Ferry Lifts Portland Businesses – to Nova Scotians’ Chagrin
Well, it didn’t take too long for all those good vibes from the Nova Star to wear off.
Nova Scotians are upset that Portland, Maine companies have scored much of the business with the new ferry service connecting New England to the Canadian province. The ferry, which travels from Portland to the Nova Scotian port town of Yarmouth, made its maiden voyage north last week.
The Portland Press Herald reports:
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This hasn’t sat too well with Nova Scotians, whose government is paying $21 million a year to subsidize the service, the Press Herald reports. Some took to social media to point out the apparent disparity in the wake of a separate Press Herald story filed earlier this week, detailing how the ferry service was boosting the Portland business scene.
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The ferry service says Nova Scotians got the bulk of the jobs with the new service, that Portland is a bigger city with more services to offer, and that there’s plenty of time for Nova Scotian vendors to get in on the action. Meanwhile, the head of the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce stressed to the Press Herald the likely tourist spending to come.
The company that handles Nova Star’s PR pretty much acknowledged getting caught in a bad spot. It might be noted that the company, called Savvy, is based in Portland.
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