Falling gas prices State average for a gallon of regular on Dec. 29: $2.475 Lewiston-Auburn metro average on Dec. 29: $2.41 National average on Dec. 29: $2.27 State average one month ago: $2.92 State average one year ago: $3.53 For more information: http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/states/maine/ Source: AAA of Northern New England LEWISTON — Gas was $2.26 a […]
economy
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Restaurants: Many going out this New Year’s Eve
LEWISTON — If you’re going out for New Year’s Eve, you may want to make reservations. Mild weather, an improved economy and falling gas prices mean more people will ring in 2015 by going out on the town, local restaurateurs say. “Right now, we’ve got 300 people” for Sea40’s New Year’s Eve Bash, said hostess […]
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Posted inBusiness
Maine’s economy struggles as paper industry stumbles
Parts of Maine’s proud paper industry stumbled this year, hammering home the challenges of competition from abroad and the difficulty of unlocking new markets for papermaking byproducts. Verso intends to sell its Bucksport mill for scrap and Great Northern Paper’s East Millinocket mill is headed for the hands of a redeveloper. Those stories illustrate part […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
King, Pingree urge federal government to buy more Maine blueberries
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Angus King and Maine’s 1st District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree are urging the federal government to purchase more of their state’s blueberry crop. The lawmakers have written to the U.S. Department of Agriculture asking the department to buy 18 million pounds of frozen Maine wild blueberries to use in school lunch and […]
Posted inBusiness
New hockey team could be worth at least $1 million in economic activity
LEWISTON — A long-term contract with a hockey team that wants to call Lewiston-Auburn home is great news for the Twin Cities business community, local business leaders said Monday. That the New Hampshire Fighting Spirit, soon to be the L-A Fighting Spirit, has agreed to a five-year deal means local businesses and fans can take […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Job gains put US on pace for best growth since ’99
WASHINGTON — A resurgence in U.S. hiring accelerated in November and put 2014 on track to be the healthiest year for job growth since 1999. The gain of a robust 321,000 jobs — the most in nearly three years — put further distance between a strengthening American economy and struggling nations throughout the developed world. […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, The Franklin Journal
Great Falls Forum to feature the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting
LEWISTON — This month’s second session of the Great Falls Forum will take place on Friday, Oct. 17, and will feature John Christie and Naomi Schalit from the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting. The topic of the session will be “The Role of Investigative Reporting in Maine’s Democracy.” The lecture will take place from […]
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, sj-web
LePage helps celebrate groundbreaking for new tissue mill in Baileyville
BAILEYVILLE — Gov. Paul LePage basked in the glow of a bright spot in Maine’s struggling pulp and paper industry Friday, participating in a ceremony marking construction at Woodland Pulp for a new tissue manufacturing plant. Woodland Pulp held a groundbreaking ceremony at its plant to showcase construction of the St. Croix Tissue mill, which […]
Posted inBusiness, Local & State
Economist expects Maine job growth to maintain slow but steady pace in 2015
Maine’s long-flagging economy will maintain a steady pace of recovery in 2015 as it continues to gain jobs in the wake of the Great Recession of 2008, according to Charles Colgan, a professor at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service and a former state economist. However, the state economy faces significant challenges […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Cutler hits LePage hard on economic policy
AUGUSTA — Independent candidate for governor Eliot Cutler, who touted an economic development plan Thursday that rehashed some of the policy proposals he’s discussed in recent months, lashed out at Republican Gov. Paul LePage for talking more about jobs than planning to create them during his first term as governor. “A lot of people who […]