An entrepreneur from Iceland and a local Maine company are establishing a business on the Portland waterfront to help companies develop products related to the ocean.

Thor Sigfusson and Soli DG Inc., which has a state contract to manage the International Marine Terminal in Portland, plan to replicate a successful business incubator in Iceland that is working with 35 companies located in the same building in Reykjavik, the capital. The business, called the Iceland Ocean Cluster, has created five new companies since 2013.

“It’s a spin-off factory,” Sigfusson said. “That’s a big part of the model.”

Sigfusson, owner of the Iceland Ocean Cluster, and Patrick Arnold, the owner of Soli DG, have been working for months with local developers and the city of Portland to identify a site for their business incubator in Portland. The location, an existing building, is expected to be announced at a 9:30 a.m. news conference Thursday at Pierce Atwood’s headquarters on the waterfront. Pierce Atwood has been providing legal services for the deal.

Gov. Paul LePage, who toured the Iceland Ocean Cluster’s building in June while leading a trade mission to Iceland, said in a statement that he is proud of the partnership that has developed between Maine and Iceland during the last 10 months.

LePage said Portland is the “single-best geographical point” for expanding the Iceland Ocean Cluster model in the United States. “It speaks volumes to the entrepreneurial culture of Maine and to our economic development and ocean resources in the state,” he said.

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LePage will be at the news conference, along with Portland Mayor Michael Brennan.

The new company will be called the New England Ocean Cluster.

Arnold, who lives in South Portland, said the company needs about 30,000 square feet of space, as well as room for potential expansion. He said the Iceland Cluster House has doubled in size since it opened in 2012 is and now 60,000 square feet.

Arnold said eight tenants have already signed up for the incubator space without seeing the New England Ocean Cluster location. He hopes to have 20 tenants on board when it opens.

The tenants have diverse interests, such as food processing, boat building, energy production, fishing, aquaculture, biotech, biomedical and pharmaceuticals.

Sigfusson said one of the companies is working to develop high-value product from lobster shells.

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Arnold first met Sigfusson in January while attending an event in Iceland celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Eimskip, the Icelandic steamship line that last year made Portland its only port of call in the United States.

Speaking last March in Brunswick at an event sponsored by the Maine Technology Institute and Maine International Trade Center, Sigfusson described his company as a dating service for Iceland’s fishing industry.

The ocean cluster concept brings together people from very different kinds of companies and industries so they can exchange ideas and collaborate on money-generating projects. The company charges fees for joining the group, and Sigfusson sets businesses up with other businesses to develop projects. He also makes investments in promising projects in exchange for shares in the companies.

Fishing is Iceland’s largest industry. The Iceland Ocean Cluster has developed products that add value to the fish that are caught. Some of the products use enzymes from fish intestines to make cosmetics, fish oil for hand creams, and fish skin for medical bandages. One company has developed new technology for thawing frozen fish.

Sigfusson’s business grew out of his doctoral research at the University of Iceland and was initially affiliated with the school.

Arnold said he became excited by Sigfusson’s vision and wanted to find a way bring it to Maine.

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“We need to collaborate with the world around us and capitalize on the best of Maine, but do it responsibly, do it the Maine way,” he said.

He said Maine businesses will be able to network with Ocean Cluster businesses located in other countries in the North Atlantic, including Norway, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Denmark and Newfoundland.

Sigfusson said Portland is a good location for the new businesses because the Eimskip shipping line provides a direct trade link to countries in the North Atlantic.

“We are seeing the opportunity to do imports and exports of seafood and others products that might be developed on both sides,” he said.


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