Business News from Around the State

Statewide: LePage wants to deregulate lodging businesses; Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) and the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association in Washington (Maine) have joined a lawsuit filed by a California based company challenging a change in the organic certification process; Austin “Jack” DeCoster and Peter DeCoster of Quality Egg were sentenced and fined for their involvement of a 2010 salmonella outbreak due to contaminated eggs their company sold; three Maine airports received more than $4 million in federal grants for infrastructure improvement; Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI) is encouraging New England fisheries and aquaculture businesses to apply to the national Fish 2.0 competition; 540 Maine businesses will see a rate increase in their flood insurance due to changes in federal law; Maine trails behind other New England manufacturing companies that require a higher skill-set; the Maine Farmland Trust received a $250,000 federal grant to help increase access to Maine-grown produce for low income earners Maine. Southern: Berwick telecom APXnet has designed a new gigabit fiber-optic network for NASCAR; Topsham-based Priority Real Estate Group is moving closer to realize its project in converting South Portland’s former National Guard Armory into a multi-use development; bus services to New York and Boston from Maine are adding stops in York County; the plan to develop a 10-acre site on the Portland waterfront will be delayed until June when the Portland City Council will vote on whether to change the current zoning; South Portland is seeking the dismissal of a federal lawsuit filed by the Portland Pipe Line Corporation over a ban on loading crude oil onto marine vessels. Central & Western: Jay town officials have denied a request from Verso Corporation to reduce the valuation of its local paper mill by $193 million; the town of Oxford has approved a tax break for developers of the Hampton Inn; the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce has named Maine native Matt Leonard as its next president; Midstate Berkshire laid off 70 employees and plans to consolidate its Waterville plant into its Winslow facility. Midcoast and Down East: A developer has proposed Maine’s possibly largest grid-connected solar energy project, but financing for the project depends on a change in state law; workers who were laid off from Verso Corporation’s Bucksport mill are being retrained for woodworking and cabinet making jobs as part of a collaborative program between Eastern Maine Community College and Eastern Maine Development Corporation, and Maine Quality Centers; the Brass Compass Café in Rockland has received unanimous approval from the city council to use a part of a veteran’s park for outdoor seating; Front Street Shipyard and the city of Belfast are applying for a Community Development Block Grant that would help the shipyard expand. Northern & Eastern: Presque Island manufacturer Acme Monaco is seeking a $3 million dollar expansion and expects to hire 23 more workers; Pineland Farms Naturally Potatoes has nearly finished its $7.5 million expansion in Mars Hill; Susan MacKay, CEO of Orono-based Cerahelix is a finalist for Google’s “Solve for X’ completion of solving global issues; the 1950s built Bangor Drive-In is expected to reopen July 1; Virtual Managed Solutions may hire 65-100 additional employees pending the outcome of a new contract