Border issues forum focus

PRESQUE ISLE – More than 60 businesspeople from northern Maine and the province of Quebec have registered for a two-day conference on fostering economic ties between the two regions.

“Business Across Borders” will begin today at the Long Lake Sporting Club in St. Agatha and conclude Friday at the Northeastland Hotel in Presque Isle.

The conference, which will focus on international trade, is being held by the Northern Maine Development Commission and is part of the agency’s business attraction program.

“We want to provide an opportunity for business in northern Maine to sit down with business in Quebec to find ways to form partnerships,” Joanne Hollis, NMDC’s marketing and development coordinator, said Wednesday.

Issues to be explored include energy and natural gas, border taxes and customs.

Speakers are from both sides of the border.

Steven Levesque, Maine commissioner of economic and community development, will discuss business development in Maine.

Wayne Morin, president of Valley Paper in Madawaska, will talk about the success his company has had conducting business across the border.

Christopher A. Bond is a tax manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Portland. An attorney and a certified public accountant, whose specialty is state and local taxation including multistate tax planning and state tax controversies,

Bond is going to talk about border tax issues.

Border customs issues will be discussed by Darryl LaPierre, a customhouse broker with PBB Global Logistics of Portland.

To avoid any language barriers, Hollis said literature for the conference has been printed in English and in French. In addition, interpreters will be on hand to help translate the conference dialogue, she said.

Tours of area businesses will be conducted Friday afternoon for conference participants.