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Central Maine business briefs: Maine Venture Fund partners with Dirigo Labs

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Central Maine business briefs: Maine Venture Fund partners with Dirigo Labs


WATERVILLE — Maine Enterprise Fund has introduced a brand new partnership with Dirigo Labs, a startup accelerator launched by the Central Maine Development Council, to extend capital funding into firms situated in central Maine. Dirigo Labs will present MVF with “boots on the bottom” within the area and develop a channel by way of which firms can study concerning the fairness financing choices out there from MVF. In flip, MVF will take part in Dirigo Labs accelerator programming and work straight with firms to assist them perceive the fundraising course of and determine sources of capital in Maine and past, together with, however not restricted to, Maine Enterprise Fund itself, in response to a information launch from Maine Enterprise.

Dr. Brien Walton, MVF board chair, said, “Partnering with Dirigo Labs follows the MVF board’s strategic precedence of increasing affect throughout Maine. As a lean crew, MVF will be extra environment friendly by working to help present regional companions somewhat than recreating these assets. The connection with Dirigo Labs and the Central Maine Development Council is an ideal instance of this kind of partnership, to higher join the state’s assets with dynamic leaders on the entrance traces of rising central Maine’s financial system.”

Susan Ruhlin of Dirigo Labs agreed. “As Maine’s enterprise capital fund, it made sense to ally with Maine Enterprise Fund to make sure that collaborating Dirigo Labs startups have direct entry to state funding that seeks to help excessive development firms. Maine Enterprise Fund’s demonstrated success within the state over the previous 25 years bolsters the potential for brand new financial improvement organizations like Dirigo Labs to achieve a foothold and thrive over the subsequent 25 years in higher serving the central Maine area.”

MVF is already partaking with a number of of the businesses enrolled within the Dirigo Labs inaugural accelerator class in a variety of actions from basic fundraising training to capital funding analysis. MVF expects to leverage the newly introduced MVF Microfund program to supply a wider vary of fairness funding choices to the businesses at Dirigo Labs and within the wider central Maine area.

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Ed Goff Submitted picture

Skowhegan Financial savings Financial institution hires assistant vp and business lender

Skowhegan Financial savings Financial institution has introduced that Ed Goff had joined the financial institution as an assistant vp and business lender. He involves the financial institution with greater than 19 years of expertise in small enterprise possession, together with a development tools rental enterprise and a sequence of automobile washes from Skowhegan to Brunswick. His companies have been acknowledged by quite a few awards, highlighted in world commerce magazines and he has obtained the Skowhegan Space Chamber of Commerce’s Group Impression Award.

“We’re happy to welcome Ed to our business lending crew,” stated Steve Thomas, senior vp and senior business lender, in response to a information launch from the financial institution. “His successes as a Maine enterprise proprietor will likely be a novel asset to our business clients in aiding them with their monetary wants and objectives in the present day and into the long run.”

Goff will likely be primarily based out the financial institution’s Augusta department and can help the financial institution’s enterprise clients in central and southern Maine.

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“As a former small enterprise proprietor for almost 20 years, Skowhegan Financial savings Financial institution has all the time been there to help my companies’ monetary wants and objectives,” stated Goff. “I now sit up for becoming a member of the business crew the place I can return that stage of help, proven to me, to different Maine enterprise house owners on behalf of the financial institution.”

Denis Bergeron, left, was lately introduced awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by Maine Public Utilities Fee Chairperson Philip L. Bartlett II through the New England Convention of Public Utilities Commissioners. Submitted picture

Maine Public Utilities Fee analyst receives Lifetime Achievement Award

HALLOWELL – Denis Bergeron, utility analyst and coordinator of Regional Market Applications on the Maine Public Utilities Fee, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award on the New England Convention of Public Utilities Commissioners.

Bergeron has labored in state authorities in management positions for 35 years. For the final 15 years, he has been the fee’s lead analyst and outspoken advocate for Maine at New England Energy Pool, Federal Vitality Regulatory Fee, Unbiased System Operator-New England, and New England States Committee on Electrical energy.

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“Denis is extremely regarded and is taken into account a number one knowledgeable on New England transmission and era points,” stated PUC Chairperson Philip L. Bartlett II, in response to a information launch from the fee. “His ardour in advocating each for Maine and for the New England area is unparalleled.”

Bergeron has obtained many accolades in his profession. In 2013 he was acknowledged by Effectivity Maine for his “dedication to power effectivity.” He was additionally acknowledged by the Northeast Vitality Effectivity Partnership for his “excellent dedication, management and repair to NEEP and its mission to speed up power effectivity as a number one local weather change resolution.” NECPUC additionally beforehand honored Denis in 1999 and once more in 2013 with its George Dunn Award, which acknowledges workers who’ve carried out in an exemplary vogue on problems with regional significance or affect.

