Today's headlines
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008

IntelliCare to close, lay off 200
IntelliCare Inc., a telemedicine company in South Portland, which was once considered a rising tech company, will close by the end of February.

IntelliCare, which is owned by Medco Health Solutions of New Jersey, will eliminate most of its 250 jobs, retaining only 35 to 50 people to work remotely for Medco, according to the Portland Press Herald. IntelliCare, which was founded in 1997, supplies nursing care services via telephone to health care providers. Medco said it is closing the facility because it does not fit into its long-term business plan.

IntelliCare was recognized as one of the fastest growing technology companies in North America before it was acquired in 2005 by Massachusetts-based PolyMedica Corp., which was subsequently acquired last year by Medco, the paper reported. It made the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list four years in a row, and was on Deloitte’s Fast 50 list for New England.

Athenahealth to expand workforce in '09
Watertown, Mass.-based Athenahealth plans to add 100 jobs in 2009 at the location it opened in Belfast earlier this year.

David Tassoni, general manager for the Belfast location, said Athenahealth, which handles billing and insurance claims for about 17,000 medical offices around the country, expects to have a Maine workforce of 650 people in three to five years, equaling the size of its Massachusetts workforce, according to Portland news channel WCSH 6. The company currently employs 140 in Belfast.

The company announced in November 2007 it would buy and expand the former MBNA building in Belfast to handle the growth in the company’s business. The Belfast facility opened in April.

Lawmakers to consider Sears Island port
Maine’s next Legislature will consider whether to seek the permitting of a deepwater cargo port on Sears Island in upper Penobscot Bay.

At a meeting yesterday to consider a proposal that balances development and conservation on Sears Island, the Legislature’s transportation committee voted to introduce a bill that would instruct the Maine Department of Transportation to seek permitting for the cargo port, according to the Bangor Daily News. The Sears Island proposal developed by the Joint Use Planning Committee would set aside 330 acres of the 931-acre island to develop a cargo port, and place a conservation easement over the remaining 601 acres, the paper said. The committee voted to accept the proposed conservation easement, but said it would not sign it until the bill it will introduce is passed as law, the paper said.

A consulting company last November released a report that says the construction of a container port in Searsport would generate $3.6 billion in economic activity in Maine.

Barclaycard expands in Wilton
Barclaycard US intends to add 25 new positions at its location in Wilton as it continues to grow its U.S. credit card operations.

Barclaycard US, a Delaware-based division of U.K.-based Barclays PLC, opened the Wilton operation in May 2008 to provide customer service for its credit card customers, including L.L.Bean. It currently employs roughly 70 people. The company expects to add the 25 new jobs by the first quarter of 2009, according to a press release from Gov. John Baldacci's office.

L.L.Bean in June said it was partnering with Barclaycard US to take over its Visa credit card program from Bank of America.