David Bird, owner of Custom Cordage in Waldoboro, said his company has a long way to go before they run out of rope.
Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe recently recognized Bird and his business for helping the lobster industry and the local economy by creating doormats out of old float rope. A regional representative presented the commendation and took a tour of the company on Sept. 23.
“There’s no question that without the mat business I would have to have laid off some people,” Bird said, recalling a time last fall when business all over the state was sliding.
The rope company owner was able to keep employees working when they started making mats out of lobstering float rope in July 2008.
Lobstermen in Maine have been trading in their float rope for sinking ground rope, as required by state law ratified to protect the Northern Right Whale, an endangered species.
The Bottom Line Project is a state funded program, orchestrated by the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation (GOLMF), which helps cut down the cost lobstermen absorb in switching their lines from float to sink rope.
Bird started making the mats after a late night campfire discussion he had with his stepson, who is a lobsterman. The rope company owner had experience making mats before, while he worked at Crowe Rope in Warren during the late 1980s. He said when the Warren rope company stopped making mats out of new rope, Bird then made his own mat jig and started making doormats for family members.
Weaving the problem of all the spare float rope lobstermen had to replace with sink line and his challenge of keeping a full time workforce afloat, Bird said, “hey, I wonder if we could make mats out of this rope?”
The local company owner said they are up to roughly 8000 mats sold so far and he has been able to maintain a full time workforce.
“It has provided a lot of work,” Bird said. “This has been a real shot in the arm. We’re very grateful to those people who purchase the mats.”
Bird, who admitted he is color blind, said he lets his weavers choose the color combinations and design of each individual mat. The colors and widths must, however, be balanced.
The colorful varieties of float rope and the way in which they are braided together means each mat is unique. Measuring approximately 17 by 31 inches, they are also rugged and defy the tumultuous changes in New England weather. They also come in larger sizes.
“It’s really taken off,” Bird said on Wednesday to regional representative Deb McNeil, who works at Sen. Snowe’s office in Augusta.
McNeil commented on the color varieties of the mats stacked up on pallets on the company floor. Noticing one mat colored orange, white and black, she noted it would be good for Halloween.
She said Sen. Snowe, who is a ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, recognizes the importance of small business and innovation such as Bird’s around the state.
“They make great mats,” McNeil said, adding, “They wash off good.”
Reading from the senator’s letter of commendation, which was addressed to President Obama, McNeil said, “Thanks to the forward-looking actions of Mr. Bird, lobstermen can more effectively offset the cost of upgrading to sink-rope, and the old float-rope can be kept of out of local landfills. My sincerest thanks to Mr. Bird and everyone at Custom Cordage for their devotion to building forward-thinking small businesses that help our environment, our lobstermen, and our local economy. I wish them all success with this and future endeavors.”
The letter also mentioned that the doormats were acknowledged as “Best new product” at the New England Products Trade Show in Portland earlier this year. Picking up on Bird’s idea, other local people have started to make the doormats and sell them. Several retail outlets offer the mats made locally. The Custom Cordage mats have a tag called “The Right Mat, Whale Friendly Mats from the Briny Deep”.
Lobstermen get a $1.40 per pound voucher for recycling their float rope, which they can then use to purchase the sinking groundline. According to Bottom Line Project coordinator Laura Ludwig of the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, the non-profit volunteers have collected 1,433,441 pounds of float rope from May 2007 to Sept. 2009. She said a total of 909 lobstermen have participated in the program.
For more information on the program, visit www.gomlf.org. Folks can place an order for mats or find local retailers who sell mats at 832-0580.
