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Maine Connections
| August 2010
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Greetings!
August is one of my favorite months in Maine. As a
sport-enthusiast, I eagerly look forward to summer and the numerous sports
camps that will take place all over our great state. These camps serve as a
wonderful opportunity for youth of all ages to experience their first taste of
Maine, which often leads to subsequent visits!
One exciting sports event is coming up in just a couple of weeks in
Bangor. August 15 begins the Senior
League World Series. This year's championship series for Little League baseball
players aged 14-16 will be the 50th Senior League Baseball World Series and
Bangor's ninth. It will feature five regional teams from the United States,
Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Maine District 3
champion-the host district. The championship game will be televised on ESPNU-TV
on Saturday, August 21, at 12 p.m. The tourney drew approximately 33,500 fans
last year. Here's hoping that this year's tournament is even bigger!
If you have a favorite Maine sports camp or sporting event story, please share
it with us. You can simply hit reply to this e-newsletter or become a fan of DECD's Facebook page and share your story there.
All the best,
Commissioner Thaxter R. Trafton
www.businessinmaine.com
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Attention Chambers and Economic Development Districts, please share this with your members and ask them to...
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Find the Maine Office of Tourism on Facebook.
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DECD Business Tip of the Month
Have a question about doing business in Maine?
Call our Business Answers Hotline!
Specialists are ready to answer your questions weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST at
1-800-872-3838 in Maine or 1-800-541-5872 from outside of Maine. You can also
email business.answers@maine.gov
Business
Answers is managed through the DECD and provides information about doing
business in Maine
to current and potential business owners.
Along with licensing
information, the program also offers business start-up kits, customized information
packets, referrals to DECD and other sources of financial and technical
assistance.
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Maine's Employment Tax Increment Financing (ETIF) Program Creates More Jobs
This
year's ETIF program was very successful; the program qualified more than
5,500 new employees! These new employees equate to new full-time jobs with
access to health and retirement benefits and annual income exceeding county income guidelines. Though there
were fewer companies applying this year, more jobs were created this year as opposed to last. These additional quality jobs are a boon to the Maine
economy. The ETIF program, sponsored by DECD, is open to for-profit, non-retail,
non-utility businesses adding a minimum of five net new Maine jobs within a
two-year period. Under this program, businesses are reimbursed up to 80% of
their new employees' Maine income tax withholdings for up to 10 years. To learn
more about Maine's ETIF program, please visit http://www.mainebiz.org/business_assistance/etif.asp.
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Location, Location, Location!
Maine's location is a competitive advantage for the state. The proximity of Maine to Europe and key metro areas in the Northeast United States and Canada make it an attractive location for business development! |
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13th Annual Maine International Film Festival a Success!
Jay Cocks, MIFF Midlife Achievement Award honoree, with Ken Eisen (Festival Programmer), Lea Girardin (Director of the Maine Film Office), and daughter Ya Jia. | The 13th Annual Maine International Film Festival (MIFF), a project of the Maine Film Center, was
a huge success drawing in a total of about 9,000 movie-goers and filmmakers
from around the world. Over the course of the ten day festival, nearly 100 films were shown representing the best of American independent and international cinema at locations throughout the Waterville area including the Waterville
Opera House, Railroad Square Cinema, the Skowhegan Drive-In Theater and the
Colby College Museum of Art. With the influx of visitors attending films, the festival generates a lot of business from visitors for the city of Waterville and surrounding areas. The event came to a close on Sunday, July 18, with
a Closing Night Ceremony, during which MIFF
organizers announced the Audience Favorite Award winners and celebrated the many successes of the event.
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Congratulations to Portland Webworks!
Portland Webworks, Inc. won Best Overall Web Design for its Maine Office of Tourism's
Website, www.visitmaine.com,
at the 2010 American Business Awards in New
York City on June 22.
