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V O L . X X X I N O. X X I V O C T O B E R 2 0 , 2 0 2 5 6 MEMIC pays out $19M dividend Portland-based MEMIC Group, a workers' compensation insurance pro- vider, plans to pay a $19 million annual dividend to more than 17,000 eligible policyholders in Maine. e divi- dend amount was calculated based on MEMIC's financial performance, claims experience and the collective success of policyholders in maintaining safe work- places in 2022, the company said. Since 1988, the company has returned more than $389 million in dividends to policy- holders across all 16 Maine counties. e $19 million distribution represents an 11% return of premiums paid by eligible policyholders in 2022 and will be distrib- uted next month. Last year's dividend payment amounted to $18.7 million. MEMIC, which is licensed to write workers' compensation coverage across all 50 states, said it partners with nearly 21,000 employers and supports around one million of their employees through safety services and injury management. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E Maine Trust for Local News said that 50 of its employees voted to join the News Guild of Maine. The newest members include reporters, photogra- phers, copy editors, designers, advertis- ing representatives and business staff at the Sun Journal in Lewiston and the Times Record in Brunswick, as well as the weekly newspapers and newslet- ters in southern and western Maine. Red Cross center gets upgrade e Portland donor center of the American Red Cross of Northern New England has undergone a $4.5 million renovation to its facility at 524 Forest Ave. Federal, state and local officials, along with Red Cross volunteers and employees, celebrated with a ribbon cut- ting on Oct. 6. e site serves 24 hospi- tals and treatment centers in Maine. e upgrades enhanced training capabili- ties, increased the facility's capacity for disaster response supplies and strength- ened Red Cross operations throughout the state. In the past fiscal year, the Red Cross collected more than 45,500 blood 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 The American dream sewn into every stitch B y R e n e e C o r d e s T o the sounds of African gos- pel music, stitchers seated at sewing machines are attach- ing sleeves, pockets and zip- pers onto thick green and blue garments piling up on tables around the room. Working in a 40,000-square-foot, light-infused factory inside Westbrook's Dana Warp Mill, they're making hoodies, jackets, T-shirts and custom apparel for American Roots, a clothing manufacturer founded in 2015. It sells in bulk to unions and business organizations. Stitchers work in teams, supervised by two floor leads who started as stitchers themselves. "We make sure the work is flowing nicely, and we check also the quality," Makenga Tshibwabwa, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, explains over the steady hum of sewing machines. Ragad Abo Aljaaz, who hails from Iraq, laughs about how at home "I call my daughter 'Matenga' because I think in the day I say 'Matenga' 100 times." Both are part of a close-knit community of immigrants representing 10 nationalities in the 75-strong workforce. An American flag hangs on the wall. "We work as a family," Tshibwabwa says as colleagues stand for a guided stretching break. Building a workforce Ben and Whitney Waxman founded American Roots in 2015, inspired in part by Ben's mother Dory Waxman, who ran a woolen goods business in Portland. With American Roots, the couple set out to produce high-quality, union-made apparel sourced 100% domestically and rebuild manufacturing in a more just and sustainable way. Undeterred by the lack of skilled textile workers, they created a workforce trained to sew at a school founded by Dory. Today, the company relies on around two dozen sew- ers to produce around 2,000 to 3,500 garments a week. American Roots gets its materials from about a dozen suppli- ers, using cotton that's grown in Texas, ginned in Alabama, spun in South Carolina and finished and dyed in North Carolina. The fabric is cut and sewn into garments that are inspected twice before proceeding to stock inventory or for finishing touches like embroidery or screen printing. Defective items that can't be fixed on the factory floor are donated to local organizations. Ups and downs The business has had its challenges, including a $250,000 loss in 2019 from bad fabric and retooling operations dur- ing the pandemic. Now in expansion mode, American Roots aims to soon add another 1,500 square feet for production, boost its sales team in 2026 after tripling the number this year and bring more processes in-house as it did with screen print- ing a few years ago. While bricks-and-mortar retail is a longer-term possibility, "we're very intentional in everything that we do," Whitney says. Reflecting on the entrepreneurial roller coaster, Ben says that "what we've done is not for the thin-skinned, but it has been the most beautiful, most incredible, hardest thing I've ever done in my life." What's the payoff? "We make the best sweatshirt in America," he says. SP ONSORED BY We make the best sweatshirt in America. — Ben Waxman American Roots P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Ben Waxman and Whitney Reynolds Waxman, founders and owners of American Roots, in Westbrook American Roots, based at Dana Mill Warp in Westbrook, is staffed by a 75-strong workforce composed mainly of immigrants representing 10 nationalities.

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