InTouchInTouchInTouch MONTHLY NEWSLETTER…….....…..………....SEPTEMBER 2011

50 ELM STREET, WATERVILLE, ME 04901 • TEL: (207) 873-3315 • FAX: (207) 877-0087 • E-MAIL: info@midmainechamber.com WEB SITE: www.midmainechamber.com • Bart Stevens, Chair of the Board • Kimberly N. Lindlof, President & CEO

Highlights in this Issue:

P. 2: From the President’s Chair P. 3: Member Events Calendar P. 7: Member People P. 8: Member Spotlight — The Bank of Maine

‘Taste’ 2011 another hit

September 28, 2011 5:00 PM, social hour

6:00 PM, dinner & raffle T & B's Celebration Center

Join the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce in a fun-filled night full of networking with area business professionals. Over 125 donated prizes will be raffled off.

$3,000 Grand Prize $1,000 2nd prize $500 3rd prize

Nobody walks away empty-handed! Tickets are $100/piece and include dinner for two and one raffle ticket. For reservations call 873-3315 or see any board member.

It was our 19th year and the Taste of Greater Waterville proved as popular as ever.

Gary Poulin, Mid-Maine Chamber member and veteran Taste co-chair said turnout matched the best of previous years.

Unofficial estimates placed participation for the 12-hour extravaganza at between 10,000-12,000 people.

“Overall, I thought it was one of the better ones we’ve had,” Poulin said. “And it was one of the best in terms of the fare the restaurants offered. They presented themselves well.”

There were some venue changes in 2011 forced by the city’s refurbishing efforts at Castonguay Square. The Bite was moved to Appleton Street, the Children’s Events to the south side of The Concourse.

“Even though not ideal, the moves fit the event well and there was little confusion,” said Christian Savage, chamber program assistant and one of the key organizers of this year’s downtown fest.

“It’s a big event and a lot of work to plan, but after many months of working on it, it was great seeing it all come together!” Robyn Loubier, MMCC’s new business development assistant said.

“Seeing as it was our first year, we certainly couldn’t have done it without the help of the Taste committee.”

For this year’s winners see our insert!

Dr. James D. Libby

It’s been a period of high anxiety on Wall Street. Stan-dard and Poor’s has downgraded our country’s bond rating. The timing of the downgrade coincided with a debt-reduction agreement between Congress and the President struck on the very day that Treasury officials determined that a payment default would occur. The timing of the downgrade also coincided with an end

to weeks of “quantitative easing,” an exercise conducted by the Federal Reserve that expanded the supply of

money in order to provide “liquidity” (cash injected into our financial system for easy borrowing at low rates).

How do these events affect us? That’s a question that a lot of people have asked me lately, from members of the media to members of the family. The answer lies in sup-ply, demand, and our savings rate.

When citizens have “disposable” income, there are two .

The Chamber has just launched a new and exciting video platform for our members to highlight their business! Maine Business Watch will be airing its first show in the coming weeks. See the descrip-tive flier enclosed for full details.

Bond ratings, market instability, and you

Continued on Page 2

Super Raffle Dinner

Our Happy Hour Sponsor

27 Cool Street • Waterville, ME 04901 (207) 873-0721 • Fax (207) 877-2287

www.genesishcc.com Rehabilitation and Living Centers

www.centralmaine.com

- Kimberly

From the President’s

Chair

Bowdoin Photography

Page 2

Amcomm Wireless Wednesday, September 21

5:30-7:00 PM 5 Kennedy Memorial Drive Plaza , Waterville

Next Business After Hours:

Beer, wine, & hors d’oeuvres

Thank you to our 50/50 Sponsor:

