In 1898, in addition to setting up the business to develop rice fields in Miyazaki Prefecture, he established Maeda Paper Industries Joint-stock Company (the predecessor of present-day Kushiro Factory of Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd.) in Kushiro, in 1907, he took up his residence beside Lake Akan, and in the same year, he established Kushiro Bank together with Zenkichi TAKETOMI to contribute to the development of the eastern part of Hokkaido.
1898年（明治31年）宮崎県の開田事業とともに、釧路で前田製紙合資会社（現在の日本製紙釧路工場の前身）を設立、1907年（明治40年）阿寒湖畔に居を構え、同年、武富善吉とともに釧路銀行を設立、北海道東部の開発に貢献した。