New entrepreneur class will pitch business ideas

A group of Maine entrepreneurs will pitch business ideas at an invitation-only event Wednesday hosted by the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development.

The annual event is an opportunity for graduating students of the Top Gun program to show what they learned during the last five months and apply it as they pitch to a panel of judges. The event will feature pitches from 12 of the 20 companies in the class.

“Software developers and specialty food companies, boats and oysters, sustainability entrepreneurs and spin-offs of Idexx and Jackson Labs – this class is a terrific window on the future of Maine’s economy,” said Don Gooding, executive director of the center.

The Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development is an independent organization with an office in Portland and offers the Top Gun program in partnership with the University of Maine’s Target Technology Incubator and Blackstone Accelerates Growth.

Foreign banks helping IRS crack down on tax evaders

It will soon get a lot harder to use overseas accounts to hide income and assets from the U.S. tax collectors.

More than 77,000 foreign banks, investment funds and other financial institutions have agreed to share information about U.S. account holders with the Internal Revenue Service as part of a crackdown on offshore tax evasion, the Treasury Department announced Monday.

Apple’s software will help users keep tabs on health

Apple’s Mac operating system will have easier ways to share and search, while the iOS software for iPhones and iPads is getting new features for keeping tabs on your health.

Apple executive Craig Federighi said data from various fitness-related devices now live in silos, so you can’t get a comprehensive picture of your health. He said that will change with HealthKit in iOS 8. Apple is also working with the Mayo Clinic to make sure your weight, calorie intake and other health metrics are within healthy ranges.

– From staff and news services

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