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V O L . X X I X N O. I V F E B R UA R Y 2 0 , 2 0 2 3 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 Award" was awarded to Safe Voices, a nonprofit in Lewiston dedicated to supporting and empowering those affected by domestic violence, human sex trafficking and sexual exploitation and engaging the community in creat- ing social change in Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties. The award includes a $10,000 grant. Waterville-based startup Pair Technologies said it secured a grant from Maine Technology Institute to support early-stage growth and proto- typing of its product. Midcoast man faces prison time for PPP scam Rockport man faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in Portland to a scheme in which he bilked the federal government of more than $1 million, using part of his ill- gotten gains for a down payment on a sailboat and other luxuries. Mark X. Haley II, 42, filed nine bogus Paycheck Protection Program loan applica- tions at two banks for businesses he controlled, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maine. Haley is accused of listing false employee and payroll information on each application and submitting fraudulent documents to support the false information to the banks. e documentation included fake federal employment tax returns, false timesheets and falsified bank records. "As a result of the scheme, Haley fraudulently obtained $1,010,581 in PPP funds," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. e Internal Revenue Service investigated the case. N O T E W O R T H Y M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T The Maine Community Foundation in Ellsworth awarded a total of $153,000 in grants from its Conservation for All program to 12 nonprofit organizations that promote access to the outdoors. Donors with advised funds at the foun- dation made seven additional grants totaling $34,400. Bath Housing Development Corp. said it received a $150,000 grant from MaineHousing in Augusta to continue its "Comfortably Home" program in 2023. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King announced an award of $1 mil- lion for the conservation of 216 acres of intertidal and freshwater wetlands and adjacent uplands in Trenton. The acquisition will be managed by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in partnership with the Frenchman Bay Conservancy. Husson students launch ad agency A new student-run agency at Husson University is providing pro bono adver- tising and marketing services to area organizations that wouldn't other- wise have access to those services. e Bangor-based university recently marked the opening of the agency with a ribbon- cutting ceremony. "is agency is an important new innovation in hands- on learning," Alban Michaud, a senior in Husson's New England School of Communications marketing communi- cations program, said in a news release. "Student-run agencies like this will help students like me get hired after I gradu- ate." e One Circle Agency is in the Wildey Communications Center. N O T E W O R T H Y N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N Katahdin Bankshares Corp., the par- ent company of Katahdin Trust Co., has appointed Benjamin Carlisle of Bangor and Julie Libby, a Presque Isle native, to its board of directors, effec- tive Jan. 25. B R I E F A Cianbro co-founder remembered for 'creating, inventing, building and improving' B y A n n F i s h e r Y a r m o u t h — An inventor and mechanical genius who co-founded one of Maine's best-known and successful con- struction firms has died at the age of 98. Kenneth "Ken" Cianchette passed away on Feb. 7, at the home of his daughter Jean and her husband Bill Bradshaw in Yarmouth, according to published reports. In the 1940s, Cianchette and his brothers established the company that became Cianbro Corp., which is now Maine's largest construction company. Mechanically minded After graduating from the Maine Central Institute, Cianchette worked on bridge construction with his father until he was drafted at age 18 into the Army, where he was tested and rated as a mechanical genius. Cianchette went to work with his brother Carl after return- ing to Maine in 1946. Along with their brother, Bud, the siblings incorporated as Cianchette Bros., Inc. in 1949. Another brother, Chuck, later joined them. In 1953, he formed Ken Cianchette Inc., focusing on sewer and water projects, bridges and buildings, and then returned to Cianchette Bros (later Cianbro Corp.) in 1961. Not long after, Cianchette invented and patented the Chinbro pipe grab and beam clamp, which made it easier to do the jobs for which he and his brothers were hired. The inven- tions resulted in the formation of Chinbro Manufacturing Inc., and today these tools are used in construction worldwide. "Creating, inventing, building and improving are action verbs that appealed to Ken, a deep thinker and pragmatic 'doer' always," his obituary published by Legacy noted. In the 1970s Cianchette invented a giant peat moss harvest- ing machine nicknamed Martian Bigfoot that harvested peat from bogs in Downeast Maine. At the property he owned in the 1960s and '70s on Lake Winnecook in Unity, he built a party barge using recovered airplane pontoons and a wooden platform, and a unique steel tippy tower for the children in his family. "Whether it was heavy machinery, a child's parade float or a Husky mascot costume, if he could dream it, Ken could build it," his obituary noted. Cianchette used the GI Bill to become a private pilot, a pas- sion that continued his entire adult life and which he shared with his brother Chuck. He was known as Maine's "Red Baron" after his friend Hap Mathews helped him build a replica of a Fokker DR1 Triplane in which Cianchette performed aerobatic stunts on weekends at the Owl's Head Transportation Museum. On his 90th birthday, he flew his 1985 Cessna 185 to his birthday party and was presented a plaque by the FAA for 50 years of Dedicated Service in Aviation Safety. Cianchette, who in 1949 married the late Nina "Evie" Cianchette, nee Lancaster, lived in Pittsfield for almost 80 years and served on the town council, the planning board, the Industrial Park Board and the SAD 53 School Board. He also served on the Unity College board of trustees for 24 years and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree and later had a dormitory named after him. Whether it was heavy machinery, a child's parade float or a Husky mascot costume, if he could dream it, Ken could build it. — Ken Cianchette's obituary P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F L E G A C Y. C O M Ken Cianchette and his brothers Carl and Bud incorporated as Cianchette Bros. Inc. in 1949. Cianchette, a passionate pilot and inventor, died on Feb. 7. M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N

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