“Right here on the fee, I can say unequivocally that Denis is relied on extensively on my own, my fellow commissioners and our administrators on strategic points associated to era, transmission and distribution issues dealing with Maine and New England,” Bartlett stated. “Denis plans to retire this 12 months and receiving recognition on the symposium is definitely a becoming approach for Denis to finish a stellar profession.”

Maine Small Enterprise Improvement Facilities advisors obtain certification

The Maine Small Enterprise Improvement Facilities, a statewide program that helps entrepreneurs begin and develop their companies, acknowledged eight enterprise advisors who obtained their Core Competencies Certification from the New England skilled improvement group on Might 18. Newly licensed advisors embrace Christine Cole (Portland), Tina Oddleifson (Portland), Anne Lancaster (Biddeford), Lori Allen (Auburn), Christina Ramsdell (Auburn), Brandon McDonald (Caribou), Alison Lane (Bangor) and Peter Piconi (Waterville).

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The group is an expert improvement collaboration of the six Small Enterprise Improvement Facilities in New England and consists of the Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island applications. Its program offers a complete, core information coaching program and is a key component of the SBDC’s skill to supply useful and high-quality companies to shoppers and meet the wants of stakeholders. The certification coaching is comprised of two components — participation in specified on-line technical content material and an in-person, two-day intensive group session.

The eight newly licensed enterprise advisors embrace:

• Christine Cole is situated in Portland and serves small companies in Cumberland and York counties.
• Tina Oddleifson is situated in Portland and serves small companies in Cumberland and York counties.
• Anne Lancaster is situated in Biddeford and serves small companies in York County.
• Lori Allen is situated in Auburn and serves small companies in Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties.
• Christina Ramsdell is situated in Auburn and serves small companies in Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties.
• Brandon McDonald is situated in Caribou and serves small companies in Aroostook County.
• Alison Lane is situated in Bangor and serves small companies in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties.
• Peter Piconi is situated in Waterville and serves small companies in Somerset and Northern Kennebec counties.

Cornerstone expands capabilities in Maine with addition of latest principal

Cornerstone, a number one bipartisan, employee-owned authorities relations and public affairs agency with federal and state attain, introduced June 1 the addition of Matt Marks as a principal within the agency’s Augusta workplace. Marks brings to the agency greater than 25 years of political expertise and experience in transportation and infrastructure, housing, local weather and atmosphere, power, public security, workforce improvement, and state appropriations.

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“I’m delighted to affix Cornerstone’s rising crew in Maine, constructing upon their success delivering authorities and public affairs companies. It’s an thrilling transition for me, and I sit up for persevering with work in Augusta,” Marks stated, in response to a information launch from the agency.

Marks joins Cornerstone from the Related Normal Contractors of Maine, the state’s most important development commerce affiliation, the place he served initially because the chief working officer in 2008. As COO, he managed regulatory efforts for the affiliation’s Maine chapter and was chosen because the chapter’s chief government officer in August 2012. He led the AGC crew that earned two nationwide public relations awards for advocacy on this management place. He additionally serves on the Maine Local weather Council, Maine Offshore Wind Advisory Committee and Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group. He’s a Maine Enterprise Immigration Coalition board member.

Beforehand, Marks served because the chief decision-maker in a Maine-based power firm, the place he managed the every day operations and expanded enterprise operations and gross sales. AGC Maine recruited Matt for his work with regulatory companies, enterprise administration and political engagement.

Having obtained his Bachelor of Science diploma targeted in utilized technical management from the College of Southern Maine, he was chosen in 2013 because the College’s Utilized Expertise Alumnus of the 12 months. Marks resides in Scarborough together with his spouse and youngsters.

“We’re very lucky to have somebody of Matt’s management expertise becoming a member of the agency,” Managing Director Campbell Kaufman stated. “Having served as CEO of such a prestigious group, Matt will present our shoppers and colleagues useful perception into public coverage discussions all around the state.”

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At Cornerstone, Marks will work carefully with Mike Cuzzi and Todd Webster to develop shopper work in Maine and all through the northeast.

For extra enterprise information, go to CentralMaine.com.

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Opinion: Voter ID referendum is unnecessary, expensive, and harmful to Maine voters

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Opinion: Voter ID referendum is unnecessary, expensive, and harmful to Maine voters


The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com

Anna Kellar is the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Maine.

This past November, my 98-year-old grandmother was determined that she wasn’t going to miss out on voting for president. She was worried that her ballot wouldn’t arrive in the mail in time. Fortunately, her daughter — my aunt — was able to pick up a ballot for her, bring it to her to fill out, and then return it to the municipal office.

Thousands of Maine people, including elderly and disabled people like my grandmother, rely on third-party ballot delivery to be able to vote. What they don’t know is that a referendum heading to voters this year wants to take away that ability and install other barriers to our constitutional right to vote.

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The “Voter ID for Maine” citizen’s initiative campaign delivered their signatures to the Secretary of State this week, solidifying the prospect of a November referendum. The League of Women Voters of Maine (LWVME) opposes this ballot initiative. We know it is a form of voter suppression.

