Mainebiz

V O L . X X I I I N O. I JA N UA R Y 9 , 2 0 1 7 12 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 rivers in northern and eastern Maine. Stakeholders include private for- estland owners, tribal communities, federal agencies, conservation groups and local operators. Easton loses bank branch, health clinic Two employers have announced closures in the Aroostook County town of Easton. e Bangor Daily News reported that Katahdin Trust announced the closure of a branch in Easton as of Jan. 31 and Village Health, a primary care clinic, also plans to close. Town offi cials are trying to be proactive in fi nding ways to fi ll the gaps. Easton, seven miles southeast of Presque Isle, has a population of 1,287, as of the 2010 census. e town is known for its ATV and snowmobile trail sys- tems. Katahdin Trust acquired the branch in 2000 as part of its deal to buy eight Aroostook County branches of Peoples Heritage Bank. e town recruited Village Health in 2014, after acquiring and renovat- ing a centrally located building and renting it to the clinic at a reduced rate, Town Manager Jim Gardner told the BDN. It was the fi rst time the town had a clinic. Now Gardner told the BDN, "We've got a couple empty buildings and we're going to fi ll them." 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 EMMC Cancer Care, located at the Lafayette Family Cancer Center in Bangor, joined the Dana-Farber Cancer Care Collaborative. Participation in the Collaborative refl ects a demon- strated commitment to excellence by meeting a wide array of standards and best practices. " " " " Colors Pantone 2747 Pantone 1807 IT Solutions Designed for Your Business Finding the right IT partner is one of the most important decisions your company can make. At WGTECH, making information technology work for your business is our core competency. We develop individualized solutions that help you grow your business, improve operations, and boost efficiency. We're Northern New England's resource for advanced technology – we'd like to partner with you. www.WGTECH.com 207.856.5300 Build a Better Technology Environment Mainely Tubs joins the growing roster of Maine ESOPs S c a r b o r o u g h — Mainely Tubs became the latest Maine company to convert ownership to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, the owner said in late December. Jim Van Fleet, 68, who bought the business in 1993, will remain CEO for "the foreseeable future," he said, adding that he has no plans to retire. Mainely Tubs is now 100% owned by its 39 employees. It expects sales this year of $10.5 million. As recently as June 2015, when the company was profi led in Mainebiz, it was expecting annual sales of $7.5 million. "This is a gift to the people who made this possible," Van Fleet told Mainebiz. "[An ESOP] allows an owner to give back and it costs employees nothing." The company was founded in 1978 and by 1993, when Van Fleet bought the company, it had just two employ- ees in a 700-square-foot site in Portland's Bayside neigh- borhood. By 2004, under Van Fleet's watch, it became the largest volume store dealer for the HotSpring Spa network, selling 888 hot tubs — and it has held that distinction since. The company moved into larger quarters in 2015. Van Fleet said he's been laying the groundwork for suc- cession for the past fi ve years. The senior management team also includes Diana Locke, general manager and chief operating offi cer; Scott Bell, who oversees fi nance, IT and marketing; and Richard Hyde, operations manager. The ESOP was facilitated by Machias Savings Bank, which fi nanced the transaction, with a team of other businesses. Spinnaker Trust in Portland will oversee the retirement trust. BerryDunn, the Portland accounting fi rm, also served as an advisor in the transaction. "The staff culture and extraordinary customer service of Mainely Tubs is so similar to that of Machias Savings that we felt our participation would be a win/win for both companies," said Machias Savings President Larry Barker. "We were also very impressed by the company's fi nancial performance as it has experienced a compound annual growth rate of six to seven times the rate at which GDP has grown since 2009." Maine has a long list of companies that have converted to an ESOP structure, including Landry/French Con- struction, GAC Chemical, Sargent Corp. and Cianbro, to name just a few. B R I E F PHOTO / TIM GREENWAY Jim Van Fleet, CEO of Mainely Tubs, pictured here in 2015, said he has converted ownership of the company to his 39 employees. USDA invests $6M in northern and eastern Maine e U.S. Department of Agriculture is awarding a $6 million grant to a Maine partnership led by the Nature Conservancy that will help private forestland owners reduce the impacts that fl ooding has on road networks and restore more than 250 miles of fi sh habitat in northern and east- ern Maine. e grant, announced Dec. 21, comes through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which is administered by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service. e fi ve-year Maine Aquatic Connectivity Restoration Project aims to replace several hundred culverts and fi x fractured aquatic connectivity to over a dozen priority watersheds with the goal of restor- ing 250 miles of brooks, streams and N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N

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