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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 13 J U LY 1 3 , 2 0 2 0 A U G U S TA / WAT E R V I L L E / C E N T R A L M A I N E He also says, "We're very fortunate to have our stu- dents part of our startup energy in Waterville." Much of that energy is coming from two Colby stu- dent ventures that recently received grants from MTI — app-based food-delivery platform Easy Eats and online marketplace Sklaza — with ambitions to grow. Easy Eats co-founder Christian Krohg says the business will be at Colby, Bates and Middlebury col- leges this fall, while Sklaza founder Josh Kim aims to expand to multiple schools in the region. Both entrepreneurs are rising juniors originally from Massachusetts in Colby's class of 2022, and say they're open to staying in Maine after graduation. "I love everything about Maine," says Krohg, a double economics and music major who says he's benefited from collaboration at Bricks. Kim, a dou- ble major in product design and sociology, praises Maine's strong ecosystem for entrepreneurs and the community as a whole, adding: "People are there to look out for each other." MTI President Brian Whitney, whose organiza- tion awarded Easy Eats $10,000 and Sklaza $3,300, attributes the increase in innovation coming out of the Waterville region in part to the influence of the two colleges there. "I would also like to think that the office space MTI has been leasing for the past year at the Mid- Maine Chamber of Commerce in Waterville might also have helped raise our profile in the region and led to greater interest in innovation," he says. Mixed picture elsewhere Elsewhere in the region, owner Bill Sprague of Sprague & Curtis Real Estate in Augusta reports strong demand from residential buyers in the past month and a half, saying that while things were slow during COVID, "now it's coming back … If this keeps up, it probably will be equal to or better than last year." e situation is markedly different for Delta Ambulance, a Waterville-based nonprofit serving 17 towns in the greater Augusta-Waterville area. Its call volume has been low during the pandemic. "It's picked up a little, but not anywhere near where it used to be, primarily because the hospitals haven't fully opened yet," says Executive Director Tim Beals, a omas College MBA alumnus. "People are more comfortable calling 9-1-1 than they were, but the hos- pitals are not yet fully back to capacity." While he's been able to keep all 120 employees on standard hours, he worries about filling several current openings, and hopes that students will be able to take their EMS tests soon so that they can come into the workforce. "ere was a shortage before the pandemic," he says, "and it's even more dire now." — as much as students missed the social aspects of the college experience this spring. "Students were begging me to stay on campus, but we had to assess the danger of the situation, and it was the right thing to do in the spring," she says. "If we have to do it for their safety, we will do it again. We are prepared — it's just not preferable." In the meantime, she says that omas College is talking to a nonprofit laboratory in Massachusetts that could potentially offer COVID-19 tests at a fraction of the cost it has seen elsewhere and is work- ing closely with medical experts at MaineGeneral to determine a testing strategy. "We will definitely be using a testing protocol to ensure the health and safety of our entire community to the greatest extent practicable," Lachance says. It also will be prepared if the virus returns, setting aside a certain number of dorm rooms for students and their roommates to quarantine if needed. "You can't keep 18- to 24-year olds in a bubble," Lachance notes. "ere's going to be a chance that the virus is going to come onto your campus, but if you can catch it soon enough, you can contain the spread. at's what testing allows you to do." F O C U S Thomas College's $1M-plus reopening plan ith less than two months to go until the start of fall semester at omas College, the small private school is investing a bundle to ensure a safe return for students, faculty and others to its Waterville campus. "We're putting in over $1 million in just the basic setting up for safe delivery of our product," says omas College President Laurie Lachance, "and that's before we look at the cost of a regiment of testing to ensure safety." e school, which has a student body of about 800 full-time undergraduates and 200 graduate stu- dents, wrapped up the school year in June with an online commencement ceremony for more than 250 degree recipients. Lachance, who also co-chairs an expert commit- tee to advise on the state's economic recovery, says that omas College's fall semester reopening plans envision three scenarios. "We are working around the clock to ensure a safe return to campus for our students, and are looking at every aspect of college life," she says. e reopening plan includes increased cleaning and disinfecting protocols as well as putting capac- ity limits on every room in every building, includ- ing bathrooms, based on social distancing and safety standards. "is is where the expense comes in," Lachance says. e school has also hired three additional custo- dial staff full-time to help with enhanced cleaning and disinfecting,including all high-touch areas and bathrooms multiple times a day. Lachance underscores while the preference is to bring everyone back to campus, the plan is flexible and allows for a return to remote learning if needed C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » We are working around the clock to ensure a safe return to campus for our students, and are looking at every aspect of college life. — Laurie Lachance Thomas College P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R There was a shortage before the pandemic, and it's even more dire now. — Tim Beals Delta Ambulance W Thomas College President Laurie Lachance, photographed at the Waterville campus last year, says the school is "working around the clock" to ensure a safe return to campus.

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