Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 7 O C T O B E R 1 4 , 2 0 1 9 The Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement Program award- ed $6.8 million to Presque Isle International Airport to rehabilitate its apron and $3.2 million to Auburn- Lewiston Airport to reconstruct run- way 17/35. Add Sun Life to the Portland roster Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF), a group benefits provider with over 500 employees at rented space in Scarborough and South Portland, will be the primary tenant in a 100,000-square-foot office building planned for the former Portland Co. complex. Sun Life, based in Toronto, said it has signed a 15-year lease for 77,000 square feet in the four-story building, which is expected to break ground early next year and be com- plete by mid-2022. e space will accommodate all of Sun Life's current Maine workforce plus another 200 employees who may be hired over the next several years. e new build- ing at 58 Fore St. will feature retail space on the ground floor, parking for about 700 vehicles in an adjacent garage and surface lot, and prominent signage with the names of Sun Life and its subsidiary FullscopeRMS. e Sun Life news comes as work continues just a few blocks away on construction of the 140,000-square- foot headquarters of Covetrus Inc. and an adjoining 73,000-square-foot hotel. Meanwhile, around the corner, workers at WEX Inc. are settling into offices at a 100,000-square-foot building that opened in March. Biddeford daily closes down e Journal Tribune, a daily newspa- per that has covered the Biddeford area since 1884, stopped the presses for good after publishing its Oct. 12 issue. e paper reported that declin- ing readership and loss of advertis- ers had made operations unprofit- able. Six employees were laid off and another had previously announced his retirement. e paper is owned by Masthead Maine, the publish- ing group that acquired the Journal Tribune from Sample News Group in April 2018. It also owns the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday S O U T H E R N Dry towns celebrate relaxed liquor laws By 2006, many towns in Maine had ditched Prohibition-era liquor laws, and no one was happier than certain businesses in those previously "dry" towns, Mainebiz reported in its Nov. 13, 2006, issue. A restaurant in Stonington reported a 17% gain and sales and planned to extend its hours and pass along some of the windfall to its employees. Critics of Stonington's relaxed laws feared an increase in crime. But, according to the story, "Stonington has experienced no spike in crime, just a couple of parking lot brawls." A CASE OF JURISPRUDENCE: In 2006 the Maine Civil Liberties Union, rep- resenting a Massachusetts beer distributor, sued the state after it refused to allow sales of an English beer that featured Santa's, um, ample backside on its label. Seems crazy now, in light of the wide range of craft beer brands that employ some kind of double entendre. But as reported in some detail in the Dec. 11, 2006, issue of Mainebiz, the English beer, "Santa's Butt Winter Porter," featured a label depicted "jolly old St. Nick, his voluminous (but clothed) poste- rior perched on a beer barrel, hoisting a mug of suds as he makes his list and checks it twice." The story also helpfully pointed out that, in England, the term "butt also refers to an extra-large beer barrel." We're not sure how the case of Santa's ample butt was adjudicated, but we will offer an update when we know. SP ONSORED BY A healthy smile can make all the difference. Protect yours with dental insurance backed by the nation's largest network of dentists. NortheastDeltaDental.com STAND OUT IN A SEA OF SAMENESS WITH YOUR SMILE POWER! NEDD_1_2 PAGE_ MAINEBIZ.indd 1 8/19/19 8:04 AM

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