• Economy

The June sales tax numbers for our region were very en-couraging and from the anec-

dotal information that I've been gathering, this sum-mer’s tourism season has been strong, too. Despite federal volatility, other signs locally such as long empty storefronts being filled (CVS, Cattleman's, Jade Island) and new grants (town of Fairfield's facade improvement grant) add to my level of optimism that 2011 is going to end strong. Our Business Visitation Program will wind up in De-cember, and I look forward to reporting the re-sults. Our Chamber Ambassadors have done many visits this year and feedback has been positive. The Business Attraction & Retention committee is refocusing on workforce development and to this end have launched a program where they are soliciting questions on topics that our members may need ad-vice. This is a new approach to an ongoing effort for chamber members to mentor each other. We have a lot of knowledge in our region. Helping each other suc-ceed benefits us all. I invite you to contact the Chamber if there is anything that we can help you with. If we don't have the re-sources, perhaps we can connect you to them. And, remember to post your vacant positions on our job search link on the Chamber's Web site -- it's free to you and is highly visible.

Continued from Page 1 things they can do with it. They can save it or spend it. In the short-term, spending improves any economy. However, in the long term, sav-ings has a more profound economic effect. Savings, truth be told, is the same as invest-ment. Dollars that are saved are dollars that end up invested directly into new products, new services, and what the entrepreneurial commu-nity calls, “innovation.”

Good economies add value through innova-tion, either via invention or new processes used to make products more cheaply (and in turn, more profitably). Good economies couple sav-ings with spending, thus fueling consumer de-mand for products, old and new.

How can our leaders improve our economy? The answer lies in moving from policies that promote spending to policies that promote sav-ings and ownership.

Saving provides the same liquidity as quanti-tative easing, since money coming from savings is available to loan to the local community, and in turn, the community qualifies for expansion-intended loans. When companies and individu-als have savings, they harness the power to leverage responsible borrowing with sufficient equity. We thrive when our own equity capital is available to leverage expansion. We stall

when over-leveraging occurs. Until our country returns to the savings rates

of our elders, prosperity will be difficult. That means our leaders need to promote savings. Since quantitative easing cheapens the dollar, it discourages savings and lowers consumer rates of return on low-risk lending. Additional quan-titative easing and policies that promote spend-ing over saving are unlikely to pave the way to success at the local level.

So, how can we do our part? Save and inno-vate … and support entities and institutions that promote stronger savings rates and innovation.

Dr. James Libby is the chair of the Depart-ment of Business Administration at Thomas College and a former State Senator and State Legislator.

Publication Now Available Maine By The Numbers is now available for

2011. The report looks at Maine; where it ranks, and how it compares in six key areas: Demo-graphics, Economics, Health Care, Welfare, Education, and Tax/Fiscal.

Maine's totals and rankings are compared with the national average, the New England state average, rural peer state average, and the highest and lowest-ranked states. To download a copy: http://www.mainepolicy.org/maine-by-the-numbers/

Page 3

Full Service Office Supplies Retail Store and Furniture Showroom

in Downtown, Skowhegan

The Paper Klip New & Used Furniture

A Local, Independent, Family- Owned & Operated Company

www.WarrensOfficeSuppplies.com 800.924.9006

Sept. 8: United Way of Mid-Maine Campaign Kick-off 7:30-9 a.m. for 2011-2012. FMI: or 873-0686 or http://www.unitedwaymidme.org. Sept. 9: 48th Maine State Fire Fighters Convention and 9/11 memorial ser-vice hosted by the Waterville Fire Department. Many vendors to look over. Military Black-hawk demostration. 9/11 10th Anni-versary Memorial Service, Banquet and Comedy/Rock Show. A firefight-ers competetion on Sunday morning. FMI: http://www.watervillefire.com. Sept. 10: 5th Annual Hill 'n the Ville Music Festival at Head of Falls in Downtown Waterville, Hill 'n the Ville is a free day-long music festival designed to welcome college students to Waterville and provide meaningful interaction between students and residents.

