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V O L . X X V I N O. X X V I I I N OV E M B E R 3 0 , 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 N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded York County Community Action Corp. a total of $1.5 million for its Head Start and Early Head Start Programs. Environmental Health Strategy Center, a Portland-based organization that leads state and national cam- paigns for safe food, safe drinking water and toxic-free products, changed its name to Defend Our Health. The American Heart Association in Maine said Mike Simonds, COO at Unum, will lead the 2021 Heart Walk scheduled for May 16. Simonds and his committee have set a goal to raise $450,000 through corporate dona- tions and walk teams. Hospice of Southern Maine in Scarborough raised $112,765 during its inaugural Hike for Hospice event. ecomaine, a nonprofit recycling and waste-to-energy operation based in Portland, awarded $18,500 in grant funding to 10 recipients of its 2020-21 School Recycling Grants. The grants A S K AC E A n s w e r e d b y T h e r e s a P e e k o f P e e k L e a r n i n g C o n s u l t a n t s The Association for Consulting Expertise (ACE) is a non-profit association of independent consultants who value "Success through Collaboration." The public is welcome to attend its regular meetings to share best practices and engage with industry experts. For more information go to www.consultexpertise.com. Q: I need some help in my business, but I'm not able to hire someone full-time right now. I don't have the budget to bring in an experienced individual even on a short- term basis, so how can I effectively incorporate an intern or other entry-level talent? ACE Advises: Finding reliable short-term help for your busi- ness can be daunting. While a skilled professional member of the gig economy is one option, an intern can potentially serve you well — if you break a project down so you can use their talents effectively. "An internship is not the same as hiring an employee," says Renee Kelly, assistant vice president for innovation and economic development at the University of Maine and a coordinator of the Innovate for Maine Fellows program, which connects Maine college students with meaningful internship experiences at in-state companies. "It's about a learning experience for the intern, and part of your responsibility is to mentor, teach and guide them." This means having a solid plan for what you want the intern to accomplish, communicating clearly about expecta- tions and facilitating open dialogue through regular check-ins. Give the intern an opportunity to ask questions, but also make sure you stress important information and ask them to reconfirm to ensure that details are not lost in translation. Taking the time to develop intern talent can pay off. Interns can bring fresh perspective and grow into val- ued employees who are invested in your business, Kelly says. Programs such as Innovate for Maine can help employers not only find talent, but manage the HR logis- tics around hiring, training and pay- roll. This can be especially helpful for startups and small businesses that may lack hiring infrastructure. Theresa Peek of Peek Learning Consultants is a talent development consultant specializing in leadership development. She can be reached at theresa@peeklearningconsultants.com. To learn more on this topic, see "Using Interns Effectively in the Gig Economy" at consultexpertise.com/blog/9368676 @ Part of your responsibility is to mentor B R I E F Rising Tide gets beer bubbles for the COVID-19 bubbles B y R e n e e C o r d e s P o r t l a n d — Rising Tide Brewing Co., owned by husband-and-wife team Heather and Nathan Sanborn, plans to serve customers outside all winter on the craft brewery's patio with the aid of propane fire pits, tower heaters and heated "bubble tents" over eight picnic tables. Once the tents are up in early December, staff will serve from outside the bubbles and deliver drinks and food to serving barrels at the entrance of each tent, in order to maintain social distancing and reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. The tents will be fully aired out and sanitized after each use. Rising Tide, which employs 29 peo- ple, hopes to keep outdoor service open during what is normally the off-season. Heather Sanborn said they got the tents from Alvantor, in California. "We found them online through extensive research of all our options and bought the first sample tent to try it out back in August," she told Mainebiz. They also had to buy a large tent heater, and had an engineer design a manifold so that the heater could feed hot air into eight separate tents. She said, overall, it was a $15,000 investment. The tents will go over our picnic tables, which can each accommodate up to eight people. She said Rising tide is recommending that, in alignment with the CDC guidelines, people only reserve the bubbles for dining with members of their own household or "COVID bubble." For those who want to socialize with others, there are seating areas around fire pits and tower heaters on the west side of the patio. "Which is a great option for socializing in a completely open air and more dis- tanced way," Sanborn said. The plan is for the bubbles to go up soon, and advance reservations opened in November. Sanborn said the management team had been brainstorming ideas since August, researching what has been done in the past at ski areas and other cold weather venues, like Quebec's Winter Carnaval. "Even though we are licensed as a restaurant so we could have people inside, we decided early on that we wanted to stay outside-only for the winter to protect our team and our guests," she said. "We then tried to figure out the best options for making that happen. There are lots of places around the country and around the world that are using some variation of this concept for the colder weather months during this pandemic." She said a lot, in general, this winter will depend on the weather and how customers respond to it. "If we have a bright sunny winter, even if it's really cold, I think we'll have a very successful and fun season on the patio," she said. "If it's gray and rainy or icy — particularly on the weekends — it's going to be much tougher, so I expect we'll ride a roller coaster of weather forecasts all winter. " Rising Tide Brewing Co., in Portland, will use bubbles over picnic tables, like those pictured here, this winter for outdoor dining. R E N D E R I N G / C O U R T E S Y O F R I S I N G T I D E B R E W I N G C O. We decided early on that we wanted to stay outside-only for the winter to protect our team and our guests. — Heather Sanborn Rising Tide

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