AUGUSTA — The Board of Directors of the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) unanimously voted to approve two programs to aid businesses in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) - designated disaster areas that have been negatively affected by recent flooding as a result of the intense spring storm. Effective immediately, FAME will provide lower cost, short-term bridge financing to affected businesses via its direct loan and its commercial loan insurance programs.
"We are pleased to assist Maine businesses during this difficult time as they strive to weather the storm in the face of Mother Nature's fury," stated FAME Board Chair Joyce Maker.
First, FAME will offer direct loans through its Economic Recovery Loan Program. FAME is reducing its usual interest rate by 4 percent to 2 percent below the Prime Lending Rate on one-year loans of $75,000 or less (no principal repayment in the first year).
Second, FAME will make available commercial loan insurance both in the traditional manner and also via its innovative OnLine Answer (OLA) Program. "OLA is a faster, easier, and lower cost way for lenders to apply for loan insurance," stated FAME CEO John Witherspoon. "A lender simply completes an application on FAME's website and receives a decision and all required FAME paperwork within minutes," Witherspoon noted. Typically, the OLA Program provides lenders with up to 60 percent pro rata loan insurance, up to a maximum FAME exposure of $250,000. Through June 30, 2007, however, FAME will be increasing the insured percentage to 75 percent on loans of $100,000 or less to affected businesses (no required principal reductions through maturity). Also, the normal 1 percent initial insurance fee will be reduced to ½ percent and the terms of these loans will be restricted to a maximum of six months. A financial institution must sign up with FAME in order to participate in the OLA Program.
"Through these two flexible options, we are doing our part to assist Maine businesses as they cope with the challenges wrought by the recent storm," stated Witherspoon.
Each of the FAME flood disaster assistance programs will require the following: The borrower must have a place of business located in a Maine community within the FEMA-designated disaster area; the borrower must have been directly affected by rising water associated with the April 2007 rainstorms and have sustained losses due to the rising water; the borrower must provide a pledge of any applicable insurance proceeds and a binding commitment to: (a) diligently pursue applicable insurance claims; (b) diligently pursue SBA disaster loan funds for any losses not covered by insurance; and (c) immediately upon receipt thereof, use any and all proceeds of applicable insurance and SBA disaster loans toward payoff of the FAME direct or insured loan.
KENNEBUNKPORT — blueSWIRLS.com a marketing services company based in Beverly, Mass. announced that it landed a new client, Symes Associates, also of Beverly. Symes, a real estate developer with headquarters in Beverly, hired blueSWIRLS.com to market its Resort at Goose Rocks in Kennebunkport. Symes has charged blueSWIRLS.com with creating a logo, tag line, direct mail, collateral, print ads and website as well as providing photography, public relations and event management services.
PORTLAND—SCORE, Service Corps of Retired Executives, a volunteer organization supporting small business, will hold the following workshops: Starting Your Own Business (Everything you need to know), Tuesday, May 1, 4-7 p.m.; Writing A Business Plan (Why you need one and when to revise it), Tuesday, May 8, from 4-7 p.m.; Marketing and Sales (How to attract customers and retain them), Tuesday, May 22, from 4-7 p.m.; Increasing Website Traffic (Attract more customers to your website), Thursday, May 24, from 6-9 p.m.
All Workshops will be held at the Score Offices, 100 Middle St., Second Floor, East Tower, Portland, ME 04101. There is a nominal charge for each workshop.
Local specialty food manufacturer Stonewall Kitchen, in collaboration with the McIntosh Atlantic Culinary College is delighted to announce the first Chef's Challenge to be held Saturday, May 12, from 1-3 p.m. The event is scheduled to be held at the L'Esprit Restaurant located on the college campus at 181 Silver Street in Dover, N.H.
Three teams of four student chefs from the college will each be given one Stonewall Kitchen product from which they will create an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert. The dishes will be made in front of a live "audience" in the kitchen at L'Esprit. The kitchen is fitted with stadium style seating so guests will be able to watch the magic happen and ask questions of the talented cooks.
Attendees will then be escorted to the dining room where they will be served the teams' dishes and be allowed to take notes, ask questions and vote for their favorite recipes. A panel of professional culinary professors and chefs will vote along with the guests. The winners of the competition will be announced and awarded prizes. All recipes will be available for attendees at stonewallkitchen.com or via e-mail following the event. All attendees will receive a goodie bag from Stonewall Kitchen.
Ticket sales will be limited. Tickets for the evening are $75 per person and are available at the Stonewall Kitchen Portsmouth Company Store, 603-422-7303.
Clam Shack featured KENNEBUNKPORT—Steve Kingston, owner of The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport, was recently a guest on New York City's WPIX-TV CW11 Morning News following the Maine Office of Tourism's fourth annual Taste of Maine Media Marketplace.
The segment opened with beautiful footage of Maine while Kingston demonstrated how to prepare a lobster bake using Maine lobsters and mussels, red bliss potatoes and sweet corn on the cob. He described the traditional process of making a beach lobster bake and prepared the stove-top version of the meal in a large pot during the live, seven minute segment.
The Clam Shack was one of 22 Maine businesses that took part in The Taste of Maine Media Marketplace, an annual event that allows tourism and hospitality professionals in the state to meet and share their stories with representatives from broadcast, print and internet media based in New York City. The gathering is organized by the Maine Office of Tourism.
State Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman announced that the preliminary seasonally-adjusted March unemployment rate for Maine was 4.3 percent, down slightly from 4.4 percent in February and unchanged from 4.3 percent for March 2006. The national unemployment rate for March was 4.4 percent.
"While the Maine unemployment rate has stabilized recently, the number of Maine residents employed has continued to increase," said Commissioner Fortman. "Over the past year employment increased by 7,400. The unemployment rate was unchanged as employment gains were offset by a similar increase in the number of Maine residents participating in the labor force." Between March 2006 and March 2007, the total number of nonfarm wage and salary jobs increased by 3,200. Over-the-year job gains were recorded in health care and social assistance; professional and business services; trade, transportation and utilities; leisure and hospitality services; and construction. Job losses were primarily in manufacturing, with additional losses in other services and financial activities.
Other New England states reporting a seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for March include New Hampshire, 3.8 percent; Connecticut, 4.1 percent; and Massachusetts, 4.4 percent. The adjusted national rate for March was 4.4 percent, down from 4.5 percent for February and 4.7 percent for March 2006.
The not-seasonally-adjusted Maine unemployment rate for March was 5.0 percent, down from 5.4 percent for February and unchanged from 5.0 percent for March 2006. The unadjusted national rate was 4.7 percent for March, up from 4.5 percent for February and down from 4.8 percent for March 2006. Not-seasonally-adjusted March unemployment rates for Maine counties ranged from 3.5 percent for Cumberland County to 9.1 percent for Washington County.
Not-seasonally-adjusted nonfarm wage and salary jobs in Maine rose by 3,400 between February and March. The largest gains were recorded in leisure and hospitality services, local government, construction, and retail trade.
WELLS — Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge is accepting applications until April 30 for the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) to be held this summer at the refuge headquarters in Wells.
Young adults between the ages of 15 and 18, who are interested in working on a National Wildlife Refuge and like to work in the out-of-doors, are encouraged to apply for a YCC position. The crew will work with refuge biologists, maintenance workers, and park rangers on projects including trail maintenance, painting, repairing facilities as well as fencing endangered piping plover nests and controlling invasive plant species.
The program will run from June 25 through Aug. 17. Crew members will work 40 hours per week and will be paid Maine minimum wage. Please call the refuge office at 646-9226 or stop by headquarters to obtain an application.
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