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V O L . X X V N O. I V F E B R UA R Y 1 8 , 2 0 1 9 6 Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative director resigns Matt Jacobson, who has led the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative since its inception in 2013, will step down as executive director on Feb. 25. e Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative is funded by Maine lobster harvesters, dealers and processors. Its mission is to grow demand for whole live lobster and a variety of value-added products. Maine lobster achieved the Marine Stewardship Council certification in 2013, allowing the state's lobster industry to certify its long-standing sustainable practices. A search process will be led by the group's board of directors. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E U.S. Cellular said it invested $35.3 million in Maine to improve its net- work and store locations in 2018. Enhancements to its high-speed voice and data network accounted for $34.6 million of its total investment. U.S. Cellular also said it remodeled its re- tail store at 725 Main St. in Rockland. Healthy Living for ME, a partnership between three area agencies on ag- ing including Spectrum Generations, SeniorsPlus and Aroostook Agency on Aging, finalized its union as a Joint Venture. The partnership provides a single-point of entry to a statewide network of workshops that empower adults to address and better manage their health issues. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation announced that it awarded $625,000 in Healthy Food Fund grants to 25 nonprofits that grow, glean or distribute fresh produce to low-income families and older adults in New England. Maine recipients, who each were awarded $25,000, included Cumberland County Food Security, Portland; Healthy Acadia, Ellsworth; Maine Farmland Trust, Biddeford, Portland, Saco, South B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E S O U T H E R N Standish was Maine's 2018 'Hottest Town' for home sales B y M a i n e b i z S t a f f Standish, 20 miles from Portland and on Sebago Lake, was the hottest town in Maine real estate in 2018, according to Maine Life Real Estate Co.'s annual "Hottest Towns in Maine" list. Two communities — Biddeford, debuting in third place, and Yarmouth — are new to the list. Last year's hottest town, Waterville, dropped to fifth place. The Scarborough-based real estate firm gathered data from the Multiple Listing Service, operated by Maine Real Estate Information Services Inc., to calculate which Maine municipalities had the largest increases in the number of home and condo sales in 2018 and compared it to 2017 numbers. Overall, the 2018 list has 33 cities and towns. "Ten years after the housing crisis, many experts are predicting that the market has peaked and beginning to lose steam," said the news release. "Against that backdrop, we once again examine the past year in Maine real estate activity, looking for which towns saw increased sales, which saw decreased sales, and what sales prices looked like across the board." For context, Maine had record volume and price growth in the residential market in 2018, but inventory was tight, the Maine Association of Realtors reported in January. A total of 17,864 homes changed hands in 2018, a 1.31% increase, and prices jumped 7.55% to a statewide median sales price of $215,000. "The sales year 2018 ended with the highest number of reported residential real estate transactions and highest median sales price since we began compiling data 20 years ago," said Peter Harrington, Maine Association of Realtors president and Malone Commercial Brokers broker/partner. B R I E F Portland and Westbrook; Penquis CAP, Bangor; and Twin Villages Foodbank Farm, Damariscotta. Springvale yarn-manufacturing factory to close Springvale-based Jagger Bros. Inc. told its 40 employees that it plans to close its yarn-manufacturing divi- sion after losing a key customer. e Biddeford Journal Tribune reported that company owner David Jagger plans to close manufacturing operations by late March, but keep open a separate division, Jagger Spun, which provides yarn for small production facilities and yarn shops. Jagger Spun will continue at the Water Street location with a small workforce. e company, which dates to 1898, did not state how many of its 40 employees would lose their jobs. Jagger told the Journal Tribune that the company recently was notified by its largest customer that it plans to switch to imported yarn "We were faced with an untenable situation," Jagger told the newspaper. "I chose to end operations." N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N Smith & Wilkinson, an executive search and leadership consulting organization in Scarborough, donated $12,500 to The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland. Coastal Enterprises Inc., a Brunswick- based group of organizations focused on rural redevelopment, announced that its entire housing counseling staff is now individually certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Rufus Porter Museum in Bridgton received a $40,000 gift from the for- mer National Museum of Decorative Painting in Atlanta. The Foundation for Portland Public Schools announced that the Verizon Foundation awarded it a $10,000 grant to support science curricu- lum development for grades K-5 in Portland's public schools. Maine Career Connect, a program of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, said it has expanded to the Portland S O U R C E : Maine Life Real Estate Co. Town 2018 Sales 2017 Sales Percent increase 2018 Median Sale Price 2017 Median Sale Price Percent change 1 Standish 195 166 17.47 $233,633 $230,250 1.47 2 Auburn 315 274 14.96 $158,666 $140,450 12.97 3 Biddeford 257 225 14.22 $253,733 $232,369 9.19 4 Brunswick 289 257 12.45 $265,000 $257,000 3.11 5 Waterville 176 159 10.69 $119,900 $111,500 7.53 6 Gorham 299 280 6.79 $299,633 $296,250 1.14 7 Yarmouth 146 140 4.29 $450,000 $444,000 1.35 8 Sanford 336 324 3.70 $176,805 $165,000 7.15 9 Saco 341 329 3.65 $278,500 $256,500 8.58 10 Falmouth 238 232 2.59 $522,500 $482,450 8.30 MAINE'S HOTTEST TOWNS OF 2018 P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F C O L DW E L L B A N K E R , M U LT I P L E L I S T I N G S E R V I C E A three-bedroom house under construction at 38 Quail Ridge Road in Standish is on the market for $379,000. Standish tops the list of "Hottest Towns in Maine," according to Maine Life Real Estate Co., which measured the largest gains in home and condo sales last year.

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