The voter ID requirement proposed by this campaign would be one of the most restrictive anywhere in the county. It would require photo ID to vote and to vote absentee, and it would exclude a number of currently accepted IDs.

But that’s not all. The legislation behind the referendum is also an attack on absentee voting. It will repeal ongoing absentee voting, where a voter can sign up to have an absentee ballot mailed to them automatically for each election cycle, and it limits the use and number of absentee ballot dropboxes to the point where some towns may find it impractical to offer them. It makes it impossible for voters to request an absentee ballot over the phone. It prevents an authorized third party from delivering an absentee ballot, a service that many elderly and disabled Mainers rely on.

Absentee voting is safe and secure and a popular way to vote for many Mainers. We should be looking for ways to make it more convenient for Maine voters to cast their ballots, not putting obstacles in their way.

Make no mistake: This campaign is a broad attack on voting rights that, if implemented, would disenfranchise many Maine people. It’s disappointing to see Mainers try to impose these barriers on their fellow Mainers’ right to vote when this state is justly proud of its high voter participation rates. These restrictions can and will harm every type of voter, with senior and rural voters experiencing the worst of the disenfranchisement. It will be costly, too. Taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for a new system that is unnecessary, expensive, and harmful to Maine voters.

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All of the evidence suggests that voter IDs don’t prevent voter fraud. Maine has safeguards in place to prevent fraud, cyber attacks, and other kinds of foul play that would attempt to subvert our elections. This proposal is being imported to Maine from an out-of-state playbook (see the latest Ohio voter suppression law) that just doesn’t fit Maine. The “Voter ID for Maine” campaign will likely mislead Mainers into thinking that requiring an ID isn’t a big deal, but it will have immediate impacts on eligible voters. Unfortunately, that may be the whole point, and that’s what the proponents of this measure will likely refuse to admit.

This is not a well-intentioned nonpartisan effort. And we should call this campaign what it is: a broad attack on voting rights in order to suppress voters.

Maine has strong voting rights. We are a leader in the nation. Our small, rural, working-class state has one of the highest voter turnout rates in the country. That’s something to be proud of. We rank this high because of our secure elections, same-day voter registration, no-excuse absentee ballots, and no photo ID laws required to vote. Let’s keep it this way and oppose this voter suppression initiative.



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Maine Democratic Party leader won’t seek reelection

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Maine Democratic Party leader won’t seek reelection


Maine Democratic Party leader won’t seek reelection

Bev Uhlenhake Maine Democratic Party

The chair of the Maine Democratic Party announced Thursday she won’t seek reelection when members select leaders later this month.

Bev Uhlenhake, a former city councilor and mayor in Brewer and former chair of the Penobscot County Democrats, has served as chair of the state party since January 2023. She is also a previous vice chair of the party.

In a written statement, Uhlenhake noted some of the recent successes and challenges facing Democrats, including the reelection of Democratic majorities in both the Maine House and Senate last November, though by narrower margins, and winning three of Maine’s four electoral votes for Vice President Kamala Harris.

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“While we have laid a solid foundation from which Maine Democrats can build toward even greater success in 2026 and beyond, I have decided to step away from Maine Democratic Party leadership for personal and professional reasons, and will not seek reelection,” Uhlenhake said.

Party Vice Chair Julian Rogers, who was also elected to his post in 2023, announced he also won’t seek reelection to leadership, but will resume a previous role he held as vice chair of the party’s committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging.

Democratic State Committee members will vote for the party’s next leaders in elections to be held on Sunday, Jan. 26.

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Shenna Bellows sworn in for third term as Maine Secretary of State

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Shenna Bellows sworn in for third term as Maine Secretary of State


AUGUSTA, Maine — Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was sworn into office for her third term Wednesday.  Governor Janet Mills conducted the formal swearing-in of all the constitutional officers, which includes Bellows, State Treasurer Joseph Perry, Attorney General Aaron Frey and State Auditor Matthew Dunlap. In her remarks following the swearing-in, Bellows shared a message of transparency and accessibility in continuing to serve the people of Maine. “It is incumbent upon us as elected officials to make government work for the people of Maine,” Bellows said. “We must reduce bureaucracy, improve efficiency, modernize our systems, and above all, bring people together in community to make life better for the people of Maine.”

The Department of the Secretary of State includes three bureaus: The Maine State Archives, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions.

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Bellows emphasized her commitment to ensuring free, safe, and secure elections, modernizing government services, and preserving Maine’s history through the State Archives. She highlighted the importance of standing up for the rule of law and democracy, referring to the legacy of Civil War General Joshua Chamberlain and referencing the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. “This is our Chamberlain moment. We must stand up for the rule of law and do the right thing even when it is hard. As your Secretary of State, I pledge to always ensure that we have free, safe and secure elections and that we adhere to the Constitution and the rule of law in every aspect of everything that we do,” said Bellows. Bellows, Maine’s 50th Secretary of State, previously served two terms in the Maine Senate from 2016-2020 and was the executive director of the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine before her election in 2021.



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