Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 7 F E B R UA R Y 1 8 , 2 0 1 9 market. The program supports the hir- ing and retention efforts of three major Portland-area employers during this pilot year — IDEXX, MaineHealth and Unum. Readiness Associates, a consulting business in Portland that helps orga- nizations prepare for and recover from natural and man-made disasters, an- nounced that it formed strategic partner- ships with the Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality in McKinney, Texas, and Jaxon Mattison Consulting in North Charleston, S.C., to expand its reach in the growing field of emer- gency planning and response. Millwrights at Sappi's Skowhegan mill ratify contract Millwrights at Sappi North America Inc.'s Somerset Mill in Skowhegan ratified a three-year contract that gives them a 3% raise in the first year. Machinists Local 2740, which has 74 members, said the new contract includes wage increases of 3% in the first year, 2.25% in the second year and 2.5% in the third year; an additional $1 contribution to the pension; and improved dental, accident and safety insurance. N O T E W O R T H Y C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N Northeast Bancorp, a full-service finan- cial services company and parent of Northeast Bank in Lewiston, reported net income of $5.1 million, or 56 cents per diluted common share, for the quar- ter ended Dec. 31, 2018, an increase of $1.8 million, or 55.1%, compared to net income of $3.3 million, or 36 cents per diluted common share, for the com- parable period a year earlier. Central Maine Community College in Auburn said it is accepting applications for admission to two new technical programs that it will launch in the fall in two high pay/high need areas: Plumbing and Heating Technology and HVAC/R (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) Technology. The Maine Chapter of the American Institute of Architects provided a $10,000 gift to establish a special fund for the bachelor of architecture program at the University of Maine at C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N While it seems hard to believe in this day and age, a story about the high cost of long-distance phone calls that ran the December 1995 issue of Mainebiz has a parallel story today. From that issue of Mainebiz: A quarter century later, we're still having the same conversation, this time about rural broadband. Tim Hutchinson, president of Pine Tree Telephone Co. of Gray and New Gloucester, mentioned the high cost of installing and maintaining telephone service in a rural area and also raised the philosophical question of why, on what IBM advertisements refer to as a small planet, we should continue to equate the cost of a telephone call with the distance it traverses by cable, fiber optics and radio waves. SP ONSORED BY You have big dreams for your business. And to get there, you need more than traditional expertise. From choosing and implementing a CRM to developing the best cloud strategy, Wipfli and Macpage have joined forces to help businesses throughout Maine reach higher to achieve their technology goals. Go beyond the ordinary with Wipfli/Macpage. wipfli.com/maine South Portland | Augusta Proud Partner of the Maine Red Claws PUSH THE BOUNDARIES OF WHAT'S POSSIBLE

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