Hatch Well Drillers is a family-run business that’s been operated out of the same location on Rt. 1 in Nobleboro since 1962. After all that time, they’re moving to a larger, more modern shop.
“There’s some sadness leaving this place behind,” said Marc Stevens, one of the company owners. “This is home.”
Fortunately, the Hatch Well Drillers isn’t moving too far. Their new location is still in Nobleboro and still on Rt. 1. They’ve laid the foundation for a 48×80-foot shop near the cemetery at the intersection of Rt. 1 and East Pond Road.
“We started the business in Nobleboro, we’ve always been in Nobleboro, and we’re all from Nobleboro,” Stevens said.
They knew they didn’t want to leave, and because there’s only so much Rt. 1 frontage in town Hatch spent a few years waiting for the right spot.
Now that they’ve found it, they expect to move into the new shop this fall or next spring. The move is overdue, they said.
They’ve outgrown their current shop and said that the bigger location will allow them to operate more efficiently.
“The boiler here must be 40 years old, and I think it was used when we bought it,” Stevens said.
Stevens owns Hatch Well Drillers with his father-in-law Joe Ball, who founded the business in 1962 with the now retired Adney Peck. The company is staffed by Stevens’s daughter Elisha Hopkins and several other relatives.
The extensive family ties in the business lend to the feeling that the current location is a home, rather than just a shop.
When Hopkins was born, Stevens and the rest of the crew celebrated in the shop.
“I remember after she was born, we were all out there smoking cigars,” Stevens said to Ball.
“Now we don’t allow smoking in the shop,” Ball said.
Times may have changed, and the business may be moving, but Stevens and Ball said that the company likely won’t change too much. They’ll be less cramped, have better access for delivery trucks and will operate more efficiently, but making their customers happy will still drive them, Stevens said.
Both Stevens and Ball smile proudly when they start telling stories about seeing customers’ joy and relief when they get their water running.
“We’re here to make a living and serve the public,” Stevens said. “It’s just time to update.”
