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V O L . X X V N O. X V I I I A U G U S T 1 9 , 2 0 1 9 6 an advanced planing hull. Boats with planing hulls are designed to rise up and glide on top of the water when enough power is supplied. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E The Maine State Employees Association, which represents over 10,000 public workers in the state's executive branch, overwhelmingly approved a new two-year contract, the labor union said. The agreement provides workers a 3% pay raise begin- ning Sept. 1, and a 4% increase in December 2020; new wage increases based on longevity; and 14 days of paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child. In addition, the new contract bars takebacks, en- suring that employee rights in prior contracts remain in force. Funding for the new contract was approved by the Legislature in June. Upgrade planned for Casco Bay ferry terminal Casco Bay Lines, the quasi-public ferry service that runs to seven south- ern Maine islands, has won a $3.4 mil- lion grant from the Federal Transit Administration to fund the next stage of renovations for the ferries' Portland terminal. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, FTA Acting Administrator K. Jane Williams and other officials visited the terminal to announce the award, one of nine competitive grants made recently to passenger ferry systems by the administration. e grants total $32.8 million, and also included awards to ferry projects in Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. e terminal on the Maine State Pier was built in 1988 to accom- modate 500,000 passengers annu- ally. By 2011, nearly 1 million people were using the ferry service each year, which led its governing agency, the Casco Bay Island Transit District, to launch a multi-phase renovation of the terminal. New top officer for Portsmouth shipyard Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, the sprawl- ing Kittery facility that employs 7,000 civilians, has a new commander. U.S. Portland, Belfast firms benefit from Navy contract Navatek LLC, a naval design and engineering firm, won an $8 mil- lion Navy contract to improve the design and construction of small watercraft that can operate safely at high speed in rough seas. e three-year project involves collabo- ration with Front Street Shipyard of Belfast, which will build the test hulls and collaborate on sea trials, and the University of Maine, which will support research of new materi- als. e program is expected to bring new jobs to Maine, though it's too early to say how many. Navatek is headquartered in Honolulu and has locations in Portland as well as South Kingstown, R.I., and Arlington, Va. Navatek opened its Portland office, at 10 Free St., in June 2018, and is staffed there with 22 engineers. at number is expected to grow to 50 within the coming year. e new design is called 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 MDI entrepreneur with cleaning company sees opportunity in Airbnb B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r S O U T H W E S T H A R B O R — For years, Mindy Tracey was cleaning seasonal homes and lodgings on Mount Desert Island and the area — one of many self- employed cleaners. Like everything on the island, work peaks in the summer, when vacation rentals and hotels are running at capacity and the workforce is already stretched thin. "I kept hearing horror stories about, unfortunately, bad situations, whether it was cleaners who didn't show up or who didn't do what they said they would," she said. "People kept saying, 'Boy, we need a real cleaning company, someone who's more reliable. And I kept thinking, 'What if?'" In 2017, Tracey started Pro31 Cleaning Solutions at the Union River Center for Innovation in Ellsworth. A year later, the company had become big enough to move into a larger headquarters in Southwest Harbor. Today she has over 30 employees and has added services like a full-service laun- dry, dry cleaning, property management and retail store, for commercial, residential, construction and turnover and rental cleanings. Vacation rentals make up 60% of her accounts, and summer residences and commercial work 40%. Revenues are up 60% from a year ago. With nearly 100 resi- dential and commercial accounts now, she has a waiting list. "A lot of people find us by googling 'cleaning service Bar Harbor,'" she said. "But it's mostly word of mouth." Most clients are on Mount Desert Island, but they also extend to offshore islands and as far as Bucksport to the west and Gouldsboro to the east. Opportunities have surged alongside the traditional vaca- tion rental market and Airbnb. "There are so many houses on MDI that people are using like a hotel," she said. "Someone needs to clean those. People are having such a hard time finding cleaners, that the demand is huge." Higher pay Her business plan includes serving not only clients but employees. "One thing I noticed, when I started talking with some of the people who worked at the hotels a long time, was that they weren't getting paid very much," she said. "I have employees who previously worked at the hotels and made $12 per hour. That both- ered me." Tracey pays $13 to $17 per hour. She also aims to fill "a hole in the workforce" that's caused by people ages 30 to 50 seeking jobs out of the state. That means many potential employees are ages 15 to 30, or 50-plus. Her model includes pairing younger with older workers, combining wisdom and energy in the workplace, she said. She recruits employees mainly by word of mouth and Facebook, but recently booked radio time for a help wanted ad and stopped by workforce development organizations like Fedcap. Transportation has proven a major challenge. "A large portion of my crew either doesn't drive or doesn't have a vehicle," she said. "A lot of my employees carpool. We spend time figuring out who's going to transport whom. Without transportation, it's pretty hard to make a decent living." The situation is made trickier by the shortage of affordable housing on MDI, where the majority of the work is located. Some of Tracey's employees live as far as an hour away, in Harrington and Machias. "I have employees who would live on MDI if they could find affordable housing," she noted. "I have an eight-passenger vehicle given to me last year by very kind clients and I'm look- ing to see if we need to shuttle people to work. Communities like Harrington need the jobs and MDI needs the workers." B R I E F P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F P RO 3 1 C L E A N I N G S O L U T I O N S Employees ... would live on MDI if they could find affordable housing. — Mindy Tracey Pro31 Cleaning Solutions Mindy Tracey started a cleaning service two years ago to keep up with demand from rental properties. Pro31 Cleaning Solutions now has 30 employees and moved to expand- ed space in Southwest Harbor.

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