Jody Lewis has started a new business.

Lewis is the owner of Jody Lewis Caretaker & Property Maintenance in Boothbay Harbor.

Formerly the Boothbay Harbor Public Works Director, Lewis said he is happy to be embarking on a new career.

“I just started around a month ago and I have ... a one-ton dump truck, a one-ton pickup, a new excavator, and two new zero-turn mowers.”

The business will be year-round, offering spring home openings and clean-up, mowing and mulching, small excavation projects, tree and brush removal, caretaking, trucking and dump runs, pressure washing, asphalt repairs, winterization, snow plowing and roof raking.

“I am putting my conscientious approach toward property management and caretaking,” Lewis said in a letter sent to prospective clients. “Pretty much anything anybody needs for work around the house.”

Working alone now, Lewis said he has an employee lined up who will be joining him in a couple weeks.

He also has a faithful companion and co-pilot, a black lab named Seymour, tagging along.

“He goes everywhere with me,” Lewis said. “He's out there in the truck waiting for me right now.”

Lewis said he has met a lot of people during 20 years of serving locally, and has picked up management skills along the way.

“I have made hundreds of contacts over the years,” he said. “I'm hoping for commercial and residential clients doing whatever anybody needs. I like doing different things, so it's not the same mundane thing all the time.”

Last week Lewis moved appliances for St. Andrews Village from the emergency care center to Damariscotta and Wiscasset.

He has several clients already lined up and several who he will be meeting with after the snow is gone.

Lewis said he went to school to sell insurance in 1989, but didn’t want to be cooped up indoors, so he started working for the town when he was in high school, then for the water system, then back with the town.

“I've always liked working outdoors, being hands-on and meeting different people.

“I've met a lot of really nice people over the years, and I've dealt with so many different contractors — plumbers, electricians, carpenters and paving guys — that if there's something I can't do, then I know somebody who can, who's reliable. People can hopefully make one phone call and get the job done.”

When Lewis first got out of high school he did some excavation work part-time, but this is his first full-time business. He maintains his family-owned Boothbay Region Trailer Park.

Born and raised in Boothbay Harbor, Lewis said he's never lived anywhere but on the peninsula.

“I've never had any desire to go anywhere else. There are so many great people, and I've had the pleasure of meeting many different people over the years.

“It's a different life-style change, but I'm looking forward to it,” he said. “I've always worked seven days a week, so to me there's no difference between a Wednesday and a Sunday. When something needs to be done, I'll do it.”

Jody Lewis Caretaker & Property Maintenance can be reached at 207-633-5248 or 207-350-7617, or email jodylewis531@outlook.com.