Mainebiz

V O L . X X X N O. X I I M AY 2 7 , 2 0 2 4 6 Jobless rate edges downward Maine's unemployment rate edged down to 3.1% in April from 3.3% in March, according to preliminary data released May 17 by the Maine Department of Labor. e state's unemployment rate has been below 4% for 29 months, the second such longest period on record. April's jobless rate was below the 3.3% average across the six New England states and 3.9% for the U.S. as a whole. Maine non-farm wage and salary jobs were little changed at 656,200, up by only 500 after a small downward revision for March. e number of jobs is essen- tially unchanged so far in 2024, accord- ing to the Labor Department. Jobs are 11,100 higher than a year ago, with health care and social services accounting for more than half of the gain following a slower-than-average recovery in that sector in the first two years after the start of the pandemic. Among the state's three metropolitan areas, unemploy- ment was below the statewide average in Portland-South Portland and close to the average in Bangor and Lewiston-Auburn. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded a total of $15,000 in literacy grants to five Maine nonprofit organiza- tions, libraries and schools. The Maine Department of Transportation announced that it ap- plied for $456 million in grant funding from the federal government to help construct the East Coast's first float- ing offshore wind port on a portion of state-owned Sears Island that is reserved for port development. Museum clears hurdle on expansion After months-long public debate, the Portland City Council on May 20 removed a downtown building's historic designation — and along with it, a major obstacle to the Portland Museum of Art's planned $100 million expansion. e museum, which owns the 19th-century building at 142 Free St., had requested that it be reclassi- fied as a "non-contributing structure" in the Congress Street Historic District. e change is necessary if the PMA, whose campus abuts the property, is to move forward with a massive build-out. Under the museum's plan, 142 Free St. would be demolished to make room for a 60,000-square-foot addition, dou- bling the PMA's footprint. Both the Portland Historic Preservation Board and the Portland Planning Board had previously rejected the reclassification request. But with the final say, the city council on May 6 took up the mat- ter in a marathon meeting that drew dozens of strongly worded comments from the public. On May 20, after approving a wording revision, council- ors voted 6-3 to approve the reclassifi- cation. Mayor Mark Dion, Councilor Regina Phillips and Councilor Pious Ali voted in opposition. Coworking site inks deal in Portland Cloudport Coworking is expanding in Portland, with plans to open a second hub on the city's East End close to the existing space on Federal Street. Josh Corbeau, who owns Cloudport with Nik Caner-Medley, told Mainebiz that the company will lease the entire second floor of 16 Middle St., measuring 11,000 square feet, with an option to buy at a later date. at option was of "vital importance in proceeding and taking the space," he said. Corbeau said that no real estate company was involved in the listing or negotiating of the space. He also said that Fred Forsley of Shipyard Brewing Co. was instrumental in making the deal happen, along with Karyn MacLeod at Katahdin Bank & Trust Co. and the Finance Authority of Maine. e building is owned by Bateman Partners LLC. N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N The Department of Labor announced an incremental award of $696,085 to Coastal Counties Workforce Inc. in B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E S O U T H E R N A Mainebiz contributor with ties to the salt water B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n J ohn N. Cole, who died in 2003, was a well-known outdoors writer, editor of the Brunswick Times- Record and co-founder (along with Peter Cox) of the alternative weekly Maine Times. An editor for the Boston Globe once said Cole "knew every cove and inlet on Maine's coastline," according to his obituary in the New York Times, which added that he may have been best-known as an "environmental crusader," lobbying against deforestation and hunting. For a Maine Times story about an oil refinery that was proposed for Trenton, outside Acadia National Park, he dispatched a reporter to a New Jersey refinery to "describe its pollutant effects." In the mid-1990s, Cole was also a frequent Mainebiz contributor. For Mainebiz, Cole wrote a cover story about the Portland Fish Exchange. He spent time on the Portland Harbor with the Portland Pilots Inc., including one captain known as "Midnight Earl" Walker. "The Port of Portland has always been ruled by its tides," he wrote in the July 1996 issue of Mainebiz. "It is the moon that sets the schedule, not the sun. For tides are clocks that regulate all ships…" But, as a proxy for Mainebiz, he occasionally took on more mundane land-borne assignments. When Macy's opened at the Maine Mall, he wrote that he "felt obligated to visit the South Portland Macy's, where, with eyes unclouded by constant spritzing from free perfumes, I might get a true pic- ture of just what this retailing change might mean to Greater Portland." He begrudgingly noted that, while he missed Macy's predecessor, Jordan Marsh, he conceded that "Greater Portland could use a bit more hipness." SP ONSORED BY FUN FACT: The June 1996 issue of Mainebiz featured a full-page ad for T.O.N.Y. Baloney's restaurant, which was at 40 Wharf St. in the Old Port. The advertise- ment was a likeness of T.O.N.Y.'s menu and featured subs for as little as $4.95 and "Roman-style" pizza for $7.95. Plus, delivery was free for orders over $10. B I Z A R C H I V E P H O T O John N. Cole was an outdoors writer and co-founder of Maine Times. In the mid- 1990s, he was also a Mainebiz contributor. B I Z C L I P P I N G B I Z C L I P P I N G

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