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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 11 M A R C H 1 8 , 2 0 1 9 Portland's premier furnished short and long term rentals 2 2 5 C U M B E R L A N D A V E . , P O R T L A N D 2 0 7 . 7 7 4 . 5 3 5 8 P O R T L A N D M A I N E R E N TA L S .C O M Maine in top 10 of 'best states' for women B y M a i n e b i z S t a f f I t's Women's History Month and Maine was recently ranked No. 7 on WalletHub's best states for women. The list compares the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 24 key metrics. It analyzed data ranging from median earnings for female workers to women's preven- tive health to the percentage of women-owned businesses. Here's how Maine ranked in WalletHub's report in some of the key metrics related to women (1=best, 25=average): 11th – Unemployment rate for women 20th – Share of women in poverty 23rd – Share of women-owned businesses 14th – High school graduation rate for women 2nd – Share of women who voted in 2016 presidential election 22nd – Female uninsured rate 22nd – Women's life expectancy at birth 6th – Quality of women's hospitals 11th – Women's preventive health care. In WalletHub's comparisons: The District of Columbia has the highest median earnings for female workers (adjusted for cost of living), $34,417; California has the lowest, at $22,508. The District of Columbia also has the highest share of women who voted in the 2016 presidential election, 77.2%; Hawaii had the lowest, at 49.3%. New Hampshire has the lowest share of women living in poverty, 8.9%; Mississippi has the highest share, at 23.5%. Alaska has the highest share of women-owned businesses, 22.87%; South Dakota has the lowest share, at 14%. Massachusetts has the lowest female uninsured rate, 2.3%; Texas has the highest rate, at 17.5%. Noting that March is Women's History Month, WalletHub reported that women only hold 23.7% of the seats in Congress despite making up 51% of the U.S. population. Data used to create the rankings were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Educational Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Violence Policy Center, National Center for Injury Prevention, Council for Community and Economic Research, Womenable, American Express OPEN, U.S. News & World Report, Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation and WalletHub research. P O L I T I C S & C O. include Somerset Woods Trustees, $25,000, for the campaign to ac- quire the Weston Farm in Madison; Trust for Public Land, $25,000, for the Bethel Community Forest cam- paign; and the Conservation Fund, $10,000, for an acquisition project in the 100-Mile Wilderness. Equinox Guiding Service LLC, which teaches rock and ice climbing, opened in Camden. UMFK president announces retirement University of Maine at Fort Kent President John Short will retire at the end of the academic year. Short, who has been president at the campus since April 2016, will retire on June 30, the end of the fiscal year. In his three years at the university he oversaw programs that addresses workforce issues, as well as strengthened ties with the state's other public universities and the N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N

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