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Pat Eltman Honored by Crafts Association
The Maine Crafts Association, a statewide non-profit
organization promoting the work of craft artists, honored Pat Eltman, Director of the Maine Office of Tourism, with an award in appreciation of her
vision for cultural tourism and support for craft. During Maine Crafts
Association's annual celebration dinner at the renowned Haystack Mountain
School of Crafts on Deer Isle, Eltman was presented with an award certificate
and beautiful Maine Crafts Association pin designed by Portland jeweler, Chaya
Caron. To learn more about the Maine Crafts Association, visit www.mainecrafts.org.
Pat Eltman accepts an award in appreciation of her support for craft from the Maine Crafts Association. |
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Maine Technology Institute Companies
Take Home TechMaine
Awards
The 2010 TechMaine Technology Awards Gala, held in late June, was a hugely successful event hosted by TechMaine and sponsored by DECD. MTI-funded
companies took home four of the five TechMaine Awards for Top Technology Firms
in Maine at the annual award ceremony in late June. Since 2002, TechMaine
has honored Maine businesses and individuals for their contributions to the
state's technology-reliant economy. The Technology Awards recognize the
accomplishments of the state's technology sectors over the past year, and
present awards to Maine's top technology companies and individuals.
The
four MTI-funded awardees were:
CashStar--Gazelle Company of the Year
CashStar is leading the
multi-channel payments evolution as the only digital gifting incentives company
for top brands. CashStar's roster of clients includes leading retail brands such
as The Home Depot, The Container Store, CVS, Brinker International Restaurants,
Papa John's and Travelocity.
Martin
Grimnes, Harbor Technologies LLC--CxO of the Year
Martin Grimnes is the
perfect example of a CEO that is consistently successful, leads by example,
creates unique opportunities for his company and has fun doing it.
Ocean
Renewable Power Company--New Technology of the Year
ORPC has created
breakthrough tidal energy technology, leading the nation in the development of
clean, predictable affordable power from the ocean.
Soren
Hansen, Sea and Reef Aquaculture, LLC--Technology Innovator of the Year.
The record and accomplishments
of Soren Hansen reflect innovation in science and technology based on a
commitment to protect and preserve our natural environment as well as
exemplifying the state's innovative talent.
The other Technology Award winner was Tilson Technology Management (TTM), which took home the prestigious award of Technology Company of the Year. This year, TTM oversaw millions of dollars in investments in
Maine's technology infrastructure, created dozens of jobs and continued
to advance Maine's technology industry.
Also presented at the Gala were the 2010 TechMaine Best of the Web Awards. Award winners included:
Visura
Media & Jamie Peloquin Design (for www.fotovisura.com) -Arts
& Entertainment site
FotoVisura is a tool to collect
and share your life and creative work through images, video, audio and text. At
its core, the site combines an online self-publishing platform and a social
network: create, distribute and collect with many settings for moderation and
privacy. FotoVisura.com is a project
founded by FotoVisura, Inc. The site was designed by Graham Letorney/Visura
Media and constructed with website development by Jamie Peloquin Design.
Aurora
Photos (for www.auroraphotos.com)-Corporate
Image site
A world-class library of
photography servicing clients worldwide, the Auora Photos website has solid
interface design providing easy to access information. The site features great
content, strong search engine optimization, and useful tools including a
sophisticated rate calculator for both RM and RF images. Aurora Photos is a
Maine owned and operated company competing with global companies 1,000 times
their size.
Kevin
Brooks Web Design and Development (for www.safepassage.org)
- Non-profit site
The site features imagery and
graphics that support the mission and stories of the organization with features
to drive social media and financial support.
Turtle
Love Company (for www.turtleloveco.com)
-E-Commerce site
Turtle Love Co finds unique
artisan jewelry that's made in small workshops using recycled metals and/or
environmentally-conscious practices. They are working to make their packaging
smaller and smaller. The site is unique among the online jewelry stores, and
they're located right in Portland, Maine!
The Masters of Ceremony at the event were Stephen Voltz and Fritz Grobe
of EepyBird.
For more information on TechMaine and the 2010 awards, please
visit www.techmaine.com. |
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