Sept. 15: U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) is hosting a free workshop on from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Waterville Commons Dr. in Waterville to guide attendees through all of the features and functions of the company’s An-droid™-powered, Windows® Phone and BlackBerry® devices. Sept. 16: Thomas College 8th Annual Lunder Scholars Golf Invitational All pro-ceeds support the Tho-mas College Lunder Scholars Endowment Fund which has provided over $200,000 in scholar-ship aid to more than 100 Maine students since 2003. FMI: http://www.thomas.edu/alumni/menus/lunderregistration.asp. Sept. 16: ACAT 2011-2012 season kicks off with the performance of “The

Little Dog Laughed” by Douglas Carter Beane at 7:30 p.m. held in the Waterville Opera House Studio Theater on the first floor at 93 Main St. Single tickets are now available. Prices remain at $12/adults and $10/seniors or youths. Season passes are available. FMI: 873-7000. Sept. 17: Leaps N Bounds Gymnas-tics open house from 12-2 p.m. 2011 is the “Year of the Handstand!” At 1 p.m., participants will join other gyms across the country attempting to break the world record for the most handstands done at one time. To participate, call 453-LEAP. Sept. 17: REM presents “Drums Along the Kennebec”, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at Head Of Falls along the river-front on Front Street in Waterville. There will be percussion demonstra-tions and workshops representing

different cultures and percussion instruments, featuring West African, Native American, Steel Drums, Scottish, and Drumming Cir-cles. FMI: Lynn Schwarz at 622-3355. Sept. 28: Uhl-Melanson Investor Services will host an educational dinner presentation for clients at 5:30 p.m. at Eric’s Restaurant on Col-lege Avenue in Waterville. FMI: 859-8877. Oct 3: Hospice Volunteers of Wa-terville Area (HVWA) will offer certified hospice volunteer training. Training will run two Saturdays, Oct. 8 and 15 from 8-12 p.m. and four evening classes, Oct. 3, 5, 11 and 13 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. FMI: Marilyn Pelletier 873-3615 x11 or e-mail mpelletier@hvwa.org

A Snapshot of Maine.com Contact: Tom Mason 295 Center Road Fairfield, ME 04937 Phone: 453-4777 bill@craftsmaine.com www.asnapshotofmaine.com Amici's Cucina Contact: Mary Carpinito 137 Main Street Waterville, ME 04901 Phone: 861-4440 mary@amiciscucina.com http://www.amiciscucina.com

Holy Trinity Anglican Church Contact: Ed Kalish 70 Pleasant Street Waterville, ME 04901 Phone: 989-2117 ekalish@myfairpoint.net www.holytrinityanglicanme.org BO-MAR Transportation, Inc. Contact: John Sloan 7 Birch Ridge Ave. Topsham, ME 04086 Phone: 725-7189 Bomartrans@yahoo.com www.mainebusrentals.com

Juice Plus + Whole Food Contact: Karen Mueller PO Box 1498 Waterville, ME 04903 Phone: 877-4075 Karen@youonveggies.com Merrymeeting Bay Behavioral Health Contact: Denise Deveaux 76 Pleasant Street Brunswick, ME 04011 Phone: 721-0214 ddeveaux@merrymeetingbha.com www.merrymeetingbha.com

Reynolds Custom Woodworks Contact: Kris Reynolds 550 China Road Winslow, ME 04901 Phone 649-3764 farmerrey@yahoo.com Silver Street Tavern Owner - Charlie Giguere 2 Silver Street Waterville, ME 04901 Phone: 680-2163 drew111122@hotmail.com www.silverstreettavern.com

Page 4

Prime Financial You dream it...

We help you realize it Prime Financial has become the trusted partner for many clients, both in Maine and across the country. We under-

stand that each stage in life presents unique challenges and opportunities. We also know that wherever you are in life – expanding your business, adding to your family, looking

forward to your retirement or any stage in between – being prepared for change is crucial to future growth.

