They’ll have to work 45 hours per week to earn the same salary they got for 40 as the company addresses a labor shortage.
Kelley Bouchard
Staff Writer
Kelley writes about Maine businesses large and small, focusing on economic development, workforce initiatives and the state’s leading business organizations. Her wider experience includes municipal and state government, immigration, education, transportation, history, human rights, health and elder care, the environment and the housing crisis. A Maine native and University of Maine graduate, she was a college intern for two summers at the former Lewiston Evening Journal. She previously worked at the Ipswich Chronicle, Beverly Times and Salem Evening News in Massachusetts. Favorite pastimes include gardening, cooking, streaming foreign TV series and kayaking at camp.
Bangor Air Guard base competing for new air refueling tankers
The $1.3 billion fleet of Pegasus air refueling tankers would replace the aging Stratotankers operated by the Maine Air National Guard’s 101st Air Refueling Wing, also known as the MAINEiacs.
Impact of national port worker strike unclear in Maine
Eimskip, Portland’s sole shipper, employs 50 members of the longshoremen’s union but is not involved with the national labor agreement being negotiated.
Maine’s top forester to head national association at critical time
Maine State Forester Patty Cormier has been elected president of the National Association of State Foresters.
Maine agriculture commissioner named vice president of national association
Amanda Beal has been elected to serve on the board of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.
Maine names new director of outdoor recreation
Jeff McCabe, a former Democratic majority leader in the Maine House, succeeds Carolann Ouellette, who has returned to a previous role as Maine’s director of tourism.
Maine’s long-term care facilities struggle amid labor shortage
The shortage affects nursing home and assisted-living jobs of all kinds, from nurses and personal care assistants, to food service workers and maintenance staff.
Rockland invites more cruise ships amid uncertainty
Many in this small seaside city look to Bar Harbor, where thousands of cruise ship passengers crowd the streets and sidewalks from spring through fall.
Acadia-related spending drops for second year as fewer people visit
The number of visitors and how much they’re spending on hotels and restaurants has been dropping since 2021, but the numbers are still much higher than they were before the pandemic.
One year in, Maine Black Chamber of Commerce shows it means business
Despite an unexpected shoestring budget, Maine’s first Black chamber finished its first year with a solid list of accomplishments and a fresh set of goals for the year ahead.