Gogan opens new business

LEWISTON — Debbie Gogan has opened Reconcile in Style Bookkeeping, 2 Jerome St. She specializes in Quickbooks, accounts payable and accounts receivable, tax preparation and reconciling bank statements. She has also added notary to her services to better accommodate clients.

Gogan has 20 years of experience handling bookkeeping for small businesses and nonprofits. She recently joined the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce. Gogan may be reached at 754-6704 or by e-mail at: ddgogan@yahoo.com.

Fairpoint plan spells fear for workers' benefits

 

COLCHESTER, Vt. (AP) — Thirty-year telephone company worker Darlene Stone campaigned against FairPoint Communications' takeover of Verizon's northern New England operations, fearing the company was biting off more than it could chew.

Once the deal was completed, she worried FairPoint would end up filing for bankruptcy and she would have her wages, pension or medical benefits scaled back. So she retired last May from her $45,000-a-year job as an administrative assistant in a South Burlington call center.

Obama approves funding for northern border panel

 

 

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A commission created to provide jobs and boost the economy in the northern reaches of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York is getting $1.5 million under a measure signed into law by President Barack Obama.

The funding for the Northern Border Regional Commission is the first awarded to the fledgling panel, created in 2007. The amount was part of an appropriations package Obama signed Wednesday.

YPLAA combines annual meeting with murder mystery Friday

AUBURN — An evening of mystery, murder and good eating is on the agenda when YPLAA holds its annual meeting and awards ceremony at Martindale Country Club this Friday.

Titled "Lights Camera Murder," the mystery dinner is just one element of the annual event held by the Young Professionals of the Lewiston Auburn Area. It will also include a buffet dinner, a silent auction with a host of items and presentation of annual awards. Attendees are being encouraged to dress for the occasion in the Halloween costume of their choice.

FairPoint chief: Bankruptcy won't ruin Maine plans

Fairpoint President Peter Nixon

Garrison named engineering fellow

FARMINGTON — Don Garrison, chief of facilities management at Franklin Community Health Network, recently received the prestigious American Society of Healthcare Engineers Fellow Award. It honors the exemplary efforts, outstanding achievements and accomplishments of an individual in the field of health care engineering.

Development series sessions listed

LEWISTON — The Young Professionals of the Lewiston-Auburn Area and Kurk Lalemand, owner of NEXT Level Business Coaching, are offering a six-week series of seminars geared to help a company grow and develop its employees personally and professionally. Each session will be held at the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce, 415 Lisbon St., Lewiston, in the conference room and will last from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. The series will begin Nov. 4 and continue until Dec. 16. Cost for the series is $79.

Session topics for each date have been announced:

Fontaine earns prestigious honor

AUBURN — Brenda Fontaine, of Fontaine Family — The Real Estate Leader, was recently accepted as a member of the Top 5 in Real Estate Network®, the most prestigious of all industry achievements. To qualify for acceptance, each member must first meet a stringent set of criteria, based upon performance, as well as educational and professional skills and service to the consumer.

Rinck garners award for Web site

AUBURN — The International Academy of Visual Arts recently presented Rinck Advertising of Auburn with a 2009 W3 Award for design and execution of the Rinck Advertising Web site. Rinck was honored with a W3 Silver Award in the category of self-promotion.

The W3 Awards honor outstanding Web sites, Web marketing and Web video created by the best interactive agencies, designers and creators across the globe. The 2009 W3 Awards received more than 3,000 entries from top companies and agencies worldwide.

CaroleAnn's Boutique set to open

LEWISTON — Owner Carole Dunn announces that CaroleAnn's Bargain Boutique, 685 Sabattus St., Lewiston, will be open for business beginning Oct. 28 with an open house celebration continuing until Oct. 31. Shop hours during the open house are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Thrive director recognized

LEWISTON — Thrive System of Care, 124 Canal St., Lewiston, announces that Arabella Perez, director, received the first-ever Catalyst for Change Award from Southern Maine Parent Awareness at its Fall Family Conference, held Oct. 17 in Wells.

"Perez has been instrumental to eight Maine family organizations working to define a collaborative approach to service," said Sue Henri-MacKenzie, SMPA executive coordinator.

LaBrie presenter at Chamber seminar

LEWISTON — The Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce will present a seminar, "Develop a Purpose-Driven Passion-Filled Organization," on Oct. 29 at The Chamber, 415 Lisbon St., Lewiston. Bob LaBrie of Maximum Potential, located in Gorham, will present the seminar, a program developed for chamber members.

Sands named manager

LEWISTON — Philippe Moreau, Rainbow Federal Credit Union's chief financial officer, announces that Kim Sands will manage the card services department.

Sands began working at Rainbow FCU in 1985 as a teller at the Auburn location. She advanced to head teller and shortly thereafter started training in the card services department. She has worked with Debit/ATM cards now for 15 years, gathering a large amount of expertise in the card services area.

