of boats, but that also has a place in the building and renovation of high-end homes.

Staff of Block Brothers discussed their expansion plans during a meeting this week of the Northport Select Board, as part of their application for a federal Community Development Block Grant to help pay for the advanced machinery they hope to deploy in the bigger space.

But even if the business does obtain some of that new equipment, owner and head operator Ben Block stressed that his company won’t be straying too far from the hands-on nature of its work.

“We’re a little more old-fashioned than a lot of our competitors or equivalent businesses, in that it’s not all computerized machinery out there. Instead, it’s highly skilled people,” Block told the Select Board. “That’s what we invest in.”

Block’s business was small when he started it in 2013, renting a workspace for him and his brother in a friend’s garage. The company now has 19 full-time workers.

It serves customers across Maine, with the majority owning homes in the southern and coastal parts of the state. Current and upcoming projects are happening in Kittery, Kennebunk, Portland, Freeport, Denmark, South Bristol, Great Diamond Island, Camden and Northport, according to Block.

It has also found some business outside the state, selling its custom cabinetry as far south as Washington, D.C. Block and his team are currently in the process of developing a marketing plan for further expansion throughout the country.

“We’re trying to broaden our market, do more of what we do really well, first to the Northeast, and potentially beyond,” Block said.

To receive the Community Development Block Grant, the company must show that it would create new jobs with the resulting funds, adding one full-time position for every $30,000 that’s awarded.

Block noted that all of the business’ growth to date has come organically and that this is the first grant it has sought. If he can go forward with the expansion, his goal is to increase the speed of the company’s production and to start the three-year apprenticeship program.

While the company would fund the expansion of its building, the grant would help purchase new equipment such as a sanding planer, which can more efficiently sand down lumber than when it’s done by hand. That, in turn, would free workers to move onto other tasks

“Taking a bigger time demand out of a certain type of sanding would speed things up and increase production,” another staffer, Chanelle Cyr, said during an interview at the Block Brothers facility. “We would be able to move things along faster, for sure.