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V O L . X X V I N O. X X V I I N OV E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 2 0 10 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 undergo a $5.2 million upgrade, including replacing the 50-year-old main pier and updating its flowing seawater system, including the pump house and the center's oldest flow- ing seawater laboratory. e system pumps water from the sea to the lab for research experiments. When completed, the upgrade is expected to benefit faculty, students and the center's partners — fishermen, aquaculture entrepreneurs, marine industry professionals and community members — through collaborative research, workforce development and business incubation programs. UMPI opens nursing lab for new 100-student program A new nursing lab at the University of Maine at Presque Isle is now ready to accommodate more than 100 undergraduate nursing students expected on campus in 2021. UMPI spent $800,000 to create the John Lisnik Nursing Simulation Center, which entailed renovating a former lecture hall into a multi-section, seven-bed nursing unit. Funding was through voter-approved bonds. Elliotsville Plantation Inc. returns 750 tribal acres Elliotsville Plantation Inc., the foundation that donated the land to create the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, gave 735 acres in the former town of Williamsburg in Piscataquis County to the Penobscot Nation. e land, between two Penobscot parcels, creates a contiguous block of 5,000 acres held by the tribe. e area includes a river ecosys- tem that is a critical habitat for Atlantic salmon. Bangor Big Gig pitch contest set to kick off Nov. 17 e Bangor Big Gig pitch com- petition will kick off Nov. 17 in a virtual format. After three regular season pitch-offs in the coming months, winners will compete in the finale for $5,000. Big Gig is a partnership among towns, cities, universities and organiz- ers in the Penobscot River Valley. Lauren Tuell, owner of Mainely Succulents, won the 2020 version last month. UMaine researchers, NASA partner on carbon mapping Using lasers from space and a $500,000 grant, University of Maine researchers are on a three- year mission to help NASA develop and test methods for map- ping carbon deposits and biologi- cal changes across a large, complex swath of forest. Researchers from Wheatland Geospatial Laboratory in the university's School of Forest Resources and the Center for Research on Sustainable Forests were picked to join NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation science team on the project. Election shows Maine's importance, while Mainers show their independent streak B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n M aine was very much in the spotlight this election, gar- nering attention as one of the battlegrounds for a U.S. Senate seat. President Donald Trump made a campaign stop in Bangor a week before the election to generate support. And with the bal- ance of power in the Senate at stake, the race between incum- bent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, against Democratic challenger Sara Gideon was a record breaker when it comes to campaign spending. Collins won the election and a fifth term in the Senate. Like Trump, she did better in northern Maine. In the battle for Maine's electoral votes, Trump won the 2nd District, garner- ing one electoral vote. Biden received the other three. Maine and Nebraska are the only states that split their electoral votes among presidential candidates. While Maine's popular vote also ended up going to Democrat Joe Biden, who received 52.9% of it, Collins' vic- tory showed once again Maine voters' independence and willingness to split the ticket. Mainers demonstrated their tendency to vote based on how much they like the individual candidate not by party affiliation. It may be why Mainers elected U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent, twice to the Senate and twice as governor. The race for campaign funding In the race for cash, it was Gideon who brought in the cam- paign donations. The Gideon campaign raised $69.5 million through Oct. 14, according to the Federal Election Commission. Of that, the campaign spent $48.85 million. By comparison, the Collins campaign raised $27.1 mil- lion and spent $23.6 million through Oct. 14. It's no coincidence viewers felt bombarded with campaign ads. It wasn't just TV spots either. YouTube, Facebook and other social media channels were also inundated with ads. It was the most expensive Senate campaign in Maine's history. Broken down by donor group, Gideon's largest proportion of donations came from those who gave $200 or less; her campaign $30 million from that category. Collins' largest base of donor support, generating $7.16 million, came from donors writing checks for $2,000 or more. P H O T O / P E T E R VA N A L L E N P O L I T I C S & C O. Mainers demonstrated their tendency to vote based on how much they like the individual candidate not by party affiliation. In Freeport, U.S. Senate candidate Sara Gideon's hometown, campaign signs showed the array of candidates. N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N

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