Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I N O. X V J U LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 1 18 R E A L E S TAT E / C O N S T R U C T I O N / E N G I N E E R I N G F O C U S Both of its Portland buildings are currently open to employees, ven- dors and visitors, according to Claire Conan, the HR leader of the com- pany's back-to-work initiative. Under an agreement that pre-dates the pandemic, WEX is subletting space in its smaller building on Fore Street to Northeastern University's Roux Institute and an art gallery that's coming soon. While WEX does not mandate vaccinations for employees, it requires anyone who enters its buildings to complete a health screening survey — staff can do so via a phone app — nor is it requiring employees to return to the office until next year. On the real estate front, WEX plans to keep the two buildings open for employees and has consolidated away from some of its older facili- ties while holding off on a $50 million office building project in Scarborough, as it said in October. However, "we remain excited and steadfast to provide employees the office structure that will best fit the future," says Safet Cobaj, WEX's vice president for global real estate. Remote or hybrid work also extends to nonprofits. At the Maine Association of Nonprofits, half the staff is currently working in its office on Congress Street in Portland while the other half is remote as the group looks at hybrid event formats and vir- tual offerings to reach more audiences, according to Kelly McCormack, the organization's development and mar- keting manager. Similarly in Beals, the Downeast Institute — which operates the state's first and only public shellfish hatch- ery—is not requiring people who have been working remotely during the pan- demic to return to the office. "ey're doing it by choice," says Executive Director Dianne Tilton, who leads a staff of 14. "As I look to retirement in the next five to seven years, and others do as well, it opens up our potential candidate pool because administrative jobs can very easily be done remotely." » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E You forget the energy you get from each other. It has been nothing short of joyful to have everybody back together. — Wendy Durrah Bangor Savings Bank Expert tips for making remote work L uke Thomas is the South Portland-based founder of Friday, a venture capital- backed communications platform for remote-work teams, and co-author of "The Anywhere Operating System: How to lead your team and run a business from anywhere," a recently released book available on Amazon. His tips for working remotely shared with Mainebiz: 1. Meetings are best for collabora- tion, brainstorming and building better relationships, not for sharing information and status updates. 2. The reason why people like remote work is because of the flexibility that it provides. Lean into that. 3. Don't take working from home literally. Consider getting involved in the community or meeting neighbors to replace the social interaction you miss from the office. P H O T O S / C O U R T E S Y O F L U K E T H O M A S

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