She lives in Minot with her husband and two children.

Schott: BNAS housing could be rentals if he can't own land

BRUNSWICK — Auburn developer George Schott said this week that he could be forced to turn all of the 702 military housing units at Brunswick Naval Air Station into rentals, including those on McKeen Street, if he doesn't get assurances that he'll soon own the land beneath them.

Meanwhile, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, the likely front-runner to own the land, said it won't sign any agreement with Schott until he divulges a specific development strategy.

Pathways, Pottle Hill to merge

AUBURN — The boards of directors for Pathways and Pottle Hill each voted this week to merge their agencies, creating the new Pathways Inc.

The move, which will take effect Nov. 1, is expected to streamline costs and create more job opportunities for the merged agencies' customers.

St. Mary's names new emergency department director

LEWISTON — St. Mary's Regional Medical Center has named Barbara Pierce, BSN, MN to be the new director of the Emergency Department. She comes to St. Mary's with an extensive background in emergency medicine and management.

Most recently, she was the director of emergency care services at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, Calif., which saw 70,000 visitors annually. One of her successes at that facility was decreasing door-to-doctor time and streamlining the process to improve patient safety, work flow and patient satisfaction.

MEREDA hosting breakfast seminar

AUBURN — The Maine Real Estate and Development Association will host a breakfast seminar, "CanAm: Marrying transportation and the economy," on Nov. 5 from 7:30-9 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn Auburn Riverwatch, 14 Great Falls Plaza, Auburn. The breakfast is sponsored by the Lewiston and Auburn Railroad Co.

Commissioner David Cole of the Maine Department of Transportation will discuss how a CanAm transportation study affects economic development and real estate professionals.

Cost for the seminar is $25 per person before Oct. 30; $35 after Oct. 30.

FISC recognized for employers initiative

LEWISTON — FISC Solutions, with headquaraters in Lewiston and offices in Portsmouth, N.H., was recently recognized for its involvement in the Maine Employers Initiative.

Career exploration training offered

FARMINGTON — The Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community is offering a free, five-week career exploration training at University College, Rumford/Mexico on Tuesdays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. beginning Oct. 27 and continuing on Nov. 3, 10, 17 and 24. Participants will review skills, interests and experiences and relate them to career options, identify educational and training opportunities, and develop a step-by-step plan to achieve career goals.

New Stephen King e-book to cost $35

NEW YORK (AP) - The latest weapon in the publishing price wars: Stephen King.

Scribner announced Wednesday that the digital edition of King's "Under the Dome," a 1,000-plus page novel, would not be released until Dec. 24, virtually the end of the holiday season and a month after the hardcover.

E-books have already been delayed for Sen. Edward Kennedy's "True Compass" and Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" as publishers try to prevent the cheaper digital editions from taking sales from hardcovers, which, until recently, cost more.

Chamber Connections date set

AUBURN — The Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce is partnering with SHADS Advertising, 243 Mt. Auburn Ave., to sponsor the second Chamber Connections, to be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 28 at Margarita's Restaurant on  Center Street. There is a fee for attendance and all are welcome to participate.

Seats are limited for this new networking opportunity and registration is required. Register online before Oct. 21 at www.androscoggincounty.com.

Cribby elected

BRIDGTON — Bobbi Cribby, BSN, MS, director of clinical practice at Bridgton Hospital, has been elected president-elect for 2009-2010 for the Organization of Maine Nurse Executives. The professional organization of nursing leaders in Maine directs the course for nursing by promoting sound health care policies within their organizations and at the state, local and national level.

Gorham company seeks $50m to turn wood into oil

GORHAM, Maine (AP) - A Gorham company is seeking a $50 million federal grant to help it turn sawdust into an affordable heating oil substitute.

For three years researchers at Biofine Technology have been working to turn a bag of sawdust into heating and motor fuel at a cost of about $2 a gallon.

Now they're seeking a grant from the Department of Energy to get the process that uses chemicals, pressure, temperature and time out of the laboratory and into production.

U.S. Honda exec says model updates may come faster

NOVI, Michigan (AP) — Honda Motor Co.'s top U.S. auto executive says the company may have to update its models faster because the competition is getting so tough in segments where the Japanese automaker has strong sales.

John Mendel said Honda will stay ahead of the pack with new technology and by introducing models in new market sectors, but he concedes it may have to update its cars more frequently as competitors keep getting better in quality, reliability and fuel economy.

Bank of America, GE results push stocks lower

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended a strong week with a flash of selling after Bank of America Corp. and General Electric Co. signaled that businesses and consumers are still struggling to pay off their debts.

The market slid Friday as quarterly results from the companies dented hopes that earnings would show strong signs of improvement in the July-September period. A rise in oil also helped the market end well off its lows, repeating a pattern seen earlier in the week.