Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 7 F E B R UA R Y 2 4 , 2 0 2 5 The scholarship, funded by a $100,000 donation from alumna Rhonda Blanchette Loveitt, honors the legacy of her aunt, Simone M. Blanchette, and the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing. BlueWave, a solar developer, owner and operator in Boston, announced a fi- nancing round supporting its communi- ty solar portfolio in Maine. The $118.2 million in financing includes a debt raise of $48.2 million with City National Bank and a tax equity raise of $70 million with First American Commercial Bancorp Inc., which support equipment and infrastructure utilized across four community solar project sites. The School of Business at the University of Southern Maine in Portland said it extended its business accredi- tation with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. St.Germain, an environmental consult- ing, regulatory compliance and engi- neering firm in Westbrook, announced it was acquired by Aventia, a platform providing comprehensive environmental service solutions in Lakewood, Colo. VIP Tires expands New England footprint VIP Tires & Service recently acquired a third and fourth service center in Connecticut, expanding the Auburn-based company's New England footprint to 76 locations. In Maine, the company operates 35 service facilities from Madawaska to Arundel. Within days, VIP acquired Tires International, of Manchester, Conn., in suburban Hartford, and Wallingford Tire & Auto, 20 minutes north of New Haven, Conn. N O T E W O R T H Y C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N Androscoggin Bank in Lewiston pro- vided the second of three $10,000 con- tributions to the town of Jay to continue efforts to support workforce, community, economic and leadership development in response to the closure of Pixelle Specialty Solutions' paper mill. Norway Savings Bank donated $10,000 to the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs in Portland. The bank also announced that Maine Veterans' Home in South Paris was the recipient of $10,000 as its "Patricia Weigel Pay It Forward Award" winner. A noted Belfast property goes on market Less than two weeks after aban- doning its proposal to build a land-based salmon farm in Belfast, Nordic Aquafarms Inc. has listed its 53.9-acre property with a real estate firm for $2 million. Located at 285 Northport Ave., the major development site was previously permitted for up to 807,254 square feet of industrial space. e Porta & Co. listing touts ocean views, U.S. Route 1 frontage and zoning that allows for residential, hospital- ity and industrial uses. e site was the original location of the Belfast Water District and includes two garages and a brick building. N O T E W O R T H Y M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor said it is the first school in the U.S. to fully eliminate disposable plastic food ware in all retail dining operations. $58M Y proposed for Bangor e Bangor Region YMCA expects to break ground later this year for its $57.8 million facility, with a goal to open in the spring of 2027. e Y unveiled plans ursday with the start of the public phase of its capital campaign. So far, $31.2 mil- lion has been raised. e goal is to raise another $13.8 million by June 30. at amount will qualify the Y for $10 million from an undisclosed funding source. Bill would allow logging at age 16 Proposed federal legislation aims to develop the next generation of Maine's forest products workforce by allowing young Mainers to train in their family's logging business. e change would allow 16-year-olds to work in their families' logging busi- nesses under parental supervision — something already possible on farms but illegal in the logging industry. e goal is to jumpstart professional development and protect small busi- nesses. e measure is backed by the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast. 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 Hollywood Casino in Bangor donated $100,000 to the Bangor Y's Capital Campaign. The funds came from money collected at its parking garage during the 2024 summer concert season. Presque Isle Housing Authority, sup- ported by funding through a grant from USDA Rural Development to the Genesis Community Loan Fund in Brunswick, acquired a 12-unit multifamily rental property in the town of Mapleton ensur- ing it remains affordable. 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 N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N P O L I T I C S & C O. Collins: Save our shipyard workers B y T i n a F i s c h e r U .S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., have urged the U.S. Navy to block potential staffing reductions at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard by exempting workers from the Trump administration's deferred resignation program for federal employees. In a Feb. 11 letter to acting Secretary of the Navy Terrence G. Emmert, the senators warned that any reduction in staffing at the Kittery-based facility would "jeopardize our nation's security by increasing submarine maintenance timelines," and called shipyard workers, "critical members of our defense industrial base." Adding that, "the People's Republic of China is rapidly expanding its nuclear weapons programs," Collins and Shaheen stated, "the role that our own submarines play in the survivability of our nuclear triad cannot be overstated. "Our shipyards cannot afford to reduce their workforces. In fact, [the shipyard] needs to hire 550 workers annually just to meet Navy demand for the foreseeable future." The senators went on to ask Emmert to work with the fed- eral Office of Personnel Management to provide an exception for employees not only at the shipyard but also for, "other parts of the defense industrial base." The letter was dated Feb. 11, the day before the Trump administration ended the signup period for workers to accept the deferred resignation program. Nationwide, unions representing 800,000 workers had sued to halt the program and on Feb. 6, a federal judge agreed to do so, until Feb. 12, when the hold was lifted. Details are not yet available on how many, if any, shipyard workers accepted the buyout, or if the senators' requested exemption, if enacted, could be used to rescind offers to workers who had agreed to early retirement. Mainebiz reached out to Collins office and to the Metal Trades Council, which is the largest union at the shipyard, but did not receive callbacks. Collins and Shaheen stated in the letter that the shipyard employs close to 8,000 civilians, and creates "more than $1.5 billion in annual economic impact in surrounding communities." Collins is chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Shaheen is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and co-chair of the U.S. Senate Navy Caucus. F I L E P H O T O / W I L L I A M H A L L Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, pictured from the Piscataqua River, employs 8,000 people.

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