Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 9 J U LY 2 4 , 2 0 1 7 UMF awarded Mellon Foundation grant University of Maine at Farmington won a $500,000 grant to sup- port its New Commons Project in Public Humanities and Arts for UMF and the Maine community. President Kathryn A. Foster said the grant, from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will help fund the New Commons Project over fi ve years. "Over the course of our history from the 1860s to the present, UMF has championed humanities and arts as a cornerstone of a quality educa- tion to help individuals broaden their horizons and contribute to their community," Foster said in a press release. "We are honored by this signifi cant Mellon Foundation award and the opportunity to spot- light a collection of wide-ranging works selected by and for our Maine community." Starting in fall 2017, UMF will work with the Maine Humanities Council, schools, librar- ies and other groups to solicit video entries about works of literature, philosophy, history, music, art, fi lm, theatre and other arts and humani- ties disciplines. e UMF cam- pus, one of seven campuses in the University of Maine System, has 2,000 students and off ers more than 30 majors. Hope General Store is on the block e Hope General Store, built in 1832 at the central four-way inter- section of the Knox County town of Hope, has been put up for sale by owners Heather and Michael Forcillo for $365,000. e Bangor Daily News reported the Forcillos' goal is to fi nd a buyer who intends to continue operating it as a general store. Over the years, the build- ing has also served as a Grange hall, trading post, antique store and post offi ce. It became a general store again in the early 2000s. e Forcillos bought it in 2014 and upgraded sys- tems, including a 4.6KW solar array, installed by Revision Energy. e Forcillos decided to sell it because, "we don't feel like we're able to put as much time into it day in and day out as we did before," Michael Forcillo told the paper. Bangor Savings Bank has been named top lender by the Maine State Housing Authority for 9 years in a row. We work hard to find the perfect mortgage for your goals and lifestyle. Equal Housing Lender Member FDIC | We are proud to be named MSHA ' s #1 Mortgage Lender Contact us at 1.877.Bangor1 or BangorMortgage.com to see the difference it makes when you matter more. Q: Innovation is supposed to be really creative, so wouldn't it hurt the creativity to set up a standard process for it? ACE advises: You really don't want a process that hurts creativity. But, for most businesses, new product development is so important that it just can't be left up to an unmanaged or random inventor's cycle. New products and services are the lifeblood for future revenue. To be effective, the ideas that are generated need to be implemented. It's not an innovation until implementation is complete. Organizations can be effective at implementing many things but not all things and not all things at once. They need to sort the ideas to fi t what they are good at. An innovation process doesn't guide the specifi cs of the new products, but it does constrain the ideas to align them with business strengths. The focus areas are chosen to ensure that the rest of the business can truly support the products and the business can win. The second part of an effective innovation process is to ensure alignment with strategic intentions and objectives of the company. Strategy can best be imple- mented by ensuring that resource allocation to key objectives matches that intention. Innovation processes ensure maintenance of the strategy and understanding of what it will take in resources and time to complete the projects. Finally, a process doesn't constrain creative energy and doesn't limit creativ- ity. It simply focuses that creativity towards the markets and technology where the business can succeed. A S K AC E A n s w e r e d b y T e r r y J o h n s o n o f P r a c t i c a l D e c i s i o n s The Association for Consulting Expertise (ACE) is a non-profit association of independent consultants who value "Success through Collaboration." The public is welcome to attend its regular meetings to share best practices and engage with industry experts. For more information go to www.consultexpertise.com. Terry Johnson can be reached at terry@practicaldecisions.com or 207-653-5150 C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N

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