TECHNOLOGY

Tech jobs at Unum possibly outsourced

Deborah Brown of Cornville, an employee at New Balance's Skowhegan plant, inspects a finished shoe in May. An amendment that would require U.S. military forces to buy domestically made athletic footwear survived a challenge in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday. The amendment, which has the support of Maine's congressional delegation, could boost business for New Balance, the footwear company that employs 900 people in its three Maine plants. (Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer)

A Unum employee and a pro-U.S. labor website say the insurance company is considering outsourcing hundreds of information technology jobs, including those in Portland. The website, protectusworkers.org, said Unum is on the verge of outsourcing hundreds of jobs and has been talking to vendors, including two outsourcing firms with large operations in India. An employee within the company’s IT department, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared repercussions from the company, also told the Portland Press Herald that Unum is in talks with vendors, and said it may announce layoffs as early as this summer. The information about possible outsourcing was conveyed internally within the company’s IT department this spring, the employee said. The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based disability insurance provider, which employs about 3,000 workers in Maine, acknowledged that it is talking to potential “partners,” but said it would not respond to claims that the number of affected jobs is in the hundreds. Read the story.

Microchip brokerage opens in Portland

A small British technology firm that helps facilitate the “internet of things” has opened an office in Portland to better connect with customers in the U.S. IN2FAB is an unusual semiconductor company, because it neither designs nor produces microchips. Instead, it helps clients identify semiconductor fabrication plants, or “fabs,” with the right equipment and processes to produce the client’s particular microchips. The company’s president said IN2FAB’s expansion into Maine will help the company reach more potential customers in the U.S., where many of the world’s most advanced microchips are designed. Read the story.

ENERGY

Groups oppose energy plan based on forecasting

Environmental groups say an energy efficiency settlement plan approved by the Maine Public Utilities Commission doesn’t go far enough to save Mainers money. The three-year settlement has projected lifetime savings of least $625 million – roughly $250 million less than a plan proposed by the state’s Efficiency Maine Trust. The settlement relied on different modeling. Chairman Mark Vannoy said the “comprehensive” settlement provides significant funding, and added though it’s difficult to estimate future energy prices, he believes the commission’s modeling has been “consistent.” The Natural Resources Council of Maine, which signed onto the settlement, stated it’s concerned the commission relied on “confidential energy price forecasts” instead of a regional estimate used by other New England states. Read the story.

ECONOMY

Maine GDP reflects slight growth

Maine’s economy grew a sluggish 1.3 percent in the final three months of 2015, lagging behind both the nation and New England, figures released Tuesday morning show. The report by the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that Maine’s economic growth edged out New Hampshire, which grew by 1.2 percent in the final quarter of last year, but trailed behind the other four states in New England. The region’s economy grew by 2.1 percent in the final three months of last year, and the national economy grew by 1.7 percent. The BEA said Maine’s economic growth during the quarter ranked 32nd among the 50 states. In New England, Massachusetts posted the strongest growth during the quarter, with its economy expanding 2.6 percent. Read the story.

Jobless rate remains steady

May unemployment rates in Maine are holding steady, clocking in just a tick above April’s rate of 3.4 percent. Preliminary data released by the Maine Department of Labor Friday shows May’s unemployment rate at 3.5 percent, a full 1 percent below the same month in 2015 when the rate was 4.5 percent. The unemployment rate, calculated with the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, measures the percentage of the population looking for work or unemployed. Read the story.

RETAIL

Snack bar maker wins Burch grant

The owner of Bixby & Co., a craft snack bar business in Rockland, has won a $100,000 grant from the Tory Burch Foundation. Kate McAleer was chosen last week to receive the grant from among 10 Tory Burch Foundation fellows who participated in a pitch competition during a three-day workshop in New York City. McAleer was one of 10 people selected in May to become a fellow of the foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports women entrepreneurship. That designation came with a prize of $10,000 and a trip to New York to visit with the famous designer. The fellows will now be part of the foundation’s one-year business guidance program. McAleer is the only winner from New England. Read the story.

SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Deal to keep Pirates languished over $45,000 gap

The Portland Pirates hockey team was losing about $500,000 a year and sought major concessions from the operators of the county-owned Cross Insurance Arena to cover more than half that amount before the team was sold and relocated in May. The request for changes in the team’s lease came as the arena itself posted a $600,000 operating loss in 2014-2015, just two years after taxpayers approved a $33 million renovation to what was formerly known as the Cumberland County Civic Center. According to emails obtained by the Portland Press Herald under a Freedom of Access Act request, the Pirates in late April said the team wanted to cut the amount it paid in union fees and other staffing costs, and also sought an increased share of food and beverage sales, to cut its losses by about $290,000 annually. The team and the board that oversees the arena exchanged proposals over the course of a week and eventually narrowed the financial gap over the lease changes, but never reached an agreement. The team announced in early May, just a week after first seeking concessions, that it was being sold to a group of investors who plan to move the American Hockey League franchise to Springfield, Massachusetts. Read the story.

MANUFACTURING

Longtime Berwick business leader dies

Timothy B. Hussey, the president and CEO of Hussey Seating Co. in North Berwick, died Monday after a long battle with cancer. Hussey, 59, had been president of the family-owned seating company for more than 20 years, and was an active member in Maine’s business and development community. He died at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on Monday morning, surrounded by his family. Hussey was a member of the sixth generation of continuous Hussey family ownership, and was on a first-name basis with most of the company’s 250 employees. Read the story.

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

In-home care provider expands

Comfort Keepers of Southern Maine has opened a new, larger office in Scarborough, the company’s fourth expansion in nine years. Founded in 2007 by Peter Violette, Comfort Keepers has purchased and renovated a 5,600-square-foot building at 253 U.S. Route 1 in the Oak Hill section of Scarborough, according to a company news release. Comfort Keepers now employs 225 part-time and full-time caregivers and 17 support staff, including three full-time nurses. Read the story.

U-Haul opens new facility in Brunswick

U-Haul Co. of Maine has opened a new store and company office in Brunswick, inside the former Arrow-Hart Corp. electrical equipment plant. U-Haul Moving & Storage of Arrow Hart, at 1 Cressey Road, began offering truck and trailer rentals and moving supplies Monday, according to a company news release. The company said it closed on the 186,300-square-foot property on May 13. A U-Haul International spokeswoman said the facility will employ up to 25 full-time and part-time workers. Read the story.

LABOR

Group opposes wording of minimum wage question

Groups opposing a November ballot referendum to raise the minimum wage in Maine want to see changes in how the question is worded. The groups said Thursday at a Portland news conference that the proposed question doesn’t make clear that the minimum wage would be increased based on changes in the consumer price index after rising from the current $7.50 per hour to $12 per hour in 2020. They also said the question doesn’t say the minimum for tipped workers would rise to $12 per hour by 2024. Peter Gore, vice president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, said the groups suggested the changes to the Maine secretary of state during a comment period, which ended Monday. Kristen Muszynski, spokeswoman for the Maine Secretary of State’s Office, said the comments on the wording of the referendum are being reviewed and that Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap will announce next week whether he will change the proposed wording. Opponents of the minimum wage said the question needs to lay out all the implications of the wage proposal for voters to make a reasoned choice. Read the story.

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