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June 13, 2016 Edition
Focus on Small Business

Will Maine Startup and Create Week spark an 'innovator invasion'?

Lori Valigra

Robots. To be exact, underwater drones that could find faults in nuclear reactors, be used for defense or security and teach us more about the world's oceans. They're Sampriti Bhattacharyya's favorite subject, and she'll be sharing her inventions during her keynote at Maine Startup and Create Week.

  • Celebrating John Wasileski’s great compromise

    James McCarthy

    Since last October I've been a co-leader with my good friend Gary Lawless of a monthly Sunday morning walk in the 235-acre Cathance River Nature Preserve in Topsham. The preserve is a hidden gem within the Highland Green retirement community, with a network of trails that circle a heath, cut through a small clearing with wild blackberries and blueberries and descend through a mixed forest to a winding river that alternates between whitewater rapids and placid passages that perfectly mirror the tall trees lining its banks.

  • Focus on Small Business
    Focus on Small Business

    Not far from downtown Bar Harbor, Town Hill attracts small businesses

    Laurie Schreiber

    A mini-boom in small-business activity is taking place in Town Hill, a small village that's part of the busy tourist town of Bar Harbor, but is located on its outermost fringe.

  • Focus on Small Business
    Focus on Small Business

    New OT rules take effect Dec. 1: Here's what you need to know

    James McCarthy

    Greg Dugal, president and CEO of the Maine Restaurant Association, readily admits the salary threshold for employers to avoid paying overtime when salaried employees work more than 40 hours is too low and needs to be hiked.

  • It may be a great idea, but STEM Loan Program didn't get funded

    James McCarthy

    LD 1655, a bill designed to increase the number of science, technology, engineering or mathematics professionals in Maine, received strong bipartisan support from both Gov. Paul LePage and Senate Minority Leader Justin Alfond, D-Portland, as it made its way to enactment and becoming a new law.

  • Opinion
    Opinion

    How To: Run a 'lessons learned' session

    Jim Stewart

    It should be mandatory at the end of every project — and, if possible, at the end of every phase — to run a lessons learned session. And not only run it, but make sure that it's documented and available to all future projects.

  • Portland Pie CEO finds pizza is about more than dough

    Jennifer Van Allen

    Given how well known the Portland Pie Co.'s brand is in Maine, it is remarkable to consider that it began 19 years ago as an 800-square-foot takeout and delivery joint on India Street.

  • Opinion
    Opinion

    Get rid of the monkeys

    Steve Lovejoy

    Working with businesses here at the Maine Small Business Development Centers I have the opportunity to work with different challenges all the time. That's why I enjoy the job so much. But occasionally things come up that make you sit back and reflect on management and how much it has changed — and at the same time how much it has stayed the same!

  • Opinion
    Opinion

    How To: Scale up your business

    Tove Rasmussen

    Scaling up a business is a fun challenge and key to Maine's economic growth. Maine has 28,000 businesses with four to 19 employees, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. If these businesses increase by five-fold, the number of jobs is estimated to rise by close to 500,000, almost doubling non-farm jobs in Maine.

  • IN SHORT

    New hiresMaine Medical Partners, a department of Maine Medical Center in Portland, hired William Talpey, George Russell and Catherine Curry.

Today's Poll

Has your business taken significant, voluntary steps to reduce its impact on the environment?
Poll Description

Monday is Earth Day — the annual celebration, dating to 1970, of our planet and its environment. 

Created by a United Nations proclamation, Earth Day has grown to include a wide range of events in more than 190 countries. The official theme for 2024 is "Planet vs. Plastics." The day, April 22, also has led to the designation of April as Earth Month.

Mainers and Maine businesses have long strived to protect the natural environment of the state and of the world.

One recent example: Allagash Brewing Co., based in Portland, has teamed up with Patagonia Provisions, the outdoor clothing maker's food and beverage business, to make a limited-edition beer from organic ingredients including Kernza. That's the trademarked name for a perennial grain, harvested from a form of wheatgrass, with long roots that protect soil from erosion, minimize the need for tilling, and help sequester carbon.

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