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New business? Expansion? Promotions? E-mail information to weekly@bangordailynews.net, or mail it to The Weekly, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or drop it off at the front desk of the Buck Street entrance of the Bangor Daily News, 491 Main St., Bangor.

Bangor

Bank property addition

Edwin N. Clift, chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Merchants Bancshares Inc., the parent company of Merrill Bank, has announced the purchase of Penobscot Theatre’s 183 Main St. property. The theatre property, adjacent to the bank’s headquarters property at 201 Main St., is on the National Register of Historic Places and will be renovated within register guidelines.

The bank plans to add a third floor to its headquarters building and to link the bank to the theater with a three-story connecting corridor.

“The project will enhance our efficiency,” said Clift, “as we will relocate our operations center and administrative offices to the theater. It will partner nicely with the city and other private development efforts aimed at improving the aesthetics of the downtown district and neighboring waterfront areas. We see it as a win-win for all of us who want to see Bangor flourish as a business, residential and cultural center.”

The project, with an estimated budget of $1.5 million, is targeted for completion in 2005. Work is scheduled to begin in June, utilizing the services of local contractors. Among the interior renovations will be the construction of a third floor above the current main floor of the theater.

“This floor will provide much needed additional office space, and give us a total of 9,000 usable square feet in the building without compromising the beautiful arched ceilings and other unique architectural features of its Victorian style,” Clift said.

To learn more about Merrill Bank, call 942-4800.

Business Ownership 101

Penquis Community Action Program is offering the class, Business Ownership 101 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday, June 17, at Penquis CAP, 262 Harlow St. The class will provide an overview of the pros and cons of operating a microenterprise, what a business plan is, why it is needed and resources for business development assistance.

The U.S. Small Business Administration sponsors the class. To register, or to make arrangements for those with disabilities, call Tara Murphy at 973-3618.

Credit Union League

Ralph Ferland, president and chief executive officer of Eastern Maine Medical Center Federal Credit Union in Bangor, has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the Maine Credit Union League.

Ferland had served as vice chairman of the board for the past three years. He replaces Normand Dubreuil as chairman.

The Maine Credit Union League is the state trade association for Maine’s 77-affiliated credit unions.

Wal-Mart contributions

BANGOR – Bangor Wal-Mart has made recent contributions to two local organizations:

. University of Maine Cooperative Extension, $500 for lakeshore protection efforts to Tara Goodrich of the Maine Conservation Corps, a volunteer leader in lakeshore conservation restoration. The money will be used to purchase materials and supplies for a vegetation planting project at the Lucerne Beach Club on Phillips Lake. The project is part of Cooperative Extension’s Watershed Stewards Program. Volunteers receive training in water quality protection techniques and carry out a project to reduce erosion and other types of pollution. For information, contact Laura Wilson, 581-2971.

. Good Samaritan Agency, $200 toward the seventh annual Rubber Duck Race, a family event held May 22 in downtown Bangor. Some 2,000 rubber ducks were dumped into the Kenduskeag Stream and floated to the finish line. Sponsors of the winning ducks won prizes. Proceeds from the race benefit Good Samaritan Agency’s programs and services. Good Samaritan is a nonprofit agency that offers services to single parents, including an alternative education program and a day care program in addition to adoption services. For information, call 942-7211.

USDA Rural Development

Marcia Fair of Sebec will assume duties as a budget analyst at the USDA Rural Development office in Bangor. Fair has 31 years of experience working with the agency and was promoted from her previous position as a senior single family loan specialist at the Bangor area office.

Glenburn

Loony Lady’s Meals

The Loony Lady’s Meals To Go Take Out is now open at 1320 Pushaw Road. The business features daily specials and a full menu, including lobster rolls, chicken pot pie on Thursdays, baked beans on Saturdays and freshly baked pastries. Owned and operated by Sharon Brigalli, the business is open 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. It’s motto is “Home cooking when you can’t be home to cook.”

Orono

Advanced instrumentation

Stillwater Scientific Instruments Inc., a developer of advanced analytical instrumentation, has announced the release of its first time-of-flight high-resolution electron energy loss spectrometer.

The company introduced the product at the 11th International Conference on Vibrations at Surfaces Today in Bar Harbor, a gathering of world-leading speakers and scientists in the areas of surface vibrational spectroscopy and surface dynamics.

The conference addressed the role of vibrational properties of surfaces and interfaces in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering.

TOF-HREEL spectrography is an electron energy instrument that measures the speed, or energy, of individual electrons at an extremely high resolution.

Traditional electron energy analyzers scan through an energy range, counting electrons one energy at a time. Stillwater developed a new statistical analysis method for use with a technology called time of flight, which measures multiple pulses of ions simultaneously and is up to 1,000 times more efficient. Scientists and researchers can use the instrument to make extremely sensitive, high-resolution measurements.

Stillwater

Quilt shop anniversary

Sandy Boobar, owner of Sandy’s Hideaway Quilts, 525 Kirkland Road, celebrated her first anniversary of being a business with a two-day show that included 110 quilts and related items that were made in classes held at the shop during the past year.

The celebration also included a trunk show by scrap quilter Ellen Farrell, and classes with seven instructors demonstrating quilt techniques to 30 participants.

To learn more about the shop, call 827-3876.