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The Daily
Edition for Thursday, May 28, 2020 |
To view this Daily
Impact online, click here. |
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Welcome to your Daily Impact newsletter! |
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As a valued member of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, we plan to
stay in touch with you every afternoon, through emails like this one and on Facebook and Twitter, until the pandemic passes. We
intend to provide you with the latest state and federal information, as well
as highlighting the creativity and innovation that is occuring here in Maine
during this unpredictable and rapidly changing time. To assist you in
navigating the uncertainties ahead, we have created a diverse and
comprehensive collection of web-based resources to help you take care of yourself and your family, your employees, your business, and your community. |
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Do you have a
question? ASK THE EXPERTS. |
We are here to help in any way we can! |
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In Midst of
COVID-19 Economic Crisis, Moody's and S&P Affirm Maine's Stable Bond
Rating |
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Late
yesterday afternoon, Governor Janet Mills and State Treasurer Henry Beck
announced that Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poors Global
Ratings (S&P), providers of global credit benchmarks, have affirmed
their credit ratings and outlooks on the State of Maine's general
obligation debt. Moody's affirmed both their AA2 rating and stable outlook on
Maine's debt. S&P affirmed their AA rating and stable outlook. The
affirmation of Maine's ratings comes as S&P and Moody's downgrade other
states' ratings as a result of the economic turmoil precipitated by the
COVID-19 pandemic. |
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Collins, King
Announce $1.5 Million for Maine Department of Labor Amid COVID-19 Pandemic |
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Funding will help address the
workforce-related impact of the COVID-19 pandemic |
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U.S.
Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced that the Maine Department of
Labor has been awarded $1.5 million to help address
the workforce-related impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding, allocated through the U.S.
Department of Labor's Dislocated Worker Grants (DWGs) program, was awarded
through the CARES Act. "This
important funding will help to mitigate
the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Maine's workforce,
ensuring that our state's hardworking men and women have access to the
resources they need to get through this difficult time," said Senators
Collins and King in a joint statement. |
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To
reserve your banner ad in the Daily Impact, please contact Melody Rousseau |
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Today's Bottom
Line Podcast With Special Guests, Laurie Lachance and Josh Broder |
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Laurie Lachance, president of Thomas
College, and Josh Broder, CEO of
Tilson Tech, were this week's special guests on The Bottom Line podcast. The co-chairs
of the Governor's Economic
Recovery Committee joined The Bottom Line co-hosts Dana Connors of the Maine State Chamber
of Commerce and John Williams of Williams Broadcasting to discuss the
committee's tasks in the months ahead. The committee is charged with engaging
economic experts and industry representatives from across Maine to develop
specific policy recommendations to stabilize the state's economy and building
a bridge to future prosperity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. To learn more, listen to the full
episode in the archived shows section of the Maine State Chamber's
website. |
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Maine Bankers Chief
Says Current Crisis Is "Very Different" From 2008 |
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Chris
Pinkham, president of the Maine Bankers Association, has a fairly upbeat
outlook for Maine's banking sector, saying that lenders are well-positioned
to weather this unexpected pandemic storm. Mainebiz caught up with him for
his take on the current situation and beyond. Read
more in his recent Mainebiz
interview. |
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264 Maine Workers
Earn COVID Readiness Badges in First Week |
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Mainebiz reported today that
since last week's launch of a free COVID-19 safety training course, 264
hospitality workers in Maine have earned a "micro-credential"
from Eastern Maine Community College (EMCC) in Bangor. EMCC partnered with
industry association HospitalityMaine to provide a COVID
Readiness Badge to restaurants and food service professionals throughout
Maine. The HospitalityMaine COVID-19 Readiness Badge is a collaborative
effort among HospitalityMaine, the Maine Community College System and Eastern
Maine Community College. The
course is designed to help restaurant owners and their employees master a
four-page checklist of new guidelines and mandatory practices, issued by the
state Department of Economic and Community Development in order for eateries
to reopen. A similar free course will soon be available for hotels and inns. The
checklist details many aspects of reopening such as foundational hygiene, new
physical layout and workflow, and handling and documenting difficult
situations. |
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JOIN US NEXT WEEK How to Support The New Thursday, June 4 | 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. |
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How
