When Fulling Mill LLC, a British company, sought to expand its operations into the U.S., it ended up settling in Claremont three years ago, where it now has six employees working from a barn distributing more than one million fishing flies annually for its sole customer-Orvis, the Vermont-based fishing specialty company.
Fulling Mill chose Claremont because of its convenient location across the river from Vermont as well as for NH's tax structure, which it found more favorable than that of the Green Mountain State. Fulling Mill executives were also impressed with the friendly reception they received from state and local officials. For the company, having a location in the United States not only put it close to Orvis, but also increased the efficiency of its supply chain. Fulling Mill has sold fishing supplies for Orvis for 25 years. (The unique business model is not without risks, but General Manager Dana Dodge says it would take longer for Orvis to find a new distributor than for Fulling Mill to find new customers.)
Until opening a U.S. location, Fulling Mill had flies tied by hand in Kenya, shipped to the company's British office, and then shipped to an Orvis warehouse in Virginia. Flies now go from Kenya to Claremont via Boston. As the business got really big, it became really cumbersome, Dodge says of the need to cut Britain out of the chain.
The company originally planned to locate in a new industrial park in Claremont, but at the last minute local officials showed them one more place-a 3,000-square-foot barn in a cornfield with a path down to the river.
Dodge says that extra effort to help Fulling Mill find the right place even extended to his personal situation. Dodge came on board soon after the location was chosen, and Claremont's business development coordinator, Nancy Merrill, went out of her way to be helpful. Whatever you need, if you need to know where do I get my car fixed? Who has got the best steaks? In addition to being helpful on the business end, she was a good friend in helping us settle, Dodge says of his family's move from Maine. That help, he says, contributed to the company's decision to sign another lease this fall.
The United States is the largest market in the world for fishing flies and Fulling Mill has invested more than $1 million, mostly in inventory, since coming to NH. The company's NH location has also helped it achieve efficiencies-it costs 10 times less to lease than its office in England, even though the British office is three times larger. And what about the fishing down by the river? I've been down to have lunch, but it's kind of embarrassing, I've been too busy to fish, Dodge says.
Current Issue - May 2024