Mainebiz

V O L . X X I V N O. V M A R C H 5 , 2 0 1 8 6 Workers' comp cost to decrease Maine Insurance Superintendent Eric Cioppa has approved the National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc.'s 2018 proposed average "loss costs" for Maine, which should result in lower workers' comp premiums for most industries. Cioppa approved an average loss-cost decrease of 12%. e new rates will go into eff ect for new and renewing policies as of April 1. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E The Maine Health Access Foundation in Augusta awarded $270,000 to six or- ganizations around the state to develop cross-sector collaborative approaches to improve health and health care ac- cess in Maine's rural communities. Catalyst Grants totaling $30,000 each were awarded to Healthy Community Coalition, Healthy Peninsula, Oxford County Mental Health Services and Penobscot Community Health Care - Jackman Community Health Center. Acceleration Grants totaling $75,000 each went to Mayo Regional Hospital - Mayo Community Outreach and Pines Health Services - Aroostook County Health Network. South Portland curbs some short-term rentals South Portland's city council approved an ordinance banning short- term rentals of unoccupied homes in residential neighborhoods. Maine Public reported that the ordinance, adopted in a 6-1 vote, will allow people in the city's commercially zoned neighborhoods to continue to rent out un-hosted homes. "Over the last couple years there's been a proliferation of purchases of homes from people who never intended to live there, who bought them strictly as investments to run them as little hotels," District 1 City Councilor Claude Morgan told Maine Public, adding that those un-hosted rent- als had made South Portland's tight housing market even tighter. New leader and name for startup week e annual Maine Startup & Create Week will continue under the new Strong winter for home sales e year is off to a strong for Maine's housing market, as the median price for home sales in January was 5.26% above a year earlier. According to Maine Listings, the median sales price statewide for homes sold last month was $200,000, up from $190,000 in January 2017. "Buyers are anxiously awaiting the increased for- sale inventory that spring tradition- ally brings," Kim Gleason, broker- owner of McAllister Real Estate in Hallowell and 2018 president of the Maine Association of Realtors, said in a statement. She attributed the 17% drop in for-sale inventory compared to last year to a strong winter sell- ing season. Regionally, sales in the Northeast fell 7.6% while the regional median sales price of $269,100 is 6.8% above a year earlier. B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E S O U T H E R N A second land-based salmon farm planned, this time in Bucksport B y M a i n e b i z S t a f f Bucksport — A Maine-based company calling itself Whole Oceans said it plans to purchase most of the former Verso paper mill site in Bucksport and build a land-based aquafarm to raise Atlantic salmon. Whole Oceans CEO Robert Piasio, a specialist in land- based aquaculture technologies, species, markets, distribu- tion and personnel who grew up in Yarmouth, said the com- pany has spent six years researching and preparing plans to create a state-of-the-art recirculating aquaculture system to meet worldwide demand for farm-raised Atlantic salmon. The company plans a phased $250 million investment at Bucksport and projects that at full production its aquafarm will create hundreds of direct jobs and be able to produce 50,000 metric tons of Atlantic salmon per year. "The time for recirculating aquaculture systems has arrived and Whole Oceans will make Bucksport a global leader in sustainable Atlantic salmon production," Piasio said in a news release. "But this story is much bigger than just Whole Oceans. This story is also about the resiliency and determina- tion of towns throughout Maine that make projects like this possible. Whole Oceans is entering a long-term partnership with the community of Bucksport, a responsibility we accept with the greatest care, and together we will strive to make Whole Oceans a source of pride every single day." The announcement comes less than a month after Nordic Aquafarms, a Norwegian company, disclosed plans to invest up to $500 million in a land-based Atlantic salmon aquafarm in Belfast, about 20 miles from Whole Ocean's planned Bucksport site. In a FAQs sheet provided with its news release, Whole Oceans outlined its business plan, timeline and the world- wide market for farm-raised Atlantic salmon: It will produce 50,000 metric tons of Atlantic salmon per year using entirely land-based technology. Whole Oceans has pre-sold 100% of production for 10 years. Americans consume more than $2 billion of Atlantic salmon every year and virtually all Atlantic salmon con- sumed in the United States is farmed. More than two million metric tons of Atlantic salmon were produced globally in 2017, generating more than $10 billion in sales. More than 95% percent of Atlantic salmon consumed in the U.S. is imported from foreign offshore cage farms. At full capacity, Whole Oceans will create hundreds of direct jobs and invest over $250 million in Bucksport. Whole Oceans plans to begin construction in August. R E N D E R I N G / C O U R T E S Y J O H N G U T W I N O F P E P P E R C H RO M E B R I E F A rendering of the Whole Oceans land- based aquafarm to raise Atlantic salmon at the industrial site of the former Verso paper mill in Bucksport. The aquafarm would create hundreds of direct jobs and be able to produce 50,000 metric tons of Atlantic salmon per year.

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