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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 7 O C T O B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 6 from omson Reuters. "is is something to keep an eye on if it's down two quarters in a row." In the second quarter, dollars were up but the number of deals was down 5% from the first quarter of 2016. John Burns, managing director of the Maine Venture Fund, said the third quarter decrease reflects "every- body going away in August." He said venture capitalists are raising a lot of funds but are not yet doling them out. Burns added that the larger funds being raised by venture capitalists forces them to put more money to work, which means more money going into later-stage com- panies and less into startups. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E Members of the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, Windham Land Trust and Presumpscot River Watch voted to merge as one organization with the name Presumpscot Regional Land Trust with a new mission to support healthy lands, waters, wildlife and people across the Presumpscot River watershed through conserva- tion, water quality monitoring, edu- cation and public access. The Maine Credit Unions' Campaign for Ending Hunger an- nounced a three-year, $100,000 contribution to expand the school backpack and school pantry pro- grams in Maine. The announce- ment included the campaign's first contribution of $34,000 to Good Shepherd Food Bank's childhood hunger programs. UMaine trustees launch $150M graduate center e University of Maine System's trustees unanimously approved the first phase of a $15 million fund-raising effort for an ambi- tious $150 million plan to create a graduate center for business, law and public policy in Portland. e proposed Maine Center calls for a $93.6 million building and a $45 million endowment. e trustees' vote authorizes UMaine Chancellor James Page to seek additional fund- ing from private foundations and other funding sources, including the Harold Alfond Foundation, which contributed more than $2 million to the planning process that led to the development of the business plan. "e Maine Center plan is aspirational, exemplifying our 'One University' commitment to move our state forward with innovative programing and stronger engage- ment with Maine's business, legal and community leaders," Page said. Maine Center CEO Eliot Cutler, an unsuccessful Independent can- didate in Maine's 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial races and a found- ing partner of the environmental law firm Cutler & Stanfield LLP, led the 18-month assessment of UMaine's graduate programs that culminated in the graduate center's business plan. at effort included the establishment of a 100-member advisory board, discussions with faculty and more than 400 meet- ings in town halls, board rooms, law offices, judicial buildings and col- lege campuses. PWM opens deicing fluid recycling facility Just in time for winter travel, a facil- ity at the Portland International Jetport that recycles aircraft deicing fluid opened on Oct. 14. It is the first of its kind in the country, accord- ing to airport officials. In addition to recapturing deicing fluid, the facil- ity also accepts used recycling fluid from other airports in the region. e facility is run by Nova Scotia, Canada-based Inland Technologies. Jetport officials say that onsite recy- cling and remanufacturing of new deicing fluid will reduce transporta- tion costs and environmental impact. "Inland has been a phenomenal partner who has been able to make a business case to recover aircraft deicing fluid that has been sprayed and recycle it here in Portland to be sprayed on another aircraft," Paul Bradbury, airport director, said in a news release. An older facility, which opened in Portland six years ago, has collected nearly 6 million gallons of used aircraft deicing fluid and processed it to remove contaminants, including glycol. Nearly one mil- lion gallons of pure glycol have been recovered, according to the release. Sanford solar project could power 20,000 homes Sanford City Council approved an updated lease agreement for 390 acres at Sanford-Seacoast Regional Airport on which Ranger Solar of Yarmouth plans to develop a utility-scale solar S O U T H E R N UMaine trustees launch initiative to create $150M graduate center — Breaking down the siloes Ranger Solar advances its 50MW solar project at Sanford airport — Grid-scale solar power takes off First of its kind deicing fluid recycling facility opens at PWM — Cool initiative Cranberry growers weather the drought; prices could rise — Bittersweet news for consumers Maine's credit unions set membership, asset records — Community focus pays dividends Venture capital deals, dollars soften in Q3 — Nothing ventured, nothing gained More Mainers are unemployed than regional neighbors — Solution requires a little more work Health Access Network employee fired over data breach — Shameful breach of trust Hydro dams implicated in large- scale fish kills — Hidden cost of cheap power Teens allegedly cause $217K of damage to vacant Presque Isle eatery — Put 'em to work repairing the damage

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