Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 11 A P R I L 1 , 2 0 1 9 the March 12 meeting of the board of selectmen included multi-use develop- ment with public-use elements like a playground, parking lot and green space. e property is at 116 Washington St., in a residential area. e Camden Farmers' Market operates there in the summer. "We have to be wide in our net on what we expect for development," said Jeremy Martin, planning and development director. In 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved a $200,000 brownfields and land revitalization grant to the town for the continued cleanup of the property. After a century heavy industrial operations, contami- nants include benzoapyrene and arsenic. e tannery closed in 1999. Camden acquired it through foreclosure in 2003. N O T E W O R T H Y M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T Horch Roofing, a contractor based in Warren, said that it will expand its trade scholarship program from one scholarship to two prizes of $1,000. The program was launched in 2018 to support Maine students pursuing a skilled-trades career. Emera Maine to be sold for $1.3B Halifax-based Emera Inc. announced today it has agreed to sell its interest in Emera Maine to ENMAX Corp. for $1.3 billion in U.S. currency, a purchase price that includes $959 million in shares and approximately $341 million in assumed debt. ENMAX's acquisition of Emera Inc.'s regulated electric transmis- sion and distribution company in Maine Do your employees take pride in what you do? Find out. F O R I N F O R M AT I O N A N D TO A P P LY G O TO B E S T P L AC E S TO W O R K M E. C O M 2019 A N E M P L O Y E E E N G A G E M E N T P R O G R A M D E A D L I N E: M AY 24 Premier Sponsor: Brought to you by: Bills on minimum wage stir debate in Augusta B y M a i n e b i z S t a f f L abor and small business representatives were in Augusta to urge lawmakers to debate several bills that would lower the minimum wage, particularly ones that would create a lower wage for teen workers. The Legislature's Committee on Labor and Housing heard public testimony on seven bills that that would change mini- mum wage law. Six of the bills would lower it. Under current law, the Maine minimum wage is $11 an hour and will go up to $12 an hour on Jan. 1, 2020. It is set to increase in January 2021 and in subsequent years. In the battle over minimum wage, opposing views were put forth by the AFL-CIO, which favors increases, and National Federation of Independent Businesses, which says its small business membership is hurt by wage increases. Maine AFL-CIO said it opposes "in the strongest terms" measures that would create a "subminimum" wage for young adults, it said in a news release, referring to three bills, LD 612, LD 739 and LD 808. The AFL-CIO, which represents more than 40,000 Maine workers in more than 50 unions, also opposed bills that would have a lower minimum wage for employees at small businesses and in most of the state, aside from a large portion of Cumberland County, (LD 830, LD 1098). It also opposes LD 425, which would lower the minimum wage to $10 an hour and eliminate the cost- of-living increase. "No one who works full- time should live in poverty. That's why Mainers voted overwhelmingly to raise wages," Maine AFL-CIO Executive Director Matt Schlobohm said in the release. "The cost of food, gas, housing and rent has gone up for years, but wages haven't kept pace." The opposing view On the other side of the argument, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, which said it represents thousands of small businesses in Maine, urged "a slower phase-in of the next minimum wage increase to $12 in January 2020 so that those companies can better adjust to the steep series of increases." It said the $12 minimum wage, which would go into effect next year, "translates to a 33% increase since 2017, or $6,700 in added wages and payroll taxes for each minimum wage job." The organization's members were surveyed about the increase, and they responded that they've had to raise prices, tighten payroll and cut entry level, jobs, said David Clough, state director of NFIB in Maine. "These family businesses and entrepreneurs are having to make tough choices with the state's rising labor costs, and it will only get worse when the $12 minimum wage kicks in early next year." P O L I T I C S & C O. is subject to certain conditions, includ- ing regulatory approvals, and is antici- pated to close in late 2019. ENMAX Corp., headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, reported approximately $5.6 billion (CAD) in assets and $2.4 billion (CAD) in revenues in 2018. Its subsid- iaries own and operate transmission and distribution infrastructure in Calgary as well as diverse generation facilities in Alberta that include electricity, natural gas and renewable energy. Collins urges support for potato growers in trade talks U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, joined a bipartisan group that sent a letter to the Trump administra- tion calling for the U.S. potato industry be a priority in the ongo- ing trade negotiations with China. In a recent meeting with the Maine Potato Board recently, she reiter- ated her support. Collins is a native of Caribou, in the heart of Maine's potato region. e bipartisan letter to the Trump administration, signed by 39 members of Congress, noted that the inclusion of potatoes in any U.S.-China trade deal would create significant economic growth and result in new jobs. e U.S. potato industry has a $3.7 billion farm "gate" value, and that success relies on finding an international market for one out of five potatoes produced, the letter noted. Since 2000, open- ing access to China for U.S. fresh potatoes has been a priority for U.S. potato growers and included on every bilateral agenda. N O T E W O R T H Y N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N The board of directors of Northern Light Health in Brewer, voted unani- mously to move ahead with plans to pursue a merger agreement with Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft. N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N No one who works full-time should live in poverty. — Matt Schlobohm Maine AFL-CIO

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