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Maine & Company Newsletter
September 2009
2009 will be remembered for recession, rising unemployment and stunted business growth. But amid the bleak news, Maine & Company has good news of growth and businesses locating in Maine.
International WoodFuels continues its plan for a multi-million dollar wood pellet manufacturing facility in Burnham. Not only will it provide new "green" jobs for the state, International WoodFuels co-location agreement bolsters the workforce of another Maine company. Read more in this newsletter.
Another Maine & Company-recruited business, T-Mobile Maine is one of the few companies which has kept its workforce stable during the recession. Find out more about T-Mobile's plan to hire 130. And Maine-based Know Technology is going strong; the company was just named a Microsoft Partner of the Year.
Matt Jacobson, President & CEO, Maine & Company (207) 871-0234
International WoodFuels Prepares for Burnham Groundbreaking
International WoodFuels, a Portland-based company offering cost effective heating alternatives for commercial and institutional facilities, continues its plans to build a state-of-the-art biomass manufacturing facility in Burnham. The facility will have the capacity to produce 100,000 tons of locally sourced wood pellets annually.
Maine & Company first introduced International WoodFuels to Pride Sports of Burnham, which is the world's largest manufacturer of wooden golf tees. A unique co-location agreement will allow both companies to efficiently utilize the same source of wood fibers being brought into the area.
International WoodFuels also qualifies for the state's permanently designated Pine Tree Development Zones (PTDZ), which will allow the company to take advantage of a number of Maine state tax incentives that have been created specifically to promote growth in industries such as manufacturing and environmental technology.
"Our Burnham facility will create up to 35 new jobs for Maine, and support the region's existing foresters, loggers, and other biomass professionals," said Steven J. Mueller, WoodFuels' President. "These new, green jobs will allow the facility to produce approximately 100,000 tons of clean burning wood pellets made from sustainably harvested whole logs, annually displacing nearly 12 million gallons of heating oil and effectively eliminating 133,000 tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions."
Read more about International WoodFuel's Burnham facility
T-Mobile Hiring 130 at its Oakland Maine Call Center
T-Mobile, the U.S. wireless operation of Deutsche Telekom AG, is hiring 130 employees at its Oakland, Maine call center this fall. Three job fairs are scheduled at the Oakland Call Center on FirstPark Drive beginning on October 8.
Since opening its Oakland location in 2006, T-Mobile has consistently employed just over 800 people. "T-Mobile has kept its employment numbers at the same consistent level for three years now," said Matt Jacobson, President and CEO of Maine & Company. "The company's continued commitment to employment in the Oakland area, speaks volumes of the value of T-Mobile to the Maine economy."
Job applicants can visit the T-Mobile Careers website at www.tmobile.jobs
Two Maine & Company-Recruited Employers Named "Best Places to Work"
Two companies brought to Maine with the help of Maine & Company, athenahealth and T-Mobile, have made the fourth annual "Best Places to Work in Maine" list. Thrity-one companies total are part of the list, recently released by the Maine State Council of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).
The 2009 Best Places program, sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, recognizes companies that have established and consistently fostered outstanding workplace environments.
Find out more about the 31 companies named "Best Places to Work" in Maine
Maine's Know Technology Wins the Prestigious 2009 Microsoft Partner of the Year
Maine-based Know Technology, LLC, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a leading provider of IT Solutions and Support Services, is the winner of the 2009 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award for Networking Infrastructure Solutions. The company was chosen from an international field of top Microsoft partners for delivering market-leading customer solutions built on Microsoft technology.
The Networking Infrastructure Solutions Partner of the Year Award honors the partner whose infrastructure practice provides leadership in implementing solutions based on the Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 operating systems. The award recognizes Know Technology for innovative services-based solutions that have helped midsize customers realize their potential by providing operational efficiencies and core infrastructure transformation, whether it is their first server or a migration from competitive or legacy systems.
