Mainebiz

V o l . X X I N o. I Ja N ua r y 1 2 , 2 0 1 5 6 Maine blueberry crop had banner year Maine's blueberry harvest in 2014 is expected to be the second largest ever in the state's history, accord- ing to a wild blueberry specialist at the University of Maine. David Yarborough told the Ellsworth American the final harvest count is expected to reach 105 million or 110 million pounds, beating out 2012's 91.1 million. at would rank 2014 right behind Maine's largest crop in 2000, when 110.6 million pounds of wild blueberries were harvested. e offi- cial count isn't expected until later in January, according to the newspaper. UMaine has been tracking wild blue- berry harvests since 1924. Feds OK Verso-NewPage merger Verso Paper Corp. has cleared a major hurdle in its bid to buy larger competitor NewPage for $1.4 billion after reach- ing a settlement with federal antitrust regulators, thus creating implications for NewPage's mill in Rumford and Verso's shuttered mill in Bucksport. e Bangor Daily News reported that NewPage will have to sell its mills in Rumford and Biron, Wisc., as part of the settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. e federal agency reportedly objected to the merger if the mills weren't sold because the merged company otherwise would have controlled more than half of the North American paper market and over 70% of the adhesive label business. NewPage announced its plan to sell the mills to Canada-based Catalyst Paper Corp. last year. e Justice Department also said in the settlement that Verso had been planning to close its Bucksport mill "before it decided to merge with NewPage." e BDN said that state- ment could make it more difficult for the Machinists' union representing Verso workers in Bucksport to legally challenge Verso' planned sale of the mill to a Canadian scrap metal company. Maine home sales decline in November Sales of existing single-family homes in Maine decreased in November by 9.85% over the same month last year, while the national figure rose slightly. Maine home sales reached 979 units in November, with 1,086 units having been sold the same month last year, according to new data from the Maine Realtors Association. e median sales price for November was $172,500, a 1.43% decrease over the same period last year. Chamber chief to lead Maine Tourism group Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Chris Fogg will leave to become CEO of the Maine Tourism Association. e Mount Desert Islander reported that Fogg, who has been at the chamber eight years, would stay through January. Fogg was named Chamber Executive of the Year by the Maine State Chamber in October. He starts his new job Feb. 2. MaineHealth gets $9.2M for cutting costs e MaineHealth system has received a $9.2 million check from the federal government for cutting Medicare costs by nearly $20 million. e Portland Press Herald reported that the October check resulted from MaineHealth participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, which gives primary care networks incentives for cutting costs. Maine sees boom in urgent care centers e number of urgent care centers in Maine and other parts of the country is on the rise, in some cases provid- ing patients with less expensive care than the care provided by hospitals. e Portland Press Herald reported that ClearChoiceMD Urgent Care in Scarborough is the latest of several urgent care centers to have opened in Maine within the past few years. e latest addition brings Maine's total number of urgent care centers to 23, with 14 of them not belong- ing to a hospital network. ey are part of a $15 billion industry, which is projected to grow by 6% annually over the next five years, according to Arizona-based health care consul- tancy Strategic Growth Advisors. Mitchell Stein, a local health policy expert, told the newspaper that "urgent care centers have been very profitable." He added, "ey are quick and less costly for patients." Maine retailers report strong holiday sales Local retailers say they're having one of the best holiday shopping seasons in recent memory. Curtis Picard, executive director of the Retail Association of Maine, told the Portland Press Herald that he's been hearing that news from many of the association's members this season. Low gas prices and good weather are to thank, he said. N O t E w O r t h y s t a t e W i d e The Maine Arts Commission in Augusta announced that Schoodic Arts for All in Winter Harbor was the recipient of a 2015 "Creative Communities = Economic Development" grant. The three-year, $75,000 grant will assist in bring- ing more artists and programs to the community. Blackstone Accelerates Growth in Brunswick announced Mingle Analytics, Sea & Reef Aquaculture and Bixby & Co. were selected for the BxG Accelerated Ventures program. 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 Gorham manufacturer acquires N.H. company as part of 'aggressive growth strategy' MEGA Industries, a Gorham-based manufacturer, has acquired a Merrimack, N.H.-based company as part of the manufacturer's "aggressive growth strategy," with more acquisitions eyed for the future. The deal is expected to improve MEGA's capabilities as a maker of micro- wave and radio frequency components for military, scientific and other markets. Anania & Associates Investment Co., the Windham-based private equity firm that owns MEGA, announced the manufacturer's acquisition of Micro Communications Inc. in late December. Micro was formerly owned by Madrid, Spain-based Rymsa RF and part of the Tryo Technologies Group, which now has a minority share in MEGA in exchange for a stock swap and an undisclosed amount of cash as part of the deal. The deal follows MEGA's acquisition last year of Wireless Telecom Group's Microlab/FXR waveguide product line. Combined with its latest acquisition, Peter V. Anania, chairman of Anania & Associates, said in a prepared state- ment that they "represent the execution of a very aggressive growth strategy that we have set for MEGA." "The growth prospects for MEGA are bright, including more acquisitions in the future," he added. The acquisition will give MEGA access to Micro's capabilities as a manu- facturer of microwave and radio frequency components for the broadcast and scientific markets, the former of which will be a new focus for MEGA. MEGA makes microwave waveguide and coax components and systems for scientific, military and commercial markets across the world. Some of MEGA's components can be found in the Swiss complex that con- tains the Large Hadron Collider, the largest and most powerful particle accel- erator in the world. Anania & Associates, founded in 2008, has seven other portfolio companies, including Boothbay-based Biovation, Windham-based Lighthouse Imaging and South Portland-based Grow-Tech. — D Y L A N M A R T I N p h o t o / t i M g r e e n Way Alan Dorval, operations manager at MEGA Industries, at the company's facility in Gorham.

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