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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 7 M AY 5 , 2 0 2 5 Growth council hire to focus on business development Central Maine Growth Council has appointed Kaitlyn Philbrick to the role of innovation and development coordinator. Philbrick will support the Waterville-based organization's mis- sion to drive economic growth, foster innovation and strengthen workforce development across the region. In her new role, she will focus on expanding programs like Dirigo Labs and the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Resource Center. N O T E W O R T H Y C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N The University of Maine at Augusta moved its York County location, the Saco Center, to 209 Main St. in Saco. Feds pull plug on UMaine wind-power funding Funding for cutting-edge offshore wind research at the University of Maine has been paused by the U.S. Department of Energy for vague alleged non-compliance with THANK YOU F O R Y O U R G E N E R O U S S U P P O R T JUNE 4 5-7 PM TH OCEAN GATEWAY PORTLAND Honoring Arnie Macdonald AND RAISING MONEY FOR CIVIL LEGAL AID IN MAINE Honoring Arnie Macdonald AND RAISING MONEY FOR CIVIL LEGAL AID IN MAINE ACCESS-TO-JUSTICE AWARD CEREMONY SENATOR EDMUND S. MUSKIE BANGOR SAVINGS BANK BERMAN & SIMMONS BERNSTEIN SHUR CAMDEN FOUNDATION CATHERINE LEE & ROBERT MOYER COFFEE BY DESIGN DRUMMOND WOODSUM GARMEY LAW HANCOCK LUMBER HANNAFORD JOHN T. GORMAN FOUNDATION MAINE BEER COMPANY MAINE JUSTICE FOUNDATION MAINE STATE BAR ASSOCIATION MARTIN'S POINT PIERCE ATWOOD PRETI FLAHERTY UNUM WEX Q: How do you change the legal status of an LLC to an S-Corp? ACE advises: I get this question every tax season. Every season, I explain: under state law, there's no such thing as an S-Corp, per se. You form your entity under state law (in your case an LLC), and then you elect S-Corp status with the IRS. If you're already an LLC, you or your accountant can make the election by filing IRS Form 2553. To give you an idea of how straightforward this is, Form 2553 is also known as the "tick the box" form, because that is all the election requires. No lawyer needed, though I (or any other lawyer) would appreciate the heads up. Accountants usually recommend the election to reduce self-employment taxes. A single-member LLC reports business income directly on a 1040 and pays self- employment tax on all net income (covering Social Security and Medicare). Electing S-Corp status lets you treat part of your income as payroll (subject to employ- ment tax) and part as profit (potentially avoiding some tax). Whether it benefits you is case-specific — your accountant has likely already crunched the numbers. To qualify, your business must: 1. Be a domestic corporation or LLC (not a partnership) 2. Have only eligible owners (U.S. individuals, some trusts, estates) 3. Have no more than 100 owners 4. Have one class of stock 5. Not be otherwise ineligible (rare for small businesses, so I won't go into it here) You will still be an LLC, just with a different tax treatment. I might suggest updating your operating agreement to protect your election status, but otherwise, there's little for your lawyer to do. Also, your lawyer would appreciate a call if you add a non-resident alien to your membership, add a hundred and first member, or want to add another class of shares to your cap table. Before electing, be sure you understand the additional administrative work and potential costs. Your accountant is the best person to advise you on that. A S K AC E B y C a r r i e G r e e n Y a r d l e y , Y a r d l e y E s q . P L L C The Association for Consulting Expertise (ACE) is a nonprofit association of independent consultants who value "Success through Collaboration." The public is welcome to attend its regular meetings to share best practices and engage with industry experts. For more information go to www.consultexpertise.com. Carrie Green Yardley, founder of Yardley Esq. PLLC, is vice president of ACE and a contributing writer to Mainebiz. Her firm represents small business clients from formation through succession. Carrie can be reached at carrie@yardleyesq.com 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

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