Mainebiz

V O L . X X I N O. V I I A P R I L 6 , 2 0 1 5 10 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 will retire effective Aug. 21, 2015. Lockwood has been with the associa- tion for 36 years. Jobs for Maine's Graduates in Augusta will hold its annual Urban Adventure at Unum in Portland. Over the past 10 years, more than 100 businesses have participated to provide opportuni- ties for approximately 1,500 students to network with business leaders. Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers in Auburn announced the opening of a retail lo- cation in Washington, D.C. Mexicali Blues CEO to open distillery Topher Mallory, the CEO of retailer Mexicali Blues, plans to open a dis- tillery with a business partner in the retailer's home base of Newcastle. Mallory told Eater Maine that he and Matt Page are planning to open Split Rock Distillery in June or July, with a focus on producing vodka, gin, rum and whiskey. Page is a partner at Ken Cotton and Associates LLC, a Bristol-based site evaluation company. Belfast grocery owner charged with arson e co-owner of Goose River Grocery in Belfast has been arrested and charged with arson and insurance decep- tion, nine months after the store was destroyed in a fire. e Bangor Daily News reported that Kyle Skinner, 35, was arrested as part of an ongoing investigation by Belfast police, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the National Insurance Crime Bureau and the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit. Skinner also was charged with theft by deception and more charges are expected. Skinner was at Waldo County Jail in Belfast as of March 27 with bail set at $200,000. He could face up to 30 years in prison and up to a $50,000 fine for arson; up to 10 years in prison and fines as much as $20,000 for insur- ance deception; and up to five years in prison and fines as much as $10,000 for attempted theft by deception. BIW lands $620M Navy contract Bath Iron Works has received a $620 million award to build one DDG-51 class destroyer — work that is part of a larger, multi-year procurement contract. e Bangor Daily News reported that the contract began in 2013 and is expected to last until 2017. e contract calls for BIW to build five DDG-51 destroyers over five years. e latest funding supports construction for this year. Redzone Wireless gets FAME- backed $4M loan Redzone Wireless in Camden has received a $4 million loan from Camden National Bank to develop its 4G LTE wireless broadband service across much of Maine. e Finance Authority of Maine said its board of directors approved loan insurance for the bank loan. e financing is expected to help Redzone develop wireless broadband service that covers more than 90% of Maine's population. It's also expected to help the com- pany create and retain 18 jobs in the near future. Redzone said in a sepa- rate announcement that it recently received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to operate its wireless broadband ser- vice on a FCC-licensed spectrum. e company previously announced that the spectrum is being developed through a private/public partnership with the University of Maine System. Redzone is expected to launch services in select areas in April. 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 The Board of Directors of The First Bancorp in Damariscotta declared a quarterly dividend of 21 cents a share. This first-quarter dividend is payable April 30 to shareholders of record as of April 6. The dividend is equal to the 21 cents per share the company has paid in the past three quarters. Based on the March 18 closing price of $16.72 per share, the annualized divi- dend of 84 cents per share translates into a yield of 5.02%. CEI, a community development cor- poration and community development financial institution in Wiscasset, an- nounced membership in the national NeighborWorks network enabling the organization to gain access to train- ing, research, technical assistance and funding opportunities. As part of the announcement, NeighborWorks presented a $230,000 check, with $150,000 earmarked to support the construction of CEI's new headquar- ters in Brunswick. Maine businesses see opportunity on the North Atlantic A Maine business delegation attended the Arctic Technology Conference in Copenhagen in late March with a mission of touting the state's capabilities to the energy industry's leading engineering and scientific organizations that also were at the event. In an email sent to Mainebiz from the conference, Paul Williamson, director of the Maine Ocean & Wind Industry Initiative, a Portland-based coalition of com- panies within Maine's ocean and wind energy supply chain, said he was joined at the conference by two Maine companies at an exhibition booth representing their capabilities and those of 12 additional companies interested in expanding their presence in the ocean technology and energy markets. "There has been an increase of investment in resource development in Eastern Canada, Greenland and Iceland," Williamson said in his email. "The proximity of Maine to this region is now enhanced by the Eimskip shipping line operating from Portland providing shipping services through Eastern Canada, Iceland and on to Northern Europe. The opportunities in the North Atlantic include growth in ocean energy, mining, infrastructure development, hydroelectricity, sub-sea cabling and arctic environmental studies." Williamson said the Maine exhibition was supported by a visit to Denmark ear- lier this month by Dana Eidsness, director of the Maine North Atlantic Development Office. In addition to conducting meetings in Copenhagen in support of Maine's presence at the conference, Williamson said Eidsness also traveled to Aalborg in the north of Denmark, where she represented the recently established New England Ocean Cluster House at a North Atlantic Ocean Cluster Alliance meet- ing and presented regarding green marine technology development in Maine at the Marine Business Opportunities Conference in Aalborg. MENADO operates out of the Maine International Trade Center. The organizations are partnering with the Maine Port Authority to explore business opportunities for Maine companies in the North Atlantic. The effort, supported by funding from the Maine Technology Institute, includes marketing Maine as the gateway between the United States and the North Atlantic, with industry resources available to serve the north Atlantic markets. Maine companies have already provided products and services to the region, Williamson said, including: Modular fabrication for hydropower, environmental analysis, vessel material and equipment outfitting, specialty buoyancy, and ocean structural engineering modeling. "The high-quality products and services offered by Maine companies in engi- neering, energy and ocean technologies are an ideal fit for the expanding activities in the North Atlantic," Williamson said in his email. "This week we had valuable meetings with government and industry officials of Denmark, Newfoundland and Greenland. There is a very welcoming tenor within the discussions for Maine companies to increase their role in North Atlantic/Arctic Rim activities." The exhibit in Copenhagen represented interests from RBC Engineering, Howell Laboratories, Harbor Technologies, Pole Star Maritime, Deepwater Buoyancy, Kenway Corp., Strategic Maintenance Solutions, Pika Energy, The Maine Composites Alliance, Maine Marine Composites, Montalvo, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, HRA Gray & Pape, HDR, Eimskip and Stantec. — J a m e s M c C a r t h y P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F M A I N E O C E A N & W I N D I N D U S T R Y I N I T I AT I V E Paul Williamson (left), director of the Maine Ocean & Wind Industry Initiative, is joined by Adam Jones of Howell Laboratories at the Arctic Technology Conference in Copenhagen in late March. M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T

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