Mainebiz

V O L . X X I X N O. X X I V O C T O B E R 1 6 , 2 0 2 3 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 manager who has served three New England communities prior to join- ing Saco, including Portsmouth, N.H. He will be paid $150,000 a year. e York County city has a popula- tion of 20,669. N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N The University of New England in Biddeford launched its "Doing Our Part" fundraising campaign. The cam- paign will aid in the investment of student programs and infrastructure that will enable the university to provide improved educational experiences. The U.S. Department of Treasury announced that CEI Capital Management, a community devel- opment entity in Brunswick, and Evernorth Rural Ventures, a com- munity development entity based in Burlington, Vt. with an office in Portland, were each awarded $60 million in New Markets Tax Credit capacity. The funding will allow each firm to continue to invest in growing the economies of rural communities nationwide. Waynflete, a private school in Portland, received a two-year grant totaling $50,000 from Unum to support the "Can We? Project." The project grew out of the school's com- mitment to diversity as a condition of excellence and is run by the school's Third Thought Institute for Civic Engagement program. Southworth International Group Inc., a Portland-based manufacturer of B I Z M O N E Y Maine needs another 38,500 homes to meet demand B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n M aine will need an additional 38,500 homes to meet its expected housing demand. That's according to a repor t released Oct. 4 by MaineHousing, the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future and the state Department of Economic and Community Development. Maine has 737,800 homes, meaning the state would need to increase its home stock by 5%. "For many years, we've known that homes are in short supply in Maine, and that prices have been rising out of reach of Maine people. Now, with this study, we have for the first time a detailed understanding of the factors that have contributed to our housing affordability and availabil- ity challenges today, and a clear sense of what we must consider to grow our housing inventory to support our communities and economy in the future," said Greg Payne, senior housing advisor in the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. "These study findings will be invaluable for housing plan- ning going forward, and importantly, will help communities make strong, informed decisions on their housing priorities today and into the future." The "State of Maine Housing Production Study" was released in conjunction with MaineHousing's annual con- ference, held Oct. 4. The study, the first of its kind in Maine, was initiated as part of LD 2003, housing legislation enacted in 2021 that called for analysis of Maine's housing needs to help inform and assist state, municipal and legislative housing policy. Through 2030, Maine could need as many as 45,000 addi- tional homes, based on future population trends, housing mar- ket projections and economic and workforce objectives, the study reported. The Mills administration has invested $285 million to provide incentives to build more housing, resulting in 618 new homes, with 1,126 homes under construction, and 2,187 more homes in the pipeline. By comparison, from 2000 to 2018, the state of Maine only invested $65 million in afford- able housing. A rendering of 55 Weston Ave., a Madison affordable housing development with 36 units. R E N D E R I N G / C O U R T E S Y O F 5 5 W E S T O N AV E . L L C For many years, we've known that homes are in short supply in Maine, and that prices have been rising out of reach of Maine people. — Greg Payne Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future vertical positioning equipment used in manufacturing, assembly, warehous- ing, retail and other facilities, estab- lished the Brian E. McNamara Honor Scholarship by committing $33,000 for three consecutive years until the fund reaches $100,000 in total. McNamara served as president of the company for 28 years. Potential recipi- ents will attend colleges or universi- ties in the U.S. in targeted programs of study that include emphasis on material handling, logistics and supply chain management. As part of its 175 th anniversary, Unum Group said it gifted $175,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maine. Aroma Joe's takes over former bank branch Plans are in the works for Aroma Joe's franchise operator Bob Brennan to open a location at 214 Madison Ave. in Skowhegan. Brennan bought the former KeyBank branch build- ing from KeyBank NA for an undisclosed price. e list price was $325,000. KeyBank was represented by Jon Rizzo and Sasha Phillips of the Boulos Co. and Kristen Schneider of JLL. Brennan was represented by Chris Gallagher and Joe Italiaander, also of the Boulos Co. Brennan already operates three Aroma Joe's in Maine and New Hampshire; with the Skowhegan location, he is in the process of opening another seven locations, in Maine and Florida. N O T E W O R T H Y C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N Housing Resources for Youth, a non- profit organization dedicated to assist- ing homeless students in the Midcoast region, announced the expansion of its services to the city of Auburn. JMG in Augusta announced that it re- ceived a $10.4 million grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation to establish its College Success Program on all the public college campuses in Maine, in partnership with the University of Maine System and the Maine Community College System. The grant is the largest private investment in the organization's history. C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N

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