Mainebiz

V O L . X X X N O. X I V J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 2 4 6 Charging stations planned for 17 spots Maine plans to install 52 high-speed electric vehicle charging stations in 17 locations around Maine in the coming year. e charging net- work is expanding to serve travelers on heavily traveled highways and roads — such as Interstate 95, U.S. Route 2, U.S. Route 302 and some roads in Portland and Bangor — and to support outdoor recreation and university communities. e instal- lation will draw on $5.7 million from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program and $2.8 million from the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E The Maine Community College System announced that its gradu- ates can now transfer directly to degree programs at six of Maine's independent four-year colleges under the new Maine Transfer Guarantee. Under the program, community col- lege graduates meeting GPA require- ments are guaranteed admission in programs at College of the Atlantic, Husson University, Thomas College, Saint Joseph's College of Maine, Unity Environmental University and University of New England. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection received $254,000 in grant funding to assist in conducting water quality monitoring and public notifica- tion programs for Maine beaches. Two Portland-area companies announce layoffs ON Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq: ON), which two years ago sold off its South Portland factory, is now shutter- ing the company's only outpost in Maine and laying off 53 Maine employees. e Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company's offices at 82 Running Hill Road, South Portland, will close "as part of our ongo- ing efforts to optimize our global foot- print," said Stefanie Cuene, ON senior public relations manager, in a statement to Mainebiz. In Portland, the animal- health company Covetrus laid off an unspecified number of employees as part of a restructuring. While the company declined to say how many positions were eliminated and why, some employ- ees took to LinkedIn to comment on the decision and update their profiles. N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N Evernorth, a nonprofit organization in Portland that provides affordable housing and community investments in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, an- nounced that it closed its Housing New England Fund V on May 30. Fifteen in- vestors committed a total of $61 million in equity to finance affordable housing. Opus Consulting, a business advisory firm in Portland, announced it is cel- ebrating its 15-year anniversary. Vizconnect, a business development consulting firm in Portland, said that Temba Mahaka, CEO, joined the team for the development of Presumpscot Woods, a 60-unit market rate town- home project on 14 acres off Hope and Allen avenues in Portland. CrossFit 321 in Topsham will be mov- ing to 6 Center Park Road, Unit #4. Atlantic Federal Credit Union Foundation in South Portland awarded a total of $20,000 in scholarships to five graduating high school students. The MaineHealth Preble Street Learning Collaborative introduced its new mobile health unit to provide low-barrier, on- demand treatment for unhoused people suffering from psychiatric and substance use disorders in Greater Portland. Partners Bank in Sanford donated $80,000 to the expansion of the Sanford- Springvale YMCA Early Learning Center. Derelict Bethel building to be converted to housing Work is underway in Bethel to rede- velop the Gehring House, a home dat- ing to 1896, into nine middle-income apartments for the local workforce. e property, at 77 Broad St., is owned by the Northern Forest Center. Plans call for six one-bedroom and two two- bedroom apartments, and one studio unit. e redevelopment, expected to cost $3.4 million, addresses the need for affordable housing. Woodhull, a Portland architecture, construction and millwork firm, is the project's architect and construction manager. Work is being subcontracted to local contrac- tors and suppliers, including Clean Cut Painting, Community Energy, Cross Excavation, Hancock Lumber, 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 C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N The 'dog days' of an early edition of Mainebiz B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n T oday, it wouldn't seem unusual in a workplace of remote work, Zoom calls and pandemic puppies in the office to hear a dog barking during an important conference or meeting. Yet, as we look back on the early days of Mainebiz, we see that the publication devoted an entire issue to dogs on June 11, 2001. It was billed as "a celebration of canines in the work- place." The cover had a man dressed in a business suit and tie with a dog's head photoshopped in. There was a special feature on "Maine's booming dog- products industry." There was a profile of G.G. Bean Inc., whose products include Skunk Kleen, which rids your dogs of the dreaded skunk smell. Another story urged dog-owners to take part in Take Your Dog to Work Day on June 22 of that year. A lawyer penned a guest column, "Working like a dog: the legal ramifications of bring- ing your pooch to the office, the tattoo parlor or the museum." She said while some employ- ers poo-poo the idea of bringing a dog to work, often it's the landlord that can be "the spoil- ers in an otherwise pro- PITWP atmosphere," seemingly coining an acronym for "pets in the workplace." A feature story indicated that workplaces with dogs offered higher productivity and happier, healthier employees. And that's not to say how the dog benefits. "Staff will go out and take walks with Morgan at lunch," one employee said of her dog's social life at work. "My dog is hardly my dog anymore — he's busy, he's outside with people. It's great for staff morale." SP ONSORED BY FUN FACT: The June 11, 2001, issue of Mainebiz featured a list of the top Maine colleges and universities. Interestingly, the tuition for Colby, Bates and Bowdoin ranged from $25,890 to $32,750. Today, those figures are closer to $60,000 — plus room and board. M A I N E B I Z A R C H I V E C OV E R

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