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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 9 A P R I L 3 , 2 0 2 3 Haley Ward buys Portland firm Bangor-based engineering firm Haley Ward Inc. has made its fourth acquisition of the past year, Final Draft CAD LLC, a building information modeling (BIM) firm based in Portland. e acquisition of the Portland firm will expand the Haley Ward presence in southern Maine. During the transition, the firm will be known to its clients as Final Draft CAD, a division of Haley Ward. 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 C&L Aerospace in Bangor announced the establishment of a sales office in South Africa. Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce said that the leaders of Mi'kmaq Nation voted to become a community member of the organization. Looking for a bank you can trust to be here now and in the future? Bank with a neighbor. During our 170+ years in Maine, we've seen our share of banks come and go, merge, change names or close their doors. In all that time, Bath Savings has been here. We're your neighbors. We live and work in your communities. We know and care about the people who walk through the door, and we strive to provide exceptional service in everything we do. Bank with a neighbor. Call or visit us today. MEMBER FDIC EQUAL HOUSING LENDER 1-800-447-4559 | bathsavings.bank B I Z M O N E Y Small businesses could get slammed by higher visa fees B y A l e x i s W e l l s A bipartisan group led by U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, is urging the Department of Homeland Security to reconsider its plans to more than double the fees businesses pay for H-2A seasonal agricultural and H-2B non-immigrant work visas. Employers currently have to pay a $460 petition fee per guest worker when applying for an H-2A or H-2B visa. The proposed rule would increase this to $1,080 and $1,090 for H2A and H-2B visa petitions. Employers would also have to pay a new $600 asylum pro- gram fee for all petitions to support screening and asylum pro- cessing work done by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. On Jan. 4, DHS proposed increasing application fees charged by immigration services for employment-based and other visas as a result of the agency's staffing shortages, longer processing times and increased asylum claims. "Access and affordability of seasonal agricultural labor is of paramount importance to the continued success of Maine's wild blue - berry industry," said Eric Venturini, executive direc- tor of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine. He said employers already grapple with the high fixed costs of using the program. "This proposed rule would make the H2-A program's fixed costs an insurmountable barrier to farmers that may otherwise rely on this program as a solution to our growing agricultural labor crisis," Venturini said. King was joined by U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V.; Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H; James Risch, R-Idaho; Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.; Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M.; and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F W I L D B L U E B E R R Y C O M M I S S I O N O F M A I N E Fees for work visas could double, from $460 to $1,080. N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N Eric Venturini, executive director for the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine

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