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Tales of an Escaped Defense Contractor By Al Maloney, NEWAIM Farm Nancy and I have spent most of our adult lives working in the military shipbuilding industry. Nancy is an Electrical Designer and teaches Computer Aided Design. I worked in a group called Engineering Technology where we implemented the tools required to manage all of the data that defines a ship. We were both looking for a way out. It was time for a change. The question was, a change to what? We knew we wanted something where we could be our own boss, work outside and feel good about what we were doing. We wanted something as far away from the corporate world as we could get. Oh yeah, we actually had to be able to make a living as well. The last requirement really narrowed down the options! Then one evening I was watching one of my favorite TV shows, Made In Maine. Nancy was out of town with the kids and I was home alone enjoying a little peace and quiet. Then, there it was, the answer we had been searching for. Lou McNally was doing a story about Lucy Harrington of Cunningham Island Alpacas. By the time the segment was complete I was convinced that alpacas definitely had some possibilities. Nancy came home the next day and I couldn't wait to tell her all about the show. We searched the internet and found that Lucy only lived about 20 miles from us. We arranged a farm visit and we were hooked. Within a few months we had purchased our first 3 females and NEWAIM Farm was established. Many people have asked how we came up with our farm name. It is actually just our initials. Nancy is NEW and I am AIM. 
After four years of growing our business, I was able to make my escape from corporate America in the fall
of 2003. Since then I have worked at home splitting my time between managing the farm and running my web
site design business. We are now actively trying to find an escape route for Nancy. This fall we opened
our farm store called The Twisted Alpaca. Hopefully we can grow this business to a point where Nancy can
give up her day job as well. At that point she will probably begin giving classes in spinning and knitting.
One of our goals is to make the farm as self sufficient as possible. We do pretty much everything ourselves. We built the barn, store and other structures ourselves using mostly lumber that we harvested from our own land and cut at our neighbor's saw mill. We have a large garden which supplies most of our vegetables for the year. The alpacas help by providing a large amount of organic material for the garden. We also have a couple of bee hives for pollination and honey to sell in the store. The house is heated primarily with wood that is also harvested from the property. We have a few chickens for eggs and will probably start raising some for meat in the future. We did hire someone to put up our fencing and send out most of our fiber to be spun. Other than that we pretty much do it all ourselves. Another aspect that we focus on is educating the public. We have four open house weekends each year and we take alpacas to five local fairs. This is in addition to countless farm visits from individuals all the way to bus tours. It is always fun introducing new people to alpacas, especially the children. Besides, you never know where that next alpaca customer is going to come from. Looking back over the last six years, I don't think I would change a thing. I have met some wonderful and interesting people. I enjoy being my own boss, it is much easier to get a decision made than it was in my previous job. I enjoy learning as much as I can about the care and breeding of these amazing creatures. Most of all, I love spending time with the alpacas. Like I told the news crew that was her last fall, "Spending time with the alpacas is like having your own personal therapy session. They are just soooo mellow. " Watching all the crias play and grow is pretty cool too, with a little luck we should have seven here next summer. Farm visits by appointment. Come see us the alpacas would love to meet you. WARNING: Alpacas have been known to be highly addictive. |
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