Minimum wage increase

Minimum wage earners will receive a raise in their hourly pay Wednesday, Oct. 1, when the state minimum wage increases a quarter from $7 to $7.25 per hour. It is the first in a two-step increase that will lift the minimum wage rate to $7.50 per hour in October 2009.

This is the third minimum wage increase signed into law by Gov. John E. Baldacci.

“Maine men and women should be able to earn a living wage so they can support their families,” said Baldacci. “There is no better safety net than a good job with benefits and training. We should reward work, and a higher minimum wage does that.”

“Here in Maine and across the country, workers have faced higher fuel, housing and health care costs,” said Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman. “By increasing the minimum wage, we are taking a small step in providing our lowest paid workers with a greater ability to support themselves and their families.”

The bill also removes minimum wage and overtime exemptions for public-supported nonprofit organizations and overtime exemptions for restaurants, hotels and motels.

Some 26,000 Maine workers have earnings at or below the minimum wage. Although a segment of minimum wage earners are teens employed at their first jobs, the majority are adult workers.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 74 percent of workers earning at or below the minimum wage are older than 19, and 24 percent work fulltime or more.

Certain employers are exempt from paying the minimum wage. Tipped employees may be paid one-half the regular minimum wage if the employer makes up the difference if tips plus the hourly wage do not average at least the minimum wage.

Maine law requires employers to display the minimum wage poster. An updated version is available at no cost on the Maine Department of Labor Web site at www.maine.gov/labor/posters.

The minimum wage rates for New England are: New Hampshire, $7.25; Massachusetts, $8; Vermont, $7.68; Connecticut, $7.65; and Rhode Island, $7.40.

For information about Maine’s wage and hour laws, call the Department of Labor at 623-7900 (TTY: 800-794-1110).

Expansion, honors for Gifford’s

Gifford’s Ice Cream, the family owned and operated ice cream enterprise based in central Maine, has announced several new distribution locations and expansion in eight states.

Bloomingdale’s, Lord & Taylor, Rutgers and Columbia universities, the United Nations, Westchester Country Club and New York City’s Del Frisco’s Steakhouse have signed on to Gifford’s Ice Cream’s list of distributing venues.

The new locations add to the several thousand retail and ice cream stand locations throughout New England, New York and New Jersey, which feature Gifford’s.

These include a stand on Broadway in Bangor. The Maine company continues to see growth of 7 percent to 10 percent, said a company spokesman.

The September issue of The Griffin Report of Food Marketing named Gifford’s Ice Cream to its list of “Best Places to Work in the Food Industry.” The nod comes from the New England publication’s major 2008 food industry survey.

“Gifford’s Ice Cream was a natural fit for our ‘Best Places to Work’ list, for several reasons,” said Jack Walsh, vice president at Griffin Publishing. “The team at Gifford’s is viewed throughout the region as being incredibly ‘worker-friendly,’ in terms of everything from advancement opportunities and clear communication with employees, to really living out the Gifford family’s operating philosophy of respect for team members and their surrounding community.”

Gifford’s also earned the “Gannett Family Business of the Year Award” this summer, awarded for business success, work environment and active family participation in the company.

“Mainers are genuinely proud of the reputation that food products from our state have earned, particularly during the past few years,” said Gov. John Baldacci. “The team at Gifford’s Ice Cream proves what can be accomplished when businesses pair a closely knit work environment and dedication to community with a commitment to excellence. The possibilities are great, and Gifford’s provides a great case study of how this can be accomplished.”

The Maine company earned the coveted title of “World’s Best Chocolate Ice Cream” at this year’s annual World Dairy Expo, widely considered to be the “academy awards” of the ice cream world.

For information, visit www.giffordsicecream.com.

Course in home buying

BANGOR – MaineStream Finance will offer a 12-hour certified training course that helps potential home buyers make prudent home purchasing decisions.

Classes will be held 5:30-8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Oct. 13-16, at Penquis, 262 Harlow St. Participants must attend all classes.

The course uses a qualified trainer and discusses the roles of various professionals involved in the home buying process, such as attorneys, realtors, lenders, insurance agents and home inspectors. Components of the course are budget and debt management counseling and credit counseling.

The course fee is $25 per person. Payment must be received in advance of the class. Checks may be mailed to Farrah Perry, MaineStream Finance, P.O. Box 1162, Bangor ME 04402-1162.

Note the date and location of the class for which you are registering. Call MaineStream Finance at 800-215-4942, ext. 424, or fperry@penquis.org for more information.

Curriculum Night

BANGOR – The Penquis Child Care Resource Development Center will offer Curriculum Night for child care providers 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29 and Nov. 19, at Penquis, 262 Harlow St.

Curriculum Night participants will learn activities to help create fun for children, and the Penquis RDC Library will be open for browsing and borrowing.

The theme for Oct. 29 is “Fun Fall Favorites,” and the Nov. 19 theme is “Are you prepared for an emergency?”

The cost of the class is a $5 nonrefundable fee. For information or to register, call 973-3533 or 888-917-1100.

Cluster initiative workshops

ORONO – The Maine Technology Institute is launching a series of six workshops on its new Cluster Initiative Award Program in Belfast, Caribou, Gardiner, Orono, Portland and Rumford.

Participation in a workshop or a personal interview is required as a condition for submitting an application due Nov. 14, the deadline for the current request for applications.

“We’re looking forward to putting on workshops across the state about the new Cluster Initiative Program,” said MTI President Betsy Biemann. “Firms, service providers, research laboratories and educational institutions may all apply. Our workshops will be a chance to present information about the program and processes for application, review and award, as well as answer questions potential applicants might have.”

Roger Brooks, program manager, said, “The workshops will focus on the elements of a successful award application for a cluster project – for example, collaboration among organizations, efforts to foster cluster growth and innovation leading to commercial success, and the application of best practices of cluster development in Maine and other regions of the country to address issues such as cluster infrastructure, resources, and common opportunities and challenges.”

The new Cluster Initiative Program replaces MTI’s previous Cluster Enhancement Award Program, and expands it to awarding more than $2 million per year. The program is designed to strengthen business networks, promote innovation and entrepreneurship, and support projects that strategically advance Maine’s technology clusters.

There are two levels of Cluster Initiative awards. Those for $50,000 or less for planning and feasibility studies may be applied for on a rolling basis. Awards up to $500,000 are called for through a Request for Applications two times a year. Matching funds are required for both award levels, as well as participation in a workshop or a personal interview.

The workshops run about two hours with time for questions and answers. Reservations are encouraged to help assure space and seating.

For reservations, call Linda Adams at 582-4790, ext. 206, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Reservations also may be left after hours on MTI’s voice-mail system and through e-mail at ladams@mainetechnology.org.A workshop will be held 3-5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, at Target Technology Center, 20 Godfrey Drive, Orono.

For more information, visit www.mainetechnology.org.

Program at Rotary Club

BANGOR – The Rotary Club of Bangor has scheduled George Kinghorn, new director of the University of Maine Museum of Art, for its Sept. 30 meeting. He will share his vision for the museum.

The Rotary Club of Bangor meets at noon each Tuesday at Wellman Commons on the former Bangor Theological Seminary campus. Nonmembers who wish to attend a meeting or who would like to consider membership in Rotary may do so by calling Jan Currier, membership chairwoman, at 942-8261, ext. 224, or e-mail usafreejan@aol.com.