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V O L . X X I N O. X X S E P T E M B E R 7 , 2 0 1 5 14 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 products are on Oprah Winfrey's new O Store, which showcases products and services curated by Winfrey. e news- paper noted that the company's prod- ucts have been featured in Winfrey's O magazine in the past. Cal Hancock, the company's owner, told the newspaper she expects an uptick in online sales from Winfrey's further endorsement of the company's products. 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 U.S. Small Business Administration announced that the city of Rockland was selected as a Startup in a Day Award recipient and received $50,000 in funding to streamline the online permitting and business licensing process for new small businesses and to assist small businesses start more easily and quickly. Axiom Technologies and Maine State Library completed the launch of the Maine State Library Check-out the Internet by deploying the remaining 67 Hotspots to fi ve Washington County libraries. The initiative allows students to check out a mobile Wi-Fi device to access the Internet outside of school. Lincoln mill to lay off up to 25 workers Lincoln Paper and Tissue LLC plans to indefi nitely lay off 20 to 25 workers and halt one of its three tissue-mak- ing machines, casting an even larger shadow on Maine's paper industry. e Bangor Daily News reported that the Maine Department of Labor Rapid Response team was informed of the pending layoff s on Aug. 31. Some of the senior workers impacted by the shutdown may be able to get job reassignments, according to Duane Lugdon, a staff representative with the United Steelworkers Union, which represents most of the mill's roughly 215 workers. e mill's owner, Keith Van Scotter, declined to provide a comment to the newspaper. Lugdon said the layoff s may have been trig- gered by "some overproduction" in the national tissue market. Bangor offi cials OK wage hike resolve e Bangor City Council recently voted 6-1 in favor of a resolution supporting a citizen's petition drive to increase the state's minimum wage. e Bangor Daily News reported that the resolution sup- ports a signature-gathering eff ort by the Maine People's Alliance for a proposed referendum on November 2016's ballot. MPA's eff ort calls for raising the state's minimum wage from $7.50 an hour to $9 in January 2017, with annual increases of $1 an hour until it reaches $12 in 2020. e minimum wage would then move in tandem with cost-of-living adjustments. e newspaper said the city council is still expected to discuss a possible increase of the city's minimum wage. USDA, Bangor Savings partner on $3M loan to health center e U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development will partner with Bangor Savings Bank for a $3 million community facility guaran- teed loan to Katahdin Valley Health Center, the Millinocket-based health concern said. A new space will be constructed in nearby Patten for administrative and medical ser- vices use, Virginia Manuel, USDA rural development director, said in a recent statement that was published by the Bangor Daily News. She said the new space assures that Penobscot and Aroostook County residents have access to health care services without having to travel great dis- tances. e new, 15,000-square-foot building will be constructed at 529 South Patten Road. e newspaper said the project will allow KVHC to expand podiatry, optometry and telemedicine services at its exist- ing Patten facility and provide staff meeting rooms. N O T E W O R T H Y N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N The National Science Foundation awarded $266,309 to the University of Maine to support the development of high performance computing to monitor severe storms, changes to the environment, and coastal dam- age to ensure the safety of maritime activities and property along the Maine coast. N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N

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