OXFORD HILLS — The summer business was good — at least that’s the general consensus coming from a random sampling of Oxford Hills businesses this week.

“Busy, busy, busy. It’s one of the busiest summers we’ve had for a long time,” said Fran Buck, who owns the Mollyockett Motel and Swim Spa in Woodstock with her husband, Tim. “Not only is our motel busier, but our restaurant has been busier.”

Buck is unsure why business has picked up this summer, but she thinks low gas prices, which are running close to $1 less than this time last year, might have something to do with an increase in people visiting the region.

Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce Executive Director John Williams said he’s heard similar stories from his members all summer, and even the Chamber of Commerce is experiencing a good season with its highest number of members, about 400, in years.

“I try to get out and speak with people in the area,” he said. “The summer started off a little slow and the weather had a little bit of an effect on people traveling to the area, but business has been brisk; it’s been good and consistent.”

Williams said businesses such as the Granite Ridge Estate and Barn, a popular destination venue for rustic-style weddings, have been booked all summer. He said owners of that business provided him with a conservative estimate of having brought about 2,000 visitors to the region over this past summer who were in the area for events they hosted. Other lodging establishments have also reported increases in business, Williams said.

“It’s also been a very strong summer for the casino with increasing visitors,” he said.

More than just tourism-related businesses have fared well, though. Gina Nash, who is the assistant manager at the Paris Farmers Union in Paris, said this season has been better than last year at this time, and that it started sooner, too.

“This spring was better than last year as far as plant sales, and gardening supplies. It seems as though there are more people trying to do more stuff at home themselves — more gardening, raising poultry, that sort of thing,” Nash said. “We started selling pellets much earlier this summer, too, which has helped.”

Lisa Annance, owner of Polly’s Variety in Oxford, said they’ve been busy as well, and not just because they cater the concession stands at Oxford Plains Speedway, though that certainly contributes to their hectic schedule.

“This year has been the busiest in the last five years,” said Annance, who thinks the weather and some investments she has made into her business have both contributed to the increase. “We’ve updated our menu and added more seating, and we extended our cooler and added five more cooler doors, so it gives us a wider variety of beverages. Our summer has been extremely busy.”

Jody Dow of Twin Town Homes said this summer has been their best since the recession years of 2008-12.

In fact, business has been so good this summer, that they’ve recently added another sales person to their staff, bringing their total number of employees to nine.

“We’re so busy this year, we needed her,” Dow said.

Williams said the manufactured home industry, for which the region is known to be a hub, has reported banner sales.

“One of the best years they’ve had in many, many years,” Williams said.

Several organizations make concerted efforts to work with local communities to promote healthy, vibrant economies. One such organization is Norway Downtown. Andrea Burns, president of the Norway Downtown organization, said efforts to find new uses for historic buildings and to bring new life to Main Street have brought much attention to the town, which undoubtedly has helped businesses in the area.

“Norway has seen a resurgence of activity and business and a vitality that we’re all really excited about,” Burns said. “I think people are very pleased. Our pedestrian traffic has increased significantly, and of course we are looking for that kind of consumer who comes to a destination and has lunch and shops. I did meet some people from Lewiston the other day who exclaimed they never thought they would be coming to Norway to shop, and there they were.”

The surge of creative and cultural businesses on Main Street in Norway has brought attention to the town in publications including Down East magazine and Mainebiz.

Burns said people are coming to Norway specifically to shop in one of its unique stores or to eat in one of the variety of small eating establishments near the downtown. People can buy yarn or wine at Fiber and Vine in the old Opera House, or a piece of hand-painted furniture at Great Kingdom Emporium. As shoppers make their way down Main Street, they might also decide to check out one of several galleries.

Lisa Veygra, who co-owns Great Kingdom Emporium with her mother, Gloria Mulcahy, said even though the summer was off to a late start because of the weather, they’ve done really well. This is just their second summer in business, but already they’ve noticed an increase in their sales.

“I think people are finding a way to balance their seasons and learning the marketing rhythm of the year,” Burns said. “Often, first-time businesses don’t know how to gauge that until they’ve been in business for a couple of years.”

Other businesses relatively new to the region also reported good second or third summer seasons. Wayne Robichaud owns The Hot Dog Shack with his wife, Nicole. This year was the second for the seasonal business, and it’s definitely been a better year for the couple.

“We’ve been doing good up here this year,” Robichaud said. “We have a better menu. It took us a year to get the menu the neighborhood wanted.”

Andre Vandenbulcke has owned his fireworks business for three years, but was based solely out of a location in West Paris until just this past May when he opened a second location across from the speedway in Oxford. He said business has been great at the new location, and he’s hoping for a strong finish to an already good summer.

“This is the last big weekend of the summer and we do our Madness Sale. It’s going to be good weather, so it should be good,” Vandenbulcke said.

Coming on the heels of the good summer, the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce will host an inaugural semi-annual informational business meeting from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris. Williams said events like this aim to look for ways to improve the overall business environment in the community.

“We want people to give us feedback and we want both members and nonmembers in the community to have a chance to talk about what needs to happen in the community to make this a better place to live and a better place to do business,” Williams said.

Williams said the event will be open to the public, and he encourages both member and nonmember businesses to come, as well as individuals who want to learn about the chamber and how it supports the community. All 15 chamber directors will be there to answer questions from the community at what Williams hopes will become an annual event.