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W W W . M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 17 M A R C H 9 , 2 0 2 0 F O C U S M A N U F A C T U R I N G MTI is now accepting proposals for the MTAF2.5 program Receive up to $500k in grant funding for your innovative business Introducing the Maine Technology Asset Fund 2.5 from the Maine Technology Institute. This program has $2 million in available funds for Maine organizations looking to make investments in R&D equipment, infrastructure and technology upgrades to drive innovation and generate economic impact in Maine. Deadline for electronic funding requests is March 27, 2020. Go to MaineTechnology.org to start the application process. insurance benefits unchanged; and 30 to 40 new union jobs at the mill. "is is one of the best contracts I've seen in the 25 years I've worked at Huhtamaki," said Lee Drouin, president of USW Local 225, in a Feb. 25 news release. "Some of our veteran employees who have been here 30 or 40 years also say this is the best con- tract they've ever seen." e contract follows similar suc- cesses at the Westbrook paper mill of Sappi North America ratified by workers last July, Sappi's Skowhegan mill agreed in February 2019 and at Woodland Pulp LLC in Baileyville agreed in November. e Baileyville contract strengthened rules specific to separate trades and provided for pay increases for trades and produc- tion workers at the plant, which is just north of Calais on the St. Croix River. In Waterville, union leaders said the negotiations at the Huhtamaki mill were collaborative, and credited the Finnish owner for listening to workers' concerns. "We had a great relationship with company representatives at the bargaining table and there wasn't a lot of fighting or contention," said Mike Higgins, labor representative for USW 449. "e company was very receptive to what we had to say, and we were very receptive to what the company had to say." "We're definitely seeing mill workers get much better contracts than in the past," — Andy O'Brien Maine AFL-CIO Pictured: Members of the United Steelworkers Local 449, which represents workers at the Huhtamaki paper mill in Waterville, approved a five-year contract that raises wages, improves benefits and will mean more union jobs. C O U R T E S Y / U N I T E D S T E E LWO R K E R S L O C A L 4 4 9

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