• GENERAL BUSINESS

‘Shark Tank’ casting in Portland

“Shark Tank,” the reality TV series that puts budding entrepreneurs in front of a group of well-heeled tycoons to ask for money, is coming to Maine. The series is holding an open call in Portland in July or August; no other details are available. The show features famous investors who consider pitches from startup entrepreneurs and then decide whether to invest in them. Only the first 500 applicants in Portland will be admitted to the casting call. Read the story.

Orono company finalist in Google competition

An Orono R&D company that works with filtration devices is a finalist in a global Google competition. Cerahelix CEO Susan MacKay made a presentation before a panel of judges at Rutgers University on her company’s innovative membrane that is being tested to filter impurities out of water once used for industrial purposes to make it suitable for human consumption. She was selected as one of four finalists on the East Coast and awaits the results of 10 global competitions to find out if she is selected a winner in the Google Competition Solve X. Google sponsors the competition to try and solve some of the world’s greatest problems, such as the scarcity of potable water. Read the story.

• LEGAL

Former Maine egg farmer faces sentencing

A judge should consider the “widespread harm” done by a major 2010 salmonella outbreak and the food safety lapses that preceded it in sentencing two egg industry executives whose company was responsible, prosecutors said Monday. In punishing them next week, U.S. District Judge Mark Bennett should consider that Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son Peter ran a massive egg production operation that “routinely disregarded food safety standards and practices,” assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan wrote in a sentencing memorandum. Jack DeCoster, 80, of Turner, and 51-year-old Peter DeCoster, of Clarion, Iowa, are scheduled to be sentenced April 13 by Bennett in a federal courtroom in Sioux City, Iowa. Both pleaded guilty last year to introducing adulterated eggs into interstate commerce and face up to one year in jail. Jack DeCoster is the former owner of DeCoster egg farms in Turner and Winthrop. Read the story.

• ENERGY

Applications surge for efficiency program

Efficiency Maine, the nonprofit that funds weatherization projects around the state, received 1,600 applications in two weeks for a popular business program that rebates a portion of the cost to buy and install efficient lighting. The surge stemmed from a notice that Efficiency Maine sent out to its business partners, letting them know that rebates for the business lighting program will start to decrease to reflect the lower retail price of LED lighting. But that announcement coincided with heavy press coverage around a legislative snafu that led to a $38 million decrease in the program’s funding. Efficiency Maine Executive Director Michael Stoddard said the funding mishap won’t affect the organization’s budget until next year, but he suspects many business owners feared the decrease was imminent and hurried to get their applications in. The applications represent about $15 million in rebate savings. Read the story.

• REAL ESTATE AND DEVELOPMENT

Portland Square buildings sold in $66 million deal

The Portland Square office and retail development in downtown Portland has been sold for $66 million in what one of its brokers described as the largest commercial real estate deal in the city’s history. North River Co., a New York-based commercial real estate development firm and an affiliate of Waterfront Maine, was the buyer of the two mixed-use towers and their parking lots, according to Drew Sigfridson, managing director and partner of Portland-based CBRE | The Boulos Co., which represented North River in the deal. Preti Flaherty represented the buyer as local legal counsel. Sigfridson said the sale price was the highest Boulos could find on record in Portland. The property is 97 percent leased and covers about 7 acres. The property had been owned by a real estate investment trust for the past 10 years. Read the story.

• MANUFACTURING

Report pushes development of advanced manufacturing jobs in Maine

Maine is trailing the rest of New England in developing advanced manufacturing jobs, which require a higher set of skills and also pay better than traditional manufacturing, a new report says. The report, prepared by the New England Council and Deloitte Consulting, says that 40 percent of the manufacturing jobs in Maine could be described as “advanced” in 2012. Every other state in the region had a higher percentage of its manufacturing base consisting of advanced manufacturing jobs, ranging from 48 percent in Rhode Island to nearly 72 percent in Connecticut. The New England average is 58.7 percent. Advanced manufacturing involves new designs and materials, high-tech machinery, such as 3-D printers, and well-developed skills to analyze data and use the new machinery. Industries that lead the way in advanced manufacturing include aerospace, defense, biotechnology, semi-conductor manufacturing and precision machining. The report concluded that the New England states need to work collaboratively to establish an advanced manufacturing hub, and to enhance manufacturing’s reputation to attract more skilled workers. Read the story.

• TRADE

Trade center recognizes top performers

The Maine International Trade Center named Portland-based lobster dealer and processor Ready Seafood the state’s Exporter of the Year in its 2015 International Trade and Investment Awards, announced Wednesday. The trade center lauded Ready Seafood in a news release for becoming one of Maine’s leading seafood exporters with more than 50 employees, shipping “millions of pounds of live lobsters to nearly every corner of the world.” In other awards, the trade center named Oceanair Inc. Maine’s Service Provider of the Year for the company’s success in exporting its services overseas; Hodgdon Yachts in East Boothbay as Innovator of the Year for its continuing work with advanced hull materials and design; and Mexico-based industrial pigments maker Dalegip America Inc. as the Foreign Direct Investor of the Year. Dalegip signed a contract in 2013 with GAC Chemical Corp. to build a new chemical reactor plant at its Searsport facility, creating up to 20 new jobs. Read the story.

• TRANSPORTATION

Buses expand service in southern Maine

Two bus services will soon connect York County to Boston and New York City, a move seen as a boost for the region’s tourism industry. On April 15, Greyhound buses running between Bangor and Boston will begin stopping at the Wells Transportation Center. From May 22 to Labor Day, C&J Bus Lines will offer daily bus service between Ogunquit and New York City, using the same “executive class” motor coaches that operate between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and New York City. It also intends to operate a seasonal third daily round trip between Portsmouth and Manhattan. Read the story.