Contact us today for a personalized consultation in regard

to your financial future. Securities offered through Investors Capital Corporation

Member FINRA / SIPC Advisory Services offered through Investors Capital Advisory

753 West River Road, Waterville, Maine 04901 800-877-9450 Fax 207-877-8876

Adams & Worth has opened a new location in downtown Hallowell at 202 Water Street, just across from Slate's! Owner Jane McIntosh would like to thank all of her loyal Waterville customers for mak-ing this expansion possible and looks forward to continuing to proudly serve the Waterville commu-nity. The second location will also allow Adams & Worth to offer even more variety in both stores. CONGRATS to Jane and her staff! Downtown Waterville Farmers' Market: Purchase a Market Share. What's a Market Share? It's a book

of vouchers valued at $100 that you can purchase for just $75. Each booklet contains twenty $5 vouchers that may be redeemed as cash at any of the mar-ket vendor stalls. By purchasing a share, you are committing to fresh,

locally produced food and goods and getting a dis-count in the process - that's good for you AND our market vendors. To order your share, contact Shan-non Haines at 680-2055 or buy one in person at the Cornerstone Farm stall. Downtown Waterville Farmers' Market is open every Thursday, 2-6 p.m. in The Concourse. Congratulations to North Country Rivers Inc., that recently received $9,359 to install new insulation at its facilities in Bingham plus an additional $20,000 grant to assist them in getting a wood pellet boiler, solar energy system and solar thermal system. Shauna Hirshfield, new assistant director for intern-ships and employer programming in the Colby Ca-reer Center, invites area businesses to consider util-izing a Colby College intern. Positions can be posted to Colby's job and internship database at https://colby-csm.symplicity.com. FMI contact Shauna directly at sahirshf@colby.edu or 859-4148. Pine Tree Society, founded in 1936, has earned the highest possible rating, four-star, for sound fiscal management from Charity Navigator. Charity Navi-gator is America’s largest and most used evaluator for nonprofit organizations. Pine Tree Society is celebrating its 75th year. FMI: www.pinetreesociety.org.

Oakland Parks & Recreation has recently gone tobacco free. Amber Des-rosiers worked with Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine to provide the department with eight free "This is a Tobacco-Free Area." metal signs. If you would like assistance with policy or ordinance development to increase the number of recreational events (celebrations, fairs, parades, or other community events), and post-secondary education institutions, to become tobacco-free or prohibit tobacco litter with your local munici-palities, contact Amber at 873-0686. Thanks to the excellent response by many generous individuals, businesses, and foundations, the Water-ville Opera House met the bonus 3:1 match offered by the Harold Alfond Foundation. The renovations to the theater will now include a set construction shop at the base of the freight elevator for a $4.3 million. The challenge ended on Aug. 1, but donors may still name a seat with a contribution of $250, $500, or $1,000. Gifts of any amount are welcome. FMI: 873-7000 or download a pledge form from the website. Kennebec Valley Community College (KVCC) in

Fairfield, Maine held a grand opening at its new, state-of-the-art Solar Heating and Cooling Lab Aug. 10. The lab will be used as a living laboratory to prepare trainers who instruct students for careers as solar

energy installers. The lab will be the only facility of its kind on the eastern seaboard, and the centerpiece of the Northeast Solar Heating and Cooling Instruc-tor Training Project, (NSHCITP), in which KVCC is providing training to solar thermal instructors from across the Northeast region and beyond. For the fifth year in a row, Inland Hospital has re-ceived top honors for patient satisfaction by an inter-national survey company. Avatar International awarded Inland with “Exceeding Patient Expecta-tions” on June 29. Unity College has received a $10 million gift from an anonymous donor who is a Maine resident. The

