Mainebiz

V O L . X X I I N O. I X M AY 2 , 2 0 1 6 6 Energy bill in Senate could aid Maine's biomass plants e U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan energy bill that includes language written by Maine U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King with the goal of keeping biomass power genera- tors in the renewable energy market- place. According to the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, the Energy Policy Modernization Act would require federal agencies to iden- tify biomass facilities as a source of carbon-neutral, renewable energy — as long as wood used in biomass facilities is harvested in a sustainable manner. Proponents say that if the bill success- fully makes it through the House it could open new markets in states with mandates for buying renewable energy. As reported by Mainebiz in April, a quarter of Maine's overall power sup- ply comes from biomass facilities and it accounts for 60% of Maine's renew- able energy portfolio, according to the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine. However, Covanta Energy closed two biomass plants in Maine because of waning demand. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King announced that $922,876 will be distributed from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to support conser- vation and recreation projects in Maine. USDA Rural Development announced a total of $206,400 in grants to benefit five Maine community organizations. The Downeast Salmon Federation Inc., Machias, and Eastport Arts Center, Eastport, $50,000; and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Houlton, $29,700, received Community Facility Grants. Aroostook Dental Clinic Inc., Presque Isle, $35,500; Unity Barn Raisers, Unity, $20,900; and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, $20,300, received Rural Economic Impact Initiative Grants. Airline to connect Portland to MDI and Long Island, N.Y. Portland-based Elite Airways said it will add direct flights from Portland to Bar Harbor and Long Island, N.Y. John Pearsall, president of Elite, told the TCPalm that the popularity of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island with tourists made the expanded service offering a reality. "Bar Harbor is a destina- tion we thought a lot of Floridians would like to go to," Pearsall told the TCPalm, a Gannett news organiza- tion in Stuart, Fla. e expanded service from Portland International Jetport will start on June 17, when passengers can fly nonstop on Fridays and Sundays to Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, N.Y., where they can take connecting Elite Airway flights to Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Orlando-Melbourne in central Florida. Ticket prices for round-trip flights from Portland will be between $198 and $398 for Long Island, and between $158 and $298 for Bar Harbor. A new owner for longtime fish market in Kennebunkport Port Lobster in Kennebunkport is under new ownership after 63 years. Owner Sonny Hutchins sold the fish market to Kennebunkport Selectman Allen Daggett. Daggett also owns Cape Porpoise Lobster Co. Inc., Cape Pier Chowder House and Cape Porpoise Bait Co., according to the York County Coast Star. Hutchins and Daggett told the County Star that there won't be any noticeable changes and that all of employees at Port Lobster will remain. "I'm not worried about a thing. It will be busi- ness as usual," Daggett told the Coast Star. "When you walk in and do busi- ness here, you'll never know anything changed at all. Sonny has been good to me over the years, and I feel real good about buying this place." Move over, Doogie Howser e business ventures of 14-year-old entrepreneurs have come a long way from newspaper delivery routes and lawn mowing rackets, as Jack Cardin of Saco has shown with Kinney Shores Trading Co. Using techniques that he learned from a class he took with his mother, the wunderkind began hand-crafting candles and fire starters before expanding his craft into balms through home experimentation. Now six months later, Cardin has his own studio at the Pepperell Mill Campus in Biddeford and agreements with three shops in southern Maine to sell his hand-crafted products — with a fourth business possibly being added to his roster of retail supporters. "I'm happy to say we're no longer in the red," Cardin told the Journal Tribune. Using ingredients like organic shea butter, high-grade essential oils and beeswax, Cardin has made a wide number of products, including hand balms, the insect-repelling Bug Balm, which uses citronella oil, and Paw Balm for dogs. His newest product, which Cardin made at the request of a client in Portland, is a Beard Balm — a leave-in conditioner that moisturizes, conditions, softens and helps style even the most unkempt of facial follicles. 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 Pine State Trading sells its convenience store division Pine State Trading Co., a Gardiner-based family-owned company with customers throughout New England and parts of New York state, said April 25 it will sell its convenience store division to Core-Mark Holding Co. Inc. Pine State Convenience serves more than 4,000 convenience stores from Fort Kent to New York, including independent stores and chain stores such as Big Apple. Core-Mark (NASDAQ: CORE), one of North America's largest marketers of fresh and broad-line supply solutions to the convenience retail industry, is based in South San Francisco, Calif., and had sales last year of $11 billion. Neither side reported terms of the deal, but Reuters reported that it is esti- mated to be worth $112 million. Keith Canning, a principal owner and managing partner of Pine State, will become the president of Pine State Convenience, a division of Core-Mark. Canning said Core-Mark's investment in Maine means "advanced technology and proven marketing programs that will provide new opportunities to help our customers continue to grow." All employees will be retained by the new operation, according to a statement from Pine State Trading, which is based in Gardiner. Core-Mark will operate out of Pine State's facility at Market Street Business Park in Gardiner. Other Pine State Trading divisions will be unaffected. They are Pine State Beverage, Pine State Spirits, Pine State Vending and Town & Country Foods. These divisions will continue under the same family ownership and management as they do today. Nick Alberding, CEO of Pine State Trading, said Core-Mark "values the relation- ships we have built over the years, and most importantly, respects our culture, as well as our experienced and talented employees." The deal widens Core-Mark's geographic footprint in New England and will offer Pine State Convenience customers "a new spectrum of products and marketing programs that have brought our own retailers success," Tom Perkins, president and CEO of Core-Mark, said in a release. The Pine State Trading corporate headquarters and leadership team, includ- ing owners Alberding and Gena Canning, a managing partner, will relocate to newly leased office space in Libby Hill Business Park in Gardiner. Canning was among the 2015 Mainebiz Women to Watch. Covington Associates LLC in Boston acted as exclusive financial advisor to Pine State Trading for the deal. — M a i n e b i z S t a f f P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y P I N E S TAT E T R A D I N G C O. From left: Keith Canning, president of Pine State Convenience, with Pine State Trading Co. executives Gena Canning, managing partner, and Nick Alberding, CEO.

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