"We have built Know Technology based on a philosophy of understanding our clients' business reality and supporting that reality with proven, enterprise grade technology solutions. This award recognizes our team's ability to deliver enterprise level benefits to mid-sized organizations utilizing Microsoft solutions," said Stephen D. Hand, President and CTO of Know Technology, LLC. "Properly deployed, the Microsoft stack of products, starting with Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, allows a mid-market customer to extend its IT strategy beyond functional needs and towards addressing strategic issues such as consolidation, business continuity and the environment."
Know Technology is located in Portland and Camden Maine.
Snow Plow Manufacturer Fisher Engineering Expands in Maine
Expansion and new jobs at snow plow manufacturer Fisher Engineering in Rockland.
Parent-company Douglas Dynamics is expanding the Maine facility after the company announced it will close its Johnson City, Tennessee plant in 2010. The work once completed in Tennessee will now shift to the Douglas Dynamics' Rockland, ME and Milwaukee, WI plants.
Rockland's Fisher Engineering plant will add 53,200 square feet in a multi-million dollar expansion over the next nine months. Also, 50 new jobs will be created. Currently, Fisher Engineering employs 180.
Maine-based ClaimVantage Rolls Out Quebec Blue Cross Claims Management System
Maine-based ClaimVantage, a global specialist in life and health insurance claims systems, recently went live with Québec Blue Cross' new claims management platform.
Québec Blue Cross selected ClaimVantage in early 2008 after an extensive evaluation. ClaimVantage was chosen due to its unique expertise and innovative capabilities enabling the company to deliver the most comprehensive and cost effective solution for both disability and life insurance claims processing.
ClaimVantage, with offices in Falmouth, Maine and Dublin, Ireland, is a leading global specialist in life and health insurance claims systems. ClaimVantage products supports short-term and long-term disability, individual disabilty, life, AD&D, long-term care, self-insured and critical illness.
Maine & Company Board of Directors/Sponsors
Directors/Sponsors
*Mr. Peter Benard, President, Ledgewood Construction *Ms. Sara Burns, President & CEO, Central Maine Power Company *Mr. Bruce A. Coggeshall, Managing Partner, Pierce Atwood LLP *Ms. Cindy Carroll, Director of Business Services, Unitil *Mr. Dana F. Connors, President, The Maine State Chamber of Commerce *Mr. Daniel Corcoran, President, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine *Mr. Ed Cormier, President, Harriman *Mr. Mark Fasold, Senior Vice President & CFO, L.L. Bean, Inc. *Mr. Bob Hanf, President, Bangor Hydro-Electric Company *Mr. James Harnden, President, RAM Harnden Commercial Real Estate *Mr. Peter Jackson, Division VP, Finance & Administration, Boston Financial Data Services *Mr. Keith C. Jones, Managing Partner, Verrill Dana, LLP *Mr. Raymond "Chip" Kelley, Senior Vice President, Key Bank of Maine *Mr. Brian Lippold, VP, Business & Wholesale Sales, FairPoint Communications *Mr. Daniel G. McKay, President, Eaton Peabody * Mr. Steven Mueller, President, International WoodFuels, LLC *Ms. Melinda Poore, Vice President of Government & Community Affairs, Time Warner Cable *Commissioner John Richardson Dept. of Economic & Community Development *Mr. Eric F. Saunders, Shareholder, Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson , P.A. *Mr. David Tassoni, Vice President of Operations, athenahealth *Mr. Peter G. Vigue, President, Cianbro Corporation *Mr. Lawrence A. Wold, President, TD Banknorth Maine
Members of the Corporation
Mr. Charles A. Morrison, President, Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce *Mr. Godfrey Wood, Executive Director, Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce *Mr. Peter Thompson, President & CEO, Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce *Mr. Michael Bourque, VP, Corporate Marketing & Communications, Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company *Ms. Lisa Martin, Executive Director, Manufacturers Association of Maine *Ms. Kimberly Lindlof, President, MidMaine Chamber of Commerce *Mr. Ford S. Reiche, President, Safe Handling, Inc. *Ms. Carolyn Farkas-Noe, Vice President, Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber
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