school's vice president for college advancement, Robert Constantine, said the funds will more than triple Unity's existing endowment and create $500,000 in additional operating revenue. Using FairPoint’s new high-speed, high-capacity VantagePoint(SM) network, Five County Credit Union recently opened the first video-based virtual branch in the state of Maine at a Super Walmart in Skowhegan. Virtual branches use new virtual teller machines and virtual offices that allow customers in the branch to communicate via video with Five County call center agents at its headquarters in Bath. KVCOG recently completed a plan containing trans-portation and land use recommendations for the Route 201/I95 corridor between Gardiner and Fair-field. The plan will be submitted to Maine DOT for use in their future project planning, and as direction for KVCOG technical assistance to towns. A change to state law governing the recycling of electronics is allowing Auburn-based EWaste Recy-cling Solutions to expand. Beginning with two new employees this week, the company plans to hire an-other 18 workers by the end of September.The com-pany recycles electronics and sells the components. The passage of LD 981 allows the company to disas-semble cathode ray tubes in monitors and TV screens. The company currently has 29 employees. Jobs for Maine's Graduates has achieved "5 of 5." That means that they have met their parent organiza-tion’s Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) five stan-dards of excellence. FairPoint joined with Gov. Paul LePage in present-ing the 21st annual Governor’s Award for Business Excellence at a recent ceremony in the Hall of Flags at the State Capitol. The award recognizes Maine businesses for their extraordinary commitment to their employees, their communities and to manufac-turing and customer service excellence. This year’s winners included: Duratherm Window from Vas-salboro and Mid-Maine Machine Products from Winslow.

Page 5

Good Health = Good Business

By William McPeck

This month we will examine the program stan-dards in the Maine Leadership Group for Worksite Wellness Criteria for Worksite Health Programs as they relate to programs on depression and sub-stance abuse. The topics of depression and sub-stance abuse are generally not being addressed in worksite wellness programs today. Depression

The topic of depression is covered by seven standards, including four in the policy area and one each in the areas of environmental supports, awareness/education and behavior change. The policy standards include having guidelines and procedures for addressing behavioral health, em-ployer compliance with the federal Mental Health Parity Act of 2008, providing information and referral resources related to behavioral health and participation in an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The environmental support standard ad-dresses the work environment supporting the pre-vention and management of employee depression. To comply with the awareness/education standard, the worksite provides opportunities to educate employees and to increase awareness of the im-pact of depression on employee health and pro-ductivity. For the behavior change standard, the employees are provided with counseling, coaching and coordinated risk factor management. The Criteria document Appendix contains a list of depression program resources. Substance Abuse

The topic of substance abuse is addressed through six standards. Three of the standards are in the policy arena, while there is one each in environmental support, awareness/education and behavior change. The policy standards include

having a drug free workplace policy, a drug test-ing policy in compliance with Maine law and substance abuse treatment benefits in compliance with the federal Mental Health Parity Act of 2008. The environmental standard supports the work environment addressing prevention and/or the identification of employee substance abuse. To meet the awareness/education standard, the work-site provides opportunities for employee and man-ager education on the impact of substance abuse on employee health and productivity. For the behavior change standard, employers and employ-ees are provided with counseling, coaching and coordinated risk factor management. A list of substance abuse best practice resources can be found in the Appendix.

When you read this, the summer of 2011 will have passed and we will be starting into the fall season. The fall season is flu shot season. Con-sider making flu shots available to your employ-ees. It is an inexpensive way to help keep your employees well and on the job during the upcom-ing cold and flu season.

Bill McPeck is a Certified Worksite Wellness Program Consultant and Director of Employee Health and Safety for Maine State Government. Contact Bill with your questions and comments at 287-6783 or william.c.mcpeck@maine.gov.

This month, the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce is pleased to introduce a new plan for our Business Advice Column that is de-signed to take direct advantage of the knowl-edge and expertise right here in our own busi-ness community.

The Chamber invites members to submit business related questions that they would like advice on. The Chamber will then find an appropriate member to respond to those ques-tions each month.

We are fortunate to have an extremely di-verse and experienced membership.

Our members range from large organiza-tions employing hundreds to small businesses where the owner is also the only employee.

