Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 11 A U G U S T 7 , 2 0 1 7 Cricket Wireless opened a retail loca- tion at 410 Center Str. in Auburn. S.W. Cole Engineering Inc. is relo- cating its Augusta offi ce to 26 Coles Crossing Drive in the Cole Business Park in Sidney. New Dimensions Federal Credit Union in Waterville said its fourth annual Cruisin' For a Cure Car Show raised over $12,000 for Maine Children's Cancer Program. Aroma Joe's opened at 166 Center St. in Auburn. The National Science Foundation awarded the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance in Augusta a grant with an intended total amount of $1.9 million to develop an online coaching network for educators in rural communities. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Angus King said that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services in Augusta received $6 million through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Hospital Preparedness Program and Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program. Northeast Bancorp, a fi nancial servic- es company and parent of Northeast Bank in Lewiston, reported net income of $4.0 million, or 45 cents a diluted common share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, compared to net in- come of $2.2 million, or 24 cents per diluted common share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2016. Net income for the year ended June 30 was $12.3 million, or $1.38 per diluted common share, compared to $7.6 million, or 80 cents per diluted common share, for the year ended June 30, 2016. Commercial development proposed for Damariscotta Portland developer Daniel Catlin, CEO of Commercial Properties Inc., fi led a site plan review applica- tion with the Damariscotta Planning Board to construct three commercial buildings with room for six businesses. e Lincoln County News reported that plans for the 11-acre Main Street property call for a bank with a drive- thru, fi ve retail spaces and 142 parking Grassroots effort played key role in restoring tip credit B y J a m e s M C C a r t h y L ast month's repeal of the section of the state's new mini- mum wage law dealing with tipped workers has generated lots of nationwide buzz, including a story in The Washington Post, "Maine tried to raise its minimum wage. Restaurant workers didn't want it." The national attention doesn't surprise Steven Hewins, president and CEO of the Maine Restaurant Association and Maine Innkeepers Association, and Greg Dugal, director of governmental affairs for the restaurant group, who credit a grassroots effort by restaurant workers involving a strong social media campaign as key factors in the successful effort to get lawmakers to repeal the tip credit provisions of the new law. "We are the fi rst state that ever eliminated the tipped credit through the referendum process and we're the fi rst to restore it legislatively," says Dugal, who has washed dishes, tended bar, waited on tables and staffed buffet lines in addition to having served many years in the role now fi lled by Hewins. Vote created confusion Under the voter-approved minimum wage guidelines that took effect in January, the state's regular hourly minimum wage went from $7.50 to $9. The minimum will increase $1 per year until it reaches $12 in 2020, after which the minimum wage would be adjusted in relation to the con- sumer price index. Until being repealed and signed into law on June 22 by Gov. Paul LePage, the tip credit portion of the law was sup- posed to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers from $3.75 to $5 in 2017, with yearly $1 increases from 2018 to 2024 until their minimum wage was on par with other non-tipped workers. The tip credit rule allowing employers to take a credit of up to 50% of their employees' wages (with the expectation that workers would make that much or more in tips) was supposed to eventually zero out by 2024. The fundamental problem with the minimum wage law approved by 55% of voters, says Hewins, is that few people understood just how the tip credit rule worked. "They shouldn't have to know this stuff," adds Dugal. "It should never have been in Question 4 to start with." Soon after the new minimum wage law took effect in January, restaurant servers and other workers whose wages include tips began seeing a falloff in their tipped income. "People thought the minimum wage for servers was $12," Dugal says, referring to the parity level for tipped workers spelled out in the law for 2024. "Servers were telling us that their customers were asking, 'Should I still tip you?'" Grassroots and social media the key Dugal credits Jason Buckwalter, a waiter at a Bangor steakhouse, and Susan Stephenson, co-owner of Pepino's in Bangor, as key organizers, creating a Facebook page for "Restaurant Workers of Maine." ( facebook.com/groups/1801593230113089 ) The Facebook group, Dugal says, started out with 15 people. It quickly grew to 5,500 members before its orga- nizers closed its membership because it was starting to get unwieldy. Social media proved crucial in creating momentum for the restore-the-tip-credit effort, by encouraging servers to contact their elected representatives or speak at the public hearing in favor of restoring the tip credit. "Once you get everyday people involved, that's who legisla- tors are going to pay attention to when it comes to a vote," Dugal says. "They engaged legislators, both Democrats and Republicans." Both Dugal and Hewins see a residual benefi t from the coalition of restaurant workers and owners who succeeded in restoring the tipped minimum wage. "I think we created a level of trust that wouldn't have existed previously," Hewins says. P O L I T I C S & C O. spaces. Catlin's project was sched- uled to go before the Damariscotta Planning Board on Aug. 7. Schoodic Institute's CEO to leave for new post Schoodic Institute, a public-private partnership with Acadia National Park that focuses on research and education, is looking for a new leader. e non- profi t said President and CEO Mark Berry will step down Aug. 15 to join e Nature Conservancy as forest program director, leading that nonprofi t's for- est conservation initiatives in Maine. Alan Goldstein, chairman of Schoodic Institute's board, credited Berry with being an "able leader" who "propelled the Institute forward and laid the groundwork for very exciting work into the future." Schoodic Institute has formed a search committee chaired by board member Kathleen Nauss. 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 Knickerbocker Group, an architecture, interior design, custom cabinetry and construction services company in Boothbay, said it completed the transi- tion of the company to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree announced that Acadia National Park will receive $192,286 in federal funding to per- form deferred trail maintenance from the National Park Service's Centennial Challenge program. The funding has been matched by $259,112 privately raised by Friends of Acadia. Camden National Corp. reported net in- come for the second quarter of 2017 of $10.2 million and diluted earnings per share of 66 cents, each representing an increase over the second quarter of 2016 of 6%. For the fi rst half of 2017, it reported net income of $20.3 million and diluted earnings of $1.30 per share, an increase over the same period last year of 11% and 10%, respectively. Bar Harbor Bankshares reported sec- ond quarter 2017 net income of $6.6 million, or 42 cents per share. Core M I D C O A S T & D O W N E A S T Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that Servers were telling us that their customers were asking, their customers were asking, their customers were asking, their customers were asking, their customers were asking, their customers were asking, their customers were asking, their customers were asking, their customers were asking, their customers were asking, their customers were asking, their customers were asking, their customers were asking, 'Should I still tip you?' — Greg Dugal Maine Restaurant Association

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