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V O L . X X V N O. X V I I A U G U S T 5 , 2 0 1 9 6 B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state Tech exec with Maine roots pledges $500K to Good Shepherd Food Bank B y M a i n e b i z S t a f f AUBURN — Tech entrepreneur Frederick "Fritz" Onion and his wife Susan Onion, of Wayne, pledged a $500,000 match- ing gift to help Good Shepherd Food Bank create a new branch in Hampden. Good Shepherd has already raised $4.2 million in a capi- tal campaign launched last year. "We are incredibly grateful for the leadership support of Susan and Fritz," said Kristen Miale, the food bank's presi- dent. "Since learning of their generosity, we've been working to secure some early gifts toward the match … If we can raise about $400,000 more to be matched by the Onions, we will meet our $5 million goal." Good Shepherd supplies more than 400 food pantries, senior programs and other organizations throughout the state, and distributed over 25 million meals in 2018. But hunger remains a major challenge in Maine. More than 14% of households in the state — and one in five children — struggle with food insecurity, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Maine's rate is the ninth-highest in the country, and the highest in the Northeast. Good Shepherd has set a goal of distributing an additional 10 million meals annually by 2025. But the food bank's current distribution center in Auburn doesn't have enough capacity, Miale said. The new center is a former plant for the Bangor Daily News at 11 Penobscot Meadow Drive, which was shuttered in 2013 and acquired by Good Shepherd two years later. Renovations began last summer and are expected to be finished in September. When complete, the facility will have three temperature- and humidity-controlled zones, allowing the food bank to store more fresh food — including local farm purchases — for year-round distribution. Fritz and Susan Onion, who grew up in Farmington, head the Onion Foundation, a private charitable organization head- quartered in Auburn. In 2004, Fritz Onion co-founded Pluralsight Inc. (Nasdaq: PS), a Utah-based provider of online technology training whose customers include more than half of the Fortune 500. Pluralsight's revenues grew 39% last year to $232 million, and its market capitalization is over $4 billion. In 2014, the Onions created and endowed the foundation to support Maine nonprofits. "Good Shepherd plays a critical role in providing food security for so many Mainers," said Susan Onion in the news release. "We are honored to give our support to such an impactful organization." B R I E F Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project and recognize the states whose CAHs have the highest reporting rates and levels of improvement over the past year, according to a news release. Hospitals cited were Central Maine Healthcare's Rumford and Bridgton sites, Lincoln Health in Damariscotta, Northern Light Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield, Northern Light Blue Hill Hospital, Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast and Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent. Maine gets $1M for workforce research e federal government has awarded $1 million to the Maine Department of Labor to fund data system improvements at its Center for Workforce Research. e grant, one of 10 made to state labor agen- cies across the country, is designed to increase the efficiency of the center's data systems, and ultimately the state's workforce development programs, the U.S. Department of Labor said in a news release. Over the three-year life of the grant, state agencies are expected to use the funding for multiple goals, such as integrating workforce and edu- cation data, and providing user- friendly information to consumers to help them select appropriate training programs. Maine is the only New England state to receive one of the grants, which total over $11 million. ACLU weighs in on bus searches e American Civil Liberties Union of Maine is urging Concord Coach Lines, which operates regional bus service in the state, to bar immigra- tion agents from raiding its vehicles in search of passengers who are in the U.S. illegally. e ACLU says internal U.S Customer and Border Protection documents show even the federal agency realizes it rarely has power to compel searches. In a letter sent to Concord and posted online, the ACLU wrote, "In light of the newly released public records, it is clearer than ever that Concord Coach Lines has a choice to con- tinue to allow immigration agents to board buses and search. Choosing to consent to these bus raids jeopardizes [Concord's] paying passengers' Fourth Amendment rights." Concord's website makes it clear that passen- gers aren't required to be citizens. But P H O T O S / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E O N I O N F O U N DAT I O N A gift of $500,000 from Fritz Onion and his wife Susan will get Good Shepherd Food Bank closer to its fundraising goal of $5 million. It plans to renovate a former newspaper printing plant into a 40,000-square-foot food distribution center. Home buyers 'on the sidelines' Sales of single-family homes in Maine dropped 7.18% in June from a year ear- lier, with inventory growing ever-tighter. At the same time, the median sales price increased 5.09% over the same time period, to $239,085, according to Maine Listings. Inventory for houses for sale was nearly 6% below last year's levels. "Buyers are on the sidelines waiting for affordable homes to come onto the mar- ket," said Peter Harrington, president of the Maine Association of Realtors and broker-partner with Malone Commercial Brokers. Nationwide, sales of single-family existing homes dipped 1.7% in June 2019, compared to the same month last year. e national median sales price increased 4.5% to $288,900 in June 2019. Rural hospitals recognized for quality Maine is one of 10 states recognized by the federal government for the quality of its rural hospitals. e state received a national Quality Performance Award, recognizing high levels of quality by its Critical Access Hospitals — rural hos- pitals with 25 beds or less, designated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide care in remote areas that otherwise wouldn't have it. e awards are part of the federal Medicare S T A T E W I D E

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