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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 33 O C T O B E R 2 , 2 0 1 7 But sourcing materials was more challenging than they realized. "All of our raw materials are 100% American sourced," says Reynolds. " at's diffi cult to fi nd these days. We knew we could fi nd fl eece that was domestically made because Dory had a relationship with Polartec. But then you have to think of things like pocket material." Eventually, they found pocket material made in Massachusetts, zip- pers in California, labels in Lewiston, blanket yarn in Springvale and cotton in Asheville, N.C. Working for employees e next challenge was fi nding skilled workers. Again collaborating with Dory Waxman, they formed a relationship with Coastal Enterprises Inc., Goodwill and Portland Adult Education to develop a training program for stitch- ers. e fi rst program drew 30 appli- cants, with six accepted. All together, three classes now have trained 19 students. Dory is now working to expand the training program and get it accredited through Southern Maine Community College. " e training program isn't just an asset to us," says Reynolds. "If we don't need all of the students, Dory helps them fi nd work elsewhere. So the program is a great thing for the business community in general, because there are all these businesses popping up in fabrics, like Flowfold, Sea Bags and Ramblers Way." As it turned out, most of the appli- cants were new Mainers, hailing from Iraq, Egypt, Ethiopia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. at led to an unexpected turn in their venture, as the couple works to help folks acclimate to U.S. culture. Recently, Waxman took one of his employees to the offi ce of U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree to discuss immigra- tion issues in the employee's family. "Somebody once told me that the most important two things you do as an employer is to make sure your employees are safe, healthy and happy, and to make sure they get paid," he says. "When we started, we knew that when new Americans walked through our door, they were going to need help. We had a shared goal of helping them. If we were going to build a company that was going to last, we had to have a strong foundation of employees." L S , a s e n i o r w r i t e r a t M a i n e b i z , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t @ . There is simply no substitute for good judgment and getting things right the first time. That's where Drummond Woodsum attorneys Dan Rose, Pete Felmly, Laurel McClead, Tom Trenholm and Elek Miller can help. A group of highly specialized attorneys focused on providing human resource professionals with the guidance they need in dealing with personnel matters. We practice law differently. Since 1965. dwmlaw.com | 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 800.727.1941 Workplace Solutions for Maine Employers Supporting Development Projects From Kittery to Fort Kent Contact Nick Sabatine Contact Nick Sabatine at the idea-stage: at the idea-stage: nsabatine@ransomenv.com 207-772-2891 D e v e l o p m e D e v e l o p m e N t \ \ D u e D i l i g e D u e D i l i g e N C e \ \ e N v i r o v i r o N m e N ta l H e a lt H & S a f e t y & S a f e t y \ \ m u N i C i p a l \ \ u t i l i t y, e N e r g y & m a N u f a C t u r i N g Site Site planning Waste Water Waste Water engineering ngineering Storm Water Storm Water engineering ngineering permitting ermitting Water Supply Water Supply engineering ngineering environmental nvironmental assessments ssessments turnkey Brownfield Service urnkey Brownfield Service urnkey Brownfield Service turnkey Brownfield Service t remediation emediation geotechnical eotechnical engineering Consulting Engineers and Scientists www.RansomEnv.com

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