The challenges faced by businesses in our region are rarely unique. If you have ques-tions about an issue, chances are good that other members do also, and that someone among our membership has advice they can share on how they successfully dealt with the issue.

Our people remain our best resource, and this new approach to the Business Advice Column is just one more way we can take advantage of that resource. Send to info@mid-mainechamber.com. We hope you enjoy this new approach.

Standards and Workplace Wellness

New business advice column ready for launch

A new law in Maine will provide tax credits for new venture or “seed” capital investment.

The law will increase the Maine Seed Capital Tax Credit Program from 40 to 60 percent and also create a refundable 50 percent tax credit for ven-ture capital funds making eligible investments.

The bill was passed unanimously before being

signed into law in August by Gov. Paul LePage. It becomes effective Sept. 28.

According to the Associated Press, the sponsor, Saco Democratic Rep. Linda Valentino, said the time is ripe for increasing investments in the seed capital program, which will yield more high qual-ity jobs and draw investment in the state.

Maine OKs New tax credits

For ‘seed capital’

Page 6

What do you value?

Wealth Management, Small Business Solutions, Financial Consulting

INTEGRITY * HONESTY * COMPETENCE

Securities  and  Advisory  services  offered  through  Commonwealth Financial Network®, Member  FINRA/SIPC,  a  Registered  Investment Adviser.  Fixed  insurance  products  and  services  offered  by  Uhl‐Melanson Investor Services are separate and unrelated to Common‐wealth. 

155 Silver Street Waterville, ME 04901

207-859-8877 uminvestorservices.com

Upcoming Events

Sept. 1 Thurs. noon. Information Committee

Joseph’s Fireside Steakhouse

Jo

Sept. 7 Wed. 7:30 a.m. Public Policy Chamber Boardroom

Sept. 15 Thurs. 8:00 a.m. Executive Board Chamber Boardroom

Sept. 23 Fri. 7:30 a.m. Board of Directors Chamber Boardroom Sept. 28 Thurs. 8:00 a.m. Membership Chamber Boardroom

New office skills certificate program By Tammy L. Rabideau, MLS

Beginning in September, Mid-Maine Regional Adult Community Education is offering a new Office Skills Certificate pro-gram. The program is designed for individu-als seeking to re-enter the work force, up-grade existing skills, or preparing for an en-try level position.

Students meet with an office skills coordi-nator to determine programming needs based on prior experience. Credit may be awarded for a maximum of three prior classes and it is possible to test out of some courses. Students must attend an orientation, complete all core courses (listed below), complete a minimum of 45 hours of electives (determined by ap-proval by the office skills coordinator) and may take up to three years to complete the program.

The availability of core courses and elec-tives will vary each semester. Courses are offered at Waterville, Oakland and Winslow adult education sites. In addition to course fees, there is a one-time registration fee of $20 per certificate.

Core courses required of all students are: Intro to Accounting*

Business Writing Skills* Business Math Keyboarding* Intro to Microsoft Windows (Includes

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, MS Access)* Professionalism in the Workplace* Career Exploration and Planning* Interpersonal People Training Skills Descriptions of all fall 2011 courses can

be at: http://midmaine.maineadulted.org/. For more information about the Office Skills Certificate program or an appointment with the office skills coordinator, please call 873-5754.

*Courses offered during the fall of 2011. Tammy Rabideau is the Business & Career

Center Coordinator, Waterville Public Li-brary. FMI 680-2611, busi-ness@watervillelibrary.org, http://www.watervillelibrary.org/departments/business/ or http://www.facebook.com/wplbcc.

