Mainebiz

V O L . X X I N O. X V J U LY 1 3 , 2 0 1 5 6 Dollar Tree to sell 7 Maine stores in buyout deal Dollar Tree Inc. has agreed to sell seven Family Dollar stores in Maine over concerns that its proposed acqui- sition of Family Dollar Stores Inc. "would substantially lessen com- petition in several Maine markets." Dollar Tree's plan to sell more than 300 Family Dollar stores nationwide stems from a settlement reached between the company, the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from 17 states including Maine, Maine Attorney General Janet Mills said. e affected stores are being sold and rebranded as Dollar Express stores, a new brand being started by New York City pri- vate equity firm Sycamore Partners. e stores are located in Caribou, Gray, Lewiston, Livermore Falls, Old Town, South Portland and Waterville. Sycamore Partners is expected to rebrand the Family Dollar stores within the next few months. Lawmakers override veto of Efficiency Maine funding bill Both chambers of the Legislature on June 23 unanimously overrode Gov. Paul LePage's veto of the bill fixing a clerical error in the state's 2013 energy conservation law that otherwise would have led to nearly $38 million less funding for an energy-efficiency program overseen by Efficiency Maine. e Maine Public Utilities Commission in May decided against reconsidering its controversial March decision to essentially cut $38 mil- lion from Efficiency Maine's budget based on a literal interpretation of the 2013 law in which a single "and" was inadvertently left out of the statute's language. e Portland Press Herald reported that lawmakers in the House voted 144-0 and the Senate voted 35-0 to overturn the governor's veto. e bill, L.D. 1215, will now become law. Large elder-care provider to end services MAS Home Care of Maine, one of the state's largest elder-care provid- ers, is ending home care services for roughly 1,000 clients by the end of the month, but its nine other pro- grams will not be impacted. Citing two anonymous sources familiar with the program, the Portland Press Herald reported that the company's decision is likely the result of low MaineCare reimbursement rates, which are lower than what similar agencies get paid elsewhere in New England. Apart from the approxi- mately 1,000 clients who will have to find a new provider, the end of MAS Home Care's services in Maine is expected to impact about 300 part- time employees. e agency said it's working on a plan to transition employees to other agencies. e company said in a statement that the decision to end its home care service does not impact the company's nine other programs, including behavioral and mental health services, support for homeless children and adults, pediatric home health care and per-diem health care staffing. e company's eight Maine offices will remain open. Bipartisan committee OKs LePage investigation e state Legislature's bipartisan Government Oversight Committee has voted unanimously in support of launching a formal investiga- tion into recent actions taken by Gov. Paul LePage. e Sun Journal reported that July 1 decision calls for the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability to establish facts as to whether LePage threatened or took action to with- hold taxpayer money from a private charter school because it hired House Speaker Mark Eves, a Democrat and known political opponent of LePage. LePage's chief attorney argued that OPEGA doesn't have any author- ity to investigate the governor. But Beth Ashcroft, executive director of OPEGA, said her independent agency's investigation will not focus on LePage's authority and instead focus on what happened with tax- payer money that went from the Department of Education to Good Will-Hinckley School in Fairfield. e investigation only seeks to estab- lish the facts in the case, which leg- islators could then use to take action against LePage. Lawmakers OK new rules for Uber, similar services Uber and other smartphone-based ridesharing services no longer have to worry about a disparity in regulations between different Maine towns and cities after lawmakers approved new statewide regulations on June 30. e Bangor Daily News reported that the 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 Thompson's Point secures Web developer as first office tenant Adding to its growing and diverse base of tenants, the owners of the 30-acre Thompson's Point redevelopment project in Portland have signed its first office tenant. Big Room Studios, a Portland-based app-and-Web developer, will move into 3,000 square feet in the 36,000-square-foot Brick North building, Chris Thompson, one of the principals overseeing the development, told Mainebiz recently. According to Big Room's website, the company employs 17 people, including its two co-founders. The company's planned Sept. 1 move-in date will mark the redevelopment project's first office-based tenant, Thompson said. Current tenants like the Circus Conservatory of America and Open Bench Project have office space, but they also have other kinds of space — performance and workshop space, respectively — to suit their own needs. Thompson said he and his partners at Forefront Partners are currently talking to a number of new and potential tenants. Big Room's decision to end its lease at 30 Danforth St. and move away from Portland's vibrant Old Port district shows the company's willingness to take a bet on the former industrial site as an emerging creative hub for the city. Thompson's Point is separated from Portland's downtown peninsula by Interstate 295 and is along the Fore River. "Relocating to Thompson's Point is the kind of forward-looking action that typifies our willingness to do as Wayne Gretzky recommends and 'skate to where the puck is going to be,'" Sam Mateosian, Big Room co-founder, said in a statement. "We believe in bold steps and are always willing to take bets on young technology, projects and people who show exceptional promise. To that end, we are excited to be in on the ground floor of one of the most creative and novel developments in Portland's history." Big Room "designs and builds distinctive brands, apps, games, sites and solu- tions," having worked with a wide range of clients, from startups like NextWorth to large corporate brands like Target, according to its website. The company was founded in 2002. Thompson said Big Room's addition will help support the project's goal of attracting a diverse pool of businesses and organizations. "That's been a goal: to create the sense of Thompson's Point being a neighborhood where a lot of different users exist and feed into each other," he said. "To have folks like Big Room Studios, it helps bring that vision to life." Landing the Circus Conservatory as one of Thompson's Point's first tenants was widely viewed as a first step in that direction, but the project has since attracted other tenants and partnerships, including State Theatre, which is holding a few outdoor concerts at Thompson's Point this year. Thompson's Point has also attracted Lincolnville-based Cellardoor Winery, which plans to open a tasting room and retail space there, and the owner of Portland's Slab restaurant and Nosh Kitchen Bar, who plans to open a clam shack. Both plan to open in spring 2016. — D Y L A N M A R T I N I M A G E / C O U R T E S Y O F T H O M P S O N ' S P O I N T Big Room Studios will join the Circus Conservatory of America and Color Me Mine in Brick North, otherwise known as Building No. 7. Cellardoor Winery and the International Cryptozoology Museum will be located in the adjacent Building No. 8, where a brewery, distillery and bakery are also being planned.

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