will employers support the new work from home model while maintaining
business continuity with a work-from-home workforce? How will employers use
this new paradigm to Maine's advantage in the future? What happens when most
or all of the workforce starts working from home? How can we use this as a
positive spin in the future for employees and future employees? Our
panel of presenters includes: *
Laurie Mitchell, Assitant Vice President of Global Wellbeing and Health
Management at Unum; * Matt
McGrath, President and CEO of Systems Engineering; * Nate Wildes, Executive Director of Live and Work in Maine; and, *
Katie Shorey, Director of Engagement for Live and Work in Maine. Register
today and plan to join us Thursday, June 4 at 10:00 a.m. for
this important webinar presentation. |
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MEMA, Maine
CDC Announce State's Shift to Virtual Emergency Operations Center After Seven
Employees at Augusta Facility Exhibit COVID-19 Symptoms |
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The
Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and Maine Center for Disease Control
and Prevention (Maine CDC) announced today that the State
Emergency Operations Center (SEOC), located at MEMA in Augusta, has
temporarily moved to fully virtual operations today after seven employees (three
from MEMA, two from Maine CDC, and two National Guard members) who worked at
the site exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 overnight. MEMA and Maine CDC
operations have not been disrupted. MEMA and Maine CDC have exercised
continuity of operations plans for situations of this nature. The shift to a
virtual operations center ensured no disruption in Maine's ongoing COVID-19 response. |
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The Maine State Chamber's Regional Breakfast Series, A
Virtual Update This morning, the Maine State Chamber
hosted our Presque Isle Area Regional
Breakfast, the fourth in our virtual update series. The Chamber's
Advocacy team reviewed the work of the legislative session prior to its
abrupt adjournment in mid-March, and made a few predictions about a possible
special session, the coming election season, and even how the 2021 session
might look given the pandemic. THANK YOU TO OUR SERIES SPONSORS: Casella
Waste Systems, Inc.; Central Maine Power Company; Maine Department of
Economic & Community Development; Northeast Delta Dental; Versant Power;
VHB In
addition to our Series Sponsors, we are thankful for the following sponsors
of this morning's Coffee Hour and their continued support and generosity: our Premier Sponsor, McCain Foods USA,
Inc.; our Presenting Sponsor, Northeastland Hotel; and, our Official Sponsors,
Aroostook Partnership, MMG Insurance, Northeast Packaging Company, Northern
Maine Development Commission, and S.W. Collins Co., Inc. |
Augusta
Area Wednesday,
June 3 from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. This
session is a program of the |
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Coronavirus May Never Go
Away, Even With A Vaccine |
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Experts
in epidemiology, disaster planning and vaccine development say embracing that
reality is crucial to the next phase of America's pandemic response. |
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The Washington
Post reported yesterday that there's a good chance the coronavirus will
never go away. Even after a vaccine is discovered and deployed, the coronavirus will likely remain for
decades to come, circulating among the world's population. Experts call such
diseases endemic - stubbornly resisting efforts to stamp them out. Think
measles, HIV, chickenpox. With so much else uncertain, the
persistence of the novel virus is one of the few things we can count on about
the future. That doesn't mean the situation will always be as dire. There are
already four endemic coronaviruses that circulate continuously, causing the
common cold. And many experts think this virus will become the fifth - its
effects growing milder as immunity spreads and our bodies adapt to it over
time. For now, though, most people have not been
infected and remain susceptible. And the highly transmissible disease has
surged in recent weeks even in countries that initially succeeded in
suppressing it. Left alone, experts say, it will simply keep burning through
the world's population. Meanwhile, some states are rushing headlong into
reopening their economies. Even those moving more cautiously haven't
developed tools to measure what's working and what isn't - a crucial feature
for any prolonged scientific experiment. |
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Rockland Will
Use Taxpayer-Funded Loans to Bail Out Businesses Hurt by Coronavirus |
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The Bangor Daily News reported today that
Rockland is creating a $200,000
loan program for small businesses using a combination of taxpayer dollars
and funds from a downtown tax increment financing account. City councilors
waffled on whether this was an appropriate use of taxpayer money, but
ultimately decided to move forward with the loan program to help businesses
that are struggling after months of closures and restrictions due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. "It is their money, [businesses] have paid [taxes] let's give it back to them and keep their business going for another couple months so hopefully things can normalize," City Councilor and downtown business co-owner Ben Dorr said. "Right now is the crisis moment, right now is the trauma moment, right now is the moment to give businesses $5,000." |
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Impact, please contact Melody Rousseau |
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