2011 Business Breakfast Series 7:30-9 a.m., Thomas College Sept. 14: How Social Media Has Changed (or Should Change) Your Business. The real question is "How has social media changed your prospects and customers?" We (i.e., your stakeholders) are checking in, tweeting, liking, and sharing our lives. What can (should) you be doing to improve your business today? What are the social-media trends for tomorrow, and what do they mean for your business? Presented by Amanda O’Brien, vice president of marketing at Hall Internet Marketing Solutions. Oct. 12: Legislative Leadership Panel Sept. 21: Business After Hours 5:30-7 p.m. Amcomm Wireless 5 Kennedy Memorial Drive Plaza, Waterville Sept. 28, 2011: Super Raffle Dinner Coldwell Banker Plourde Real Estate 5:00 p.m. social hour 6:00 p.m. dinner & raffle

Oct. 5: Meet the Reps 5:30-7 p.m. Chamber Boardroom

Mid-Maine Chamber’s and KV Con-nect’s popular Meet the Reps program re-turns this fall, with the first event scheduled Oct. 5.

The evening affairs are designed to pro-mote and prolong communication between business leaders, professionals and young professionals with their local, state and na-tional government officials.

The informal sessions are held at Mid-Maine Chamber headquarters at 50 Elm Street, Waterville, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Complimentary hors d' oeuvres, beer & wine are provided thanks to our sponsor, Eagle Rental.

Other dates are Nov. 30 and Jan. 25, 2012. Save the Dates!

Meet the Reps returns in October

Page 7

Jack Ducharme of Madison has been named Skowhegan Savings branch manager of the Madison and Norridgewock offices. Ducharme has been with the bank since 2000, most re-cently serving as a commercial loan officer. David Harris is the new President at Day's Jewel-ers. Dave is originally from Dallas but he has lived all across America and the Caribbean. He began his career in the jewelry business as a sales associate and even-tually in charge of 450 Zales stores from Texas to the East Coast. He spent several years in the Caribbean managing the Cardow chain of jew-elry stores. The Central Maine Area Agency on Aging announced that Gerard L. Queally of Bruns-wick has been appointed president and CEO of Spectrum Generations. Queally succeeds Muriel Scott, who molded a stronger, more diversified agency during her 35 years with Spectrum Generations. An active member of the U.S. Navy from 1985 to 1990, Queally is currently a Captain in the Navy Reserves. He received his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York, Maritime College and masters in business administration from South-ern New Hampshire University Mark L. Johnston, President and CEO of Kennebec Savings Bank, recently announced the promotion of Craig J. Garofalo to vice president & senior op-erations officer. He is em-ployed at the Bank’s main of-fice on 150 State Street in Au-gusta. In his new role, Craig will oversee the operations of the new core processing system and many of the operational areas that use the system. Garofalo has been with the Bank since May 2000, when he was first hired as a sum-mer teller. Nicolas G. Patenaude has been

promoted to loan officer. He is employed at the Bank’s main office on 150 State St. in Au-gusta. Patenaude has been with the Bank since May 2008, when he was first hired as a Trust Department intern. He has been full time since 2009. The directors of Macdonald Page & Co. LLC have announced that Robert P. Dube, Jr., has been promoted to direc-tor in the Augusta Of-fice. Bob joined the firm in 1999. He became a Certified Public Accountant in November 2003, was promoted to senior manager in 2007 and to director effective July 1, 2011. Other promotions include: David Martines, Stefanie Foster, and Adam Warfel, managers; Luanne Hovey, Hadje Esmiller, Kristina Podoski, Ross Burgess, Ashley Campbell, and Inga Bozsik supervisors; Tessa Miller, Ekaterina Pichugina, Sean Hutchinson, Marilyn Welsch, Kelly Boc-chino, and Charlotte Thurlow, senior account-ants; Thomas Loring and Laura Soule, staff accountants; Sara Hasty, office manager. Stefanie Nadeau has been appointed a new director of MaineCare, the state's Medicaid health insurance program. The new director has been serving as acting director of the pro-gram since mid-February. A graduate of Tho-mas College, Nadeau has been with the state's Office of MaineCare Services for seven years. Harriman, a full-service architectural and engineering firm has added a health care de-sign studio and has hired two senior health care architects. Richard Borrelli, AIA, joins Harri-man with 25 years of professional experience in health care facility programming, planning and design. William Pogar, AIA, comes to Harriman with more than 30 years of profes-sional experience.

