Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I N O. X V J U LY 1 3 , 2 0 2 0 8 B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S N E W S F RO M A RO U N D T H E S TAT E the midcoast. e service, which oper- ates out of Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head, has more than a dozen pilots and half a dozen planes. N O T E W O R T H Y M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T Machias Savings Bank awarded a total of $100,000 in grants to 14 nonprofits organizations that serve the business community, with a particular focus on those that provide technical assistance for small businesses seeking resourc- es during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $2.3 million to Waldo Community Action Partners for Head Start and Early Head Start programs. The Frances Hollis Brain Foundation Fund at the Maine Community Foundation in Ellsworth awarded 31 grants totaling $157,500 to nonprofit organizations that serve disadvan- taged, underserved and/or vulnerable communities in Maine. UMaine outlines pandemic plan for fall e University of Maine System's plan for safely returning students, faculty and staff to the state's seven public univer- sities and law school this fall includes a shorter fall semester, COVID-19 screening and restrictions on face- to-face interaction. e fall semester begins Aug. 31. Key elements of the plan include screening to identify and isolate individuals with COVID-19 at the start of the semester, and a commit- ment to keep members of the aca- demic community together on campus, following science-based practices and guidance from public health authorities. However, campuses will end in-person instruction and ask students to depart residence halls before the start of the anksgiving holiday. N O T E W O R T H Y N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N The University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center was awarded $3.2 million from the U.S. Army Natick Soldiers Systems Center to support continued research. Despite pandemic, investment dollars are flowing B y M a i n e b i z S t a f f W EX Inc. (NYSE: WEX), a Portland-based provider of corporate payment solutions for the fleet, travel and health care industries, said it has accepted a $400 million investment from an affiliate of Warburg Pincus LLC. Once completed, the deal will give Warburg Pincus, a New York-based global private equity firm, ownership of 4.7% of WEX's outstanding common stock. The investment includes convertible notes of $310 million and $90 million in com- mon stock through a private placement. WEX also obtained an amendment to an existing credit agreement, providing the company with more financial flexibility. The deal improves financial flexibility and liquidity and gives the company more cash on hand, WEX's top executive said. "We are pleased to further fortify our balance sheet during the current uncertain operating environment while reaffirming our relationship with Warburg Pincus, who has demonstrated their strong commitment to the future growth of WEX," said Melissa Smith, WEX's chair and CEO. WEX has cited the impact of the pandemic on its opera- tions. First-quarter earnings fell below expectations and, citing the effects of pandemic, the company pulled out of two acquisitions with a combined $1.7 billion price tag. It has taken steps to control capital expenditures and cut costs, including trimming its U.S. workforce by 2% and put- ting another 3% on temporary furlough. Por tland-based WEX employs about 5,000 people worldwide. Amid strike, BIW snags funding for upgrades Bath Iron Works was awarded a $132 million contract modifi- cation to fund improvements to the shipyard and its function as a supplier base for the Navy's Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided missile destroyers. The award provides $70 million to pay for shipyard process and infrastructure improvements and $62 million for capital improvements to support the DDG 51 supplier base and to identify needs within those operations. The 500-foot Burke-class destroyers are built in two ship- yards, BIW and Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Miss. Of the 60 Burke-class destroyers in service, BIW has produced 37. BIW's parent company, General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has invested $150 million on upgrades at the Bath shipyard over the past two years. Still, BIW's largest labor union, International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Local S6, representing 4,300 of BIW's 6,800 employees, went on strike in June. CAT ferry cancels season Bay Ferries Ltd. made it official that its high-speed ferry service between Bar Harbor and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, will not happen this year. The Canadian company made the decision after con- sulting with the province of Nova Scotia and considering the uncertainty over border restrictions and public health travel restrictions. "This is a difficult, but also now an obvious decision," Bay Ferries Chairman and CEO Mark MacDonald said. "International nonessential travel worldwide has essentially come to a stand- still. It is not clear when U.S. operations would be permitted to occur, what opportunity would exist for proper marketing of the service, and what short-term customer demand would be." Bay Ferries had expected to resume operation of its high- speed CAT passenger ferry between Bar Harbor and Yarmouth on June 26 after what had been a 10-year hiatus (though did run from Portland to Nova Scotia for a few years). The CAT will remain at its off-season home in Charleston, S.C., and is expected to re-enter ferry service in spring 2021. B I Z M O N E Y donation to Educare Central Maine, Boys & Girls Club of Augusta, Kennebec Behavioral Health, Neighbors Driving Neighbors, Freeport Community Services and Family Violence Project as part of its 2020 Catalyst Grants. Airline founder dies Kevin Waters, who founded Penobscot Island Air in 2004, died unexpectedly at his home July 5. Waters was a pilot at Maine Aviation when it closed sud- denly in December 2004. Residents of Matinicus, 20 miles from the mainland, raised $17,000 so Waters could lease an airplane and continue service. Today, the air service provides essential deliver- ies — including U.S. mail, FedEx and UPS packages, medicine and groceries — to island communities throughout P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y B AY F E R R I E S LT D. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y B AT H I RO N WO R K S Bay Ferries Bay Ferries shut down plans shut down plans for operation of the high-speed for operation of the high-speed CAT CAT ferry service between Bar ferry service between Bar Harbor and Nova Scotia this year, Harbor and Nova Scotia this year, citing the pandemic. citing the pandemic. An An Arleigh Burke Arleigh Burke-class -class guided missile destroyer guided missile destroyer under construction at under construction at Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works. M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N

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