Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I N O. I V F E B R UA R Y 2 2 , 2 0 2 1 6 U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced that Maine was awarded a total of $69.2 million in highway and transit funding. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded Sweetser, a mental health and behav- ioral services organization in Saco, a $2.9 million grant to develop a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic on the midcoast. The award will expand services in Sagadahoc, northern coastal Cumberland County and parts of Lincoln and Androscoggin counties. Full Plates Full Potential, a nonprofit based in Portland working to end child hunger statewide, announced a contri- bution of $25,000 from Central Maine Power aimed at increasing the organi- zation's Winter School Meals Fund. Maine Historical Society in Portland was awarded a $500,000 Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The funding will be used to install compact storage and consolidate collections storage from across four buildings at its off site collections management center recently developed with Portland Public Library. Boyne Resorts, a Michigan-based com- pany that owns Sunday River Resort and Sugarloaf in Maine, announced a renewable energy purchase commit- ment with CMS Enterprises, a CMS Energy subsidiary, that it says will entirely offsets electric energy con- sumption at its resorts and facilities in North America. Avangrid Foundation gifted $10,000 to New Beginnings Inc., a Lewiston-based nonprofit serving homeless and at-risk youth. The funding was awarded in part- nership with Central Maine Power, the local affiliate of Avangrid in Maine. The Professional Logging Contractors of Maine in Augusta said it raised B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state Szanton Co. proposes first workforce housing in Cape Elizabeth in 50 years — A big step for Cape Elizabeth Atlas Van Lines report shows Maine has the No. 3 'inbound' rate of moves — With its population stagnate, Maine needs the new blood Maine marijuana businesses, including some from away, are growing like a weed — Maine's newest growth industry? Battle continues over Maine's potential tax on PPP loans — Businesses going into these loans did not expect to be taxed on them Mainers lost $6M to scams last year, as cases of fraud skyrocketed nationwide — Scammers taking advantage of unsteady times Maine-Nova Scotia CAT ferry cancels another season — Another blow to the hospitality industry C R E D I T S & D E B I T S Latest round of PPP loans have gone to 6,000 businesses B y M a i n e b i z S t a f f T he Paycheck Protection Program's second round of loans have totaled $462.6 million in Maine. So far, 6,116 Maine small employers have been approved for loans, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced. The num- bers are based on data from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Maine financial institutions are still writing loans. Eligible small businesses can receive a forgivable loan for the first time; the hardest hit small businesses may receive a second forgivable loan, Collins said. In the first round of PPP lending last year, 28,000 Maine businesses received $2.3 billion in loans, supporting 250,000 jobs. In December, Collins helped secure $284.5 billion for PPP in COVID-19 relief law. "The PPP is sustaining jobs across our state and provid- ing essential support to Maine's small businesses that have endured an extraordinarily challenging year," Collins said in the news release. "I strongly advocated for reopening the application pro- cess for first-time PPP borrowers and allowing the hardest hit small businesses to receive a second forgivable loan. I encourage small businesses and nonprofits with 300 or fewer employees and revenue losses due to COVID to con- tact their financial institution to apply for a second forgiv- able loan to help keep their doors open and save the jobs of their employees." A key element of the loans is being tax free, though some states, including Maine, are taxing at least some of the loan recipients. On Feb. 10, Gov. Janet Mills offered a compromise plan that would exempt most small businesses that received PPP loans from being taxed. Originally, the Mills administration sought a tax on all PPP loans, which would have generated $100 million in revenue. Under the compromise plan, the state would generate about $18 million in revenue, taxing only the larger recipients. Mills wants to make the first $1 million of PPP proceeds tax-free, an amount that would exempt 99% of the Maine recipients from paying a levy on proceeds as if they were income. Businesses that received over $1 million in PPP loans during 2020 would be taxed only on the amount above that threshold. Who is eligible for PPP loans Small businesses that employ 300 or fewer people and that experienced a 25% or greater gross revenue loss between comparable periods in 2019 and 2020 due to COVID-19 are eligible to apply for a second forgivable PPP loan. In addition, forgivable overhead expenses are expanded to include supplier costs and investments in facility modi- fications and personal protective equipment needed to operate safely. In recognition of the severe impact that COVID-19 mitigation measures have had on the hospitality sector, in particular, the formula used to calculate the maximum forgivable loan amounts for second draw loans is enhanced for restau- rants and hotels to equal 3.5x average monthly payroll. Small business owners that did not receive a PPP loan in the first round are also eligible to apply. I M A G E / U. S. S E N AT E R U L E S C O M M I T T E E V I D E O S C R E E N I M A G E B I Z M O N E Y U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Wednesday that more than 6,000 Maine businesses have received $462 million in the second round of PPP lending. R E N D E R I N G / C O U R T E S Y S Z A N T O N C O. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E S T A T E W I D E N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N S O U T H E R N N O T E W O R T H Y C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N

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