Business news

USBA Home-Based Business Champion of Year

James Macomber, small-business consultant for MaineStream Finance, was named the U.S. Small Business Administration 2008 Home-Based Business Champion of the Year for both Maine and New England. The award is presented annually to an individual who has fulfilled a commitment to advancing small, home-based businesses in Maine.

The SBA made the award in recognition that “through his personal business ownership experience, professional education and tireless efforts to improve quality of life in rural Maine, Macomber has become one of the region’s most trusted individuals in the area of microbusiness development.”

Macomber will be honored with other small-business award winners at a luncheon on May 16 in Lewiston.

“We are pleased that the SBA has recognized Jim’s tremendous contributions to the region’s microenterprise development efforts,” said Kevin Washburn, executive director of MaineStream Finance. “His dedication and steadfast support of home-based businesses make him not only deserving of this award, but also an inspiration to those who know him.”

As small-business consultant for MaineStream Finance, Macomber provides microenterprise training and technical assistance in Penobscot, Piscataquis, Knox and Waldo counties; coordinates Rural Maine Small Business Conference for entrepreneurs, and organizes an annual MarketPlace to showcase products and services of microenterprises. He also owns his own Web design business, MainesBest.com, and is involved in regional activities, most recently joining the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council board of directors in December.

“I am honored to have been selected as Home-Based Business Champion of the Year,” said Macomber. “I am fortunate to be in the business I am in and to work with so many talented entrepreneurs who are contributing to the economic health of the region and state.”

MaineStream Finance is a Community Development Financial Institution and wholly owned subsidiary of Penquis. For information on microenterprise services provided by Macomber and MaineStream Finance, call 800-215-4942, ext. 210.

Peavey Manufacturing Co.

EDDINGTON – U.S. Sens. Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program has awarded a business and industry guaranteed loan of $250,000 to Peavey Manufacturing Co. The funds will refinance existing debt and provide permanent working capital.

“For more than 140 years, the Peavey Manufacturing Co. has proudly served Maine’s timber industry by producing quality logging tools, handles and dowels,” Collins and Snowe said in a statement. “Now we are proud to announce that the Peavey Manufacturing Co. will continue enhancing Maine’s economy and history through this generous loan on behalf of the USDA and Machias Savings Bank.”

The loan program works in partnership with private sector lenders to provide financial assistance to rural businesses. The Machias Savings Bank in Machias will fund the Peavey Manufacturing Co. project, which is expected to create three jobs for the company.

Trade show and fair

The Sebasticook Valley Chamber of Commerce 12th Trade Show and Community Fair will take place 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at Sebasticook Middle School, Williams Road, Newport. Sebasticook Valley Federal Credit Union, Brown Funeral Home, Law Office of Michael A. Wiers, Skowhegan Savings Bank, TD Banknorth and T.W. Clark are sponsors of the event.

Admission is $3 and allows entry into drawings for 100 gallons of fuel oil, A.E. Robinson; $100 credit toward a 100-gallon fuel oil delivery, Shorey Oil; and a $50 gasoline card, Cove-Side Wheel and Ski.

A Kiwanis Bike Rodeo for children under age 12 will take place 10 a.m.-noon. Bring bikes for a free safety check and receive a free helmet and T-shirt.

The event will include 50 booths featuring various businesses and services.

Child care training

BANGOR – The Penquis Resource Development Center, in conjunction with Maine Humanities Council, will offer the Many Eyes, Many Voices child care training 6-9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, May 20 and 22, at Penquis, 262 Harlow St. The cost of the training is $20.

This six-hour training uses illustrated children’s books as a vehicle for meaningful conversations about differences. Activities accompanying the children’s literature selection are included in a curriculum guide. Each participant will receive books and the curriculum guide.

For information or to register, call 973-3533 or 888-917-1100.

Fiber-optic network

ORONO – Oxford Networks announced that it recently contracted with the University of Maine System to help complete Phase 2 of Maine’s research and education data network they are creating in collaboration with The Jackson Laboratory. Phase 2 will connect the network to Internet2, an advanced nationwide network consortium dedicated to scientific research and education.

Through Internet2, UMS, The Jackson Laboratory and Maine’s research and education community will be able to interface with other research and education entities across the country and the world with nearly limitless capacity. UMS officials said this connectivity will assist in recruiting efforts to attract students, researchers and faculty.

In order to complete the fiber-optic network expansion to Boston, Oxford Networks will extend its current 600-mile fiber network, which serves customers from Bangor to Portsmouth, N.H., by adding 140 miles of fiber from Portsmouth to Salem, N.H., and then to Boston.

Oxford Networks’ existing 600-mile fiber-optic network provides much-needed bandwidth to customers in communities along its network. The project will be completed by early 2009. The expanded, redundant fiber-optic network will initially provide Oxford Networks with 10 gigabits of bandwidth from Bangor to Boston and scalability up to 320 gigabits.

“This fiber-optic-based R and E network is a powerful tool that solidifies Maine’s appeal and potential as a high-tech center of research, development and commercialization of products, technologies and ideas,” said Dr. Richard L. Pattenaude, University of Maine System chancellor. “The expanded capabilities and capacity this network will provide greatly enhance Maine’s ability to attract federal research funding.”