Courtesy / City of Auburn
Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque checks out the options at the city's Holy Donut, which held a ribbon-cutting Tuesday.
April 21, 2021
Biz Bites: Auburn fills doughnut hole; ribbons cut for SoPo solar, Portland parking
Courtesy / City of Auburn
A group including Holy Donut representatives, Auburn city officials and others cuts the ribbon at The Holy Donut, 848 Minot Ave., in Auburn.
By Maureen Milliken
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the new Holy Donut in Auburn Tuesday, in a former Tim Horton's that was vacant for five years before the Portland doughnut company announced in September it was moving in.
The 848 Minot Ave. shop is the company's third location, and first outside the Portland area. The other two are at 194 Park Ave., in Portland, and 398 U.S. Route 1, in Scarborough. The site opened in January, but the ribbon-cutting was delayed until this week.
The Holy Donut team began looking at Auburn about a year ago, Jeff Buckwaltker, CEO and co-owner said. They liked the number of approved residential and commercial building permits, indicating growth in the city.
We felt Auburn would be a good landing spot for us and that the area was ready for our product," Buckwalter said. " We loved the old Tim Hortons location on Minot Avenue and knew we could retrofit it as we did with our location in Scarborough."
The comments about Auburn's growth and permits were likely music to the ears of Mayor Jason Levesque and the city's planning and economic development team, who have streamlined the city's building and permitting process and are aggressively wooing businesses and development.
Levesque and city Director of Business & Community Development Glen Holmes were joined at the ribbon-cutting by LA Metro Chamber President and CEO Shanna Cox, LA Metro Chamber Board chair-elect John Rice, the Holy Donut crew and members of the public.
“Today not only symbolizes our community's desire to be resilient, but its desire to recover and thrive past recovery,” Levesque said. “The Holy Donut is a great addition to our community and I know they have made thousands and thousands of people in Auburn very happy. We wish the Holy Donut team a bright, sweet, and flavorful future here on Minot Ave.” Levesque was also spotted shortly after the ribbon-cutting perusing the doughnut offerings in the shop.
HEATING UP IN SOPO: In other ribbon-cutting news, K&A Engineering Consulting also held a ribbon-cutting Tuesday, with Central Maine Power, at its new office at 1 Runway Road in South Portland. The company unveiled its plans to accelerate the development solar farms by helping htem connect to the CMP grid. Plans are for more than 400 megawatts of distributed solar power and community solar farms across the state. The opening of the K&A office is also expected to bring 100 permanent jobs to the state by the end of the year, the company said in a news release.
The office opening comes during U.S. Climate Action Week, which runs from April 19 – April 23, and highlights the importance of every person, community, or state doing their part to reduce the effects of climate change. As part of K&A's corporate social responsibility initiative, K&A Cares, the company, in partnership with the Augusta Walmart, is presenting more than $2,000 in donations, including 30 backpacks filled with essentials such as toiletries and clothing, to Preble Street Shelter, in Portland.
EARTH DAY PARKING SYSTEM. New Height Group, developers of the Verdante at Lincoln Park condominium complex at 99 Federal St., Portland, is holding a ribbon-cutting Thursday at its sustainable parking garage. The garage has a semi-automatic lift system that can hold more than 25 slots for cars in a parking garage that's sized for 13. The 31-condo building is slated to open soon and was designed by Archetype Architects, built by Wright-Ryan and Vitalius Real Estate Group is the broker.
SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY SERVICES. Aroostook County Community Action got some help with its building modifications to create a community services suite in its building at 771 Main St., Presque Isle. Katahdin Trust recently presented ACAP with a $25,000 check to support the building modifications. The work, by PNL Construction, included demolition of interior walls, building new walls, flooring, ceilings, doors, windows and other finishes, power, lighting and mechanical renovations.The suite will include private offices for private one-on-one consultations as well as intake and training rooms to ensure confidentiality when needed and better access to the more than 40 programs and services the agency offers.
REVIEW OF HOUSING OPTIONS SOUGHT: Sen. Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, introduced a bill to the Maine Legislature last week that is aimed at improving the variety of sustainable housing options in Maine. LD 1240 proposes directing the Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of Community Development, to review of barriers to regional solutions to making housing affordable, accessible, available, functional and compatible with strategies outlined in the December climate action plan of the Maine Climate Council. If the bill becomes law, a report would be made to the legislature's Committee on Labor and Housing by Dec. 1 that would online barriers and solutions.
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