Mainebiz

V O L . X X X N O. X X V I N OV E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 2 4 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 provides meals, family caregiver sup- port, advice on insurance and drug ben- efits, classes to help folks age well and information on community resources. e services help individuals remain securely housed at a fraction of the cost of nursing home or institutional care alternatives., the agency says. N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N NBT Bancorp Inc. in Portland report- ed net income for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2024 was $38.1 million, or $0.80 per diluted common share, compared to $24.6 million, or $0.54 per diluted common share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2023, and $32.7 million, or $0.69 per diluted common share, for the second quarter of 2024. ORPC, a marine energy company based in Portland, announced that ORPC Ireland and Queen's University Belfast successfully deployed and commenced testing of a next genera- tion marine hydrokinetic turbine at the Strangford Lough Tidal Test Site. A ribbon cutting was held for the Biddeford Regional Center of Technology's new $7 million expan- sion. The project was funded by the Maine Department of Education. Partners Bank in Sanford donated a total of $30,000 to 19 food pantries in Southern Maine and Northern New Hampshire. Mainely Veterinary Dentistry in Windham said it is the first company in Maine to purchase a Cone Beam CT machine that takes 3-D x-rays of an animal's skull to help to identify oral health issues as well as other diseases, including cancer. The Maine Department of Education unveiled the Maine Outdoor Learning Pavilion on Mackworth Island in Falmouth. The pavilion is the latest addi- tion to the department's Maine Outdoor Learning Initiative, which has connected 14,000 students to high-quality outdoor learning programs since 2021. Moosehead effort focuses on nurse training Northern Light CA Dean Hospital in Greenville is offering a free train- ing program for people who want to pursue a career as a certified nursing assistant. Certified nursing assistants support both patients and nurses. Duties include taking vital signs, docu- menting, transporting and providing basic care and assistance with activi- ties of daily living such as bathing and feeding. Students accepted into the course will receive training at no cost and be paid for time spent learning in the classroom and hospital. ose who complete the course and the state board examination will receive certification and transition to full-time positions at CA Dean Hospital. N O T E W O R T H Y C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N Kennebec Behavioral Health and Crisis & Counseling Centers in Augusta will be joining forces on Dec. 1, 2024, in order to offer a broader range of services. Downeast lab will invest $4M in housing e Downeast Institute, a marine research lab on Great Wass Island in the Washington County town of Beals, recently launched the public phase of its campaign to raise $4 million for housing, operating investments and other capital priorities. e need for additional housing is pressing, Dianne Tilton, the institute's executive director, B R I E F Portland puts any new hotel development on hold for 6 months B y W i l l i a m H a l l H otel developers will have to cool their heels until nearly next summer before launching new lodgings in Portland, thanks to a moratorium imposed Nov. 4 by the City Council. The six-month freeze on new hotel development begins in December and is intended to give the council time to reexamine Portland's inclusionary zoning ordinance. The rule requires hoteliers hoping to build guest rooms in the city to also build affordable housing — or pay a fee instead. The requirement is similar to one Portland places on hous- ing developers, who must include one unit of affordable- or workforce-priced housing for every three market-rate units in a building of 10 residences or more. The opt-out fee for housing projects is $178,000 per unit of required housing. Hotel developers have to create one unit of affordable housing for every 28 guest rooms they want to build. The opt-out fee is $4,700 per room. The fee-in-lieu payments go to a city trust fund and even- tually support efforts to address the worsening shortage of affordable housing in Portland. But the city's inclusionary zoning ordinance — adopted in 2015 and modified in 2020 — has not spurred hotel developers to build a single unit of housing. City Councilors Pious Ali and Kate Sykes, who proposed the moratorium, said it's simply cheaper to pay the fees. For example, the developer of a 28-room hotel would need to spend at least $370,000 on a low-income apartment, while the opt-out price is about $131,000. "This discrepancy demonstrates why the current fee does not meet the ordinance's affordable housing goals and how allowing additional hotel development without adjustments could exacerbate serious public harm during a housing crisis," Ali and Sykes wrote in a memo support- ing the proposal. It passed in a 6-2 vote, with Mayor Mark Dion and Councilor Roberto Rodriguez opposed, and will take effect Dec. 4. M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N F I L E P H O T O / R E N E E C O R D E S The developer of a 28-room hotel would need to spend at least $370,000 on a low-income apartment, while the opt- out price is about $131,000 Portland has seen a surge in hotel development over recent years, including construction of the Longfellow, shown here as work was wrapping up in May.

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