Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I I N O. V I I I A P R I L 1 8 , 2 0 2 2 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 members by an average of 17% to 21% over the next two years. e collec- tive bargaining agreement increased hourly wages immediately by $3.50 to $5.50, according to a news release from the Maine AFL-CIO, which includes Preble Street United (Maine Service Employees Association-Service Employees International Union Local 1989). e new contract, ratified by Preble Street, also sets a minimum of $18 an hour for all staff and a minimum $40,000 per year salary for all full-time employees. Preble Street, which has over 300 employees, became unionized in June 2019. SBA to honor Portland entrepreneur e U.S. Small Business Administration said that its Maine Small Business Person of the Year is Tyler Frank, owner and founder of Garbage to Garden, a composting service head- quartered in Portland. Frank was selected for the award based on the growth of his business, his commit- ment to environmental sustainability, and support for community orga- nizations through volunteering and donations, the SBA said in a news release. Frank launched the business in 2012, and in 2014 was named to the Mainebiz Next List. Garbage to Garden works on a subscription basis, hauling away kitchen scraps for use in the company's composting facili- ties, then returning the end product to customers. It serves 11,000 business and residential customers in southern Maine and the Boston area. N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N Sollensys Corp., a cyber security com- pany in Palm Bay, Fla., announced that Constant, a financial technology com- pany in Falmouth, will be integrating its blockchain data archiving solution into its financial services platform. Sweetser, a mental health care pro- vider in Saco, said it was awarded a $15,000 grant from the Maine Community Foundation's COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund to support people living with mental illness or substance use disorder. ToGather, a wellness co-op, opened at 24 Pearl St. in Biddeford. BioConnects New England and Maine Molecular Quality Controls Inc. in Saco announced a partnership to create a biomanufacturing indus- try cluster in the New England region through academic excellence and strategic programming. Girl Scouts of Maine in South Portland said that Joanne Crepeau will retire in May 2022. Crepeau spent 19 years with the organiza- tion, the last nine as CEO. Waban, a Sanford-based provider of services for people with disabili- ties, donated $25,000 to Keystone Moldova, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing sustain- able community-based services for people with disabilities. The dona- tion will be used to help Ukrainian refugees with disabilities. ORPC Inc., a renewable energy company in Portland, announced a partnership with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in Palmer, Alaska to test its RivGen Power System at the Upper Cook Inlet indus- trial and commercial port facility of Port MacKenzie, Alaska. The system, which harnesses clean, sustainable energy from free-flowing tidal and river currents, will be trialed to power cathodic protec- tion systems which safeguard the Port's underwater assets. B R I E F UMaine Augusta's new president will start in August B y J e s s i c a H a l l A u g u s t a — The University of Maine at Augusta's new president will be Michael Laliberte, currently president of the State University of New York at Delhi. Laliberte's three-year appointment begins Aug. 1, and comes after a national search. UMA's longtime provost, Joe Szakas, has been interim president since August 2021, when Rebecca Wyke, who had led the university since 2015, returned to state service to be the CEO of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System. Laliberte brings more than three decades of higher educa- tion experience to UMA, Maine's third-largest public university with 3,100 students. Since 2016, he has served as president of the SUNY at Delhi, where he added 19 new degree programs to address local and state workforce needs, launched initiatives to improve student success, grew philanthropic giving and oversaw $42 million in capital projects. Previously, Laliberte served as vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management from 2010 to 2016 at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, which enrolled nearly 30,000 students at the time. He also served in a similar role at Boise State University, with more than 19,000 students. "Like nearly half of UMA's students, Dr. Laliberte was the first in his family to attend college, and he understands the proven power of affordable postsecondary education in advancing social mobility," University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy said in a news release. "As working Mainers increasingly realize the importance of a postsecondary degree or credential to achieving their personal and professional potential, UMA is uniquely well positioned to meet the reskilling and upskilling needs of life- long learners, especially adults, veterans, transfer students and those with some college but no degree or credential." Raised in Rhode Island, Laliberte earned his doctoral degree in educational leadership in higher education from Johnson & Wales University; a master's degree in college student development and counseling from Northeastern University; a bachelor's degree in human development, coun- seling, and family studies from the University of Rhode Island; and an Advanced Certificate of Fundraising Management from Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Separately, Malloy is expected to name a new president for the University of Southern Maine and an interim president for the University of Maine at Farmington before June 30. UMA offers postsecondary education and workforce training through its main campuses in Augusta and Bangor, online, and at UMA Centers in Brunswick, East Millinocket, Ellsworth, Houlton, Lewiston, Rockland, Rumford and Saco, and 30 community sites. More than half of UMA's students are 25 or older. The university has 342 employees. Established in 1968, the University of Maine System comprises Maine's seven public universities, including 10 campuses and numerous satellite locations. The system serves more than 30,000 students annually and has over 5,000 faculty and staff. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A I N E S Y S T E M Michael Laliberte will have a three-year contract at UMA. Like nearly half of UMA's students, [he] was the first in his family to attend college. — Dannel Malloy UMaine System

• Cover