For the first time, diners at The Taste

of Greater Waterville were provided the opportu-nity to compost thanks to the efforts of Sustain Mid Maine-Coalition. Members and friends of the Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Team estab-lished four composting stations. Compost team volunteers were easily recogniz-able because they wore T-shirts with the Sustain Mid Maine-Coalition logo. These were donated by Black Dog Graphics of Clinton.

Because of the efforts of these volunteers, approximately 1,800 pounds of compostable materials was delivered to the Rainbow Valley Farm owned by Jeff Bragg in Sidney.

Many volunteers contributed to the success of this project.

Special recognition goes to Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Team leader Ross Nason, project coordinator Geoff Hill, and key volunteers Eric Brown & Jim Easton. If you would like to learn more about Sustain Mid-Maine Coalition, contact Linda Woods at 680-4208 or check out their Web site: www.sustainmidmaine.org.

Composting option added to ‘Taste’

Volunteers at this year’s Taste collected 1,800 pounds of compostable materials that was delivered to the Rainbow Valley Farm owned by Jeff Bragg in Sidney.

Page 8

50 Elm Street Waterville, ME 04901

PRE-SORTED STANDARD

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

PERMIT #146

Waterville, ME 04901

Have some news you would like to share? Submit a short announcement to the Chamber office by the 3rd Friday of the prior month. Inserts are also available for $125 per month. Call 873-3315 or email info@midmainechamber.com. Disclaimer: The Mid-Maine Chamber’s InTouch newsletter is published monthly as a benefit to members and affili-ates. All member news is compiled and submitted solely by our members; therefore, we reserve the right to omit and/or edit as appropriate, and cannot guarantee complete accu-racy of all announcements. Sponsorship inserts do not necessarily reflect the position of the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce.

166 College Ave., PO Box 215 Waterville, ME 04903-0215

www.az-cpa.com

12 Monument St Winslow, Me 04901 207­872­2636 www.wcfcu.com

COMMUNITY PEOPLE YOU KNOW

For 177 years, the people and communities of Maine have looked to The Bank of Maine for honest banking services and innovative products. Officially organized in 1834, under the name Gar-diner Savings Institution, the bank expanded rap-idly over the past century and a half and today is simply known as The Bank of Maine. With 33 branches from York to Fort Kent, over 350 employ-ees, and almost $1 billion in assets, we offer a full range of financial services, including commercial banking, small business banking, personal banking, and investment services.

The past year has been all about change for The Bank of Maine. Not only did we recapitalize, re-name and re-brand ourselves, but we also intro-duced innovative new products and services aimed at rewarding our customers.

“At The Bank of Maine we’re redefining who we

are, what we do, and how we do it,” said John W. Everets, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the bank. “Our customers’ needs are changing and we are changing with them, improving and growing to meet those needs today and in the future.”

Recently, the bank introduced The Promise Ac-count. This is a one-of-a-kind checking account that features: up to a $250 account bonus, five cents rewards on each transaction, no monthly or transac-tion fees, and free ATM use – no matter the ATM, or location.

The Bank of Maine understands that it takes much more than products and services to be an influential Maine community member. That is why

we have returned over $25 million to our communi-ties through contributions and grants.

The Bank of Maine employs outstanding indi-viduals who are dedicated to finding the right prod-ucts for their customers.

The Waterville Region is lead by Sheryl Milliard, who focuses on business development and the bank’s charitable foundation; Theresa Macklin and Nancy Smith, who manage the Waterville and Oak-land branches, respectively, and focus on consumer lending and small business loans; and Bruce Har-rington, who is the Commercial Loan officer for the Waterville Region.

Together, this group has the experience and skills to provide outstanding banking services.

To find out more, stop by any of our 33 locations, visit us online at thebankofmaine.com or find us on Twitter and Facebook.