Blog - Local / Community News Items and Commentary

Our Wayfair Brunswick facility has an immediate need for 18 full time Customer Service Consultants at our customer contact center to start in June and July…. In order to protect our employees and keep them safe and healthy, employees will start with Wayfair in a work-from-home capacity, eventually transitioning to our physical sites when we reopen…

• Starting Wage: $16/hour, plus opportunity to earn up to $18/hour with additional training in the first year, bonuses and overtime opportunities
• Medical, Dental and Vision insurance programs. We have multiple medical plans to choose from and Wayfair covers ~65% of premiums for medical insurance, and 100% of vision and dental insurances.
• 401k with matching
• Life Insurance
• Disability Coverage
• Wellness & Employee Assistance Programs

Maine Maritime Museum is excited to announce that we will be reopening to the public on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Museum staff have been preparing the 20-acre campus in accordance with all guidelines from the state of Maine and developing fun new ways for guests to experience Maine’s maritime culture.

“We know people have been missing the museum, and we have been missing you too! We are grateful for the support we’ve received from friends near and far, and we’re so excited to open our doors and welcome everyone back. We are fortunate to have acres of outdoor space for our visitors to explore, and with 2020 being Maine’s bicentennial, it’s the perfect time to come discover our state’s maritime history,” said Katie Spiridakis, marketing and communications manager.

To accommodate physical distancing guidelines

Priority Launches Fundraising Campaign for Big Brother Big Sisters

This week we are highlighting a $5,000 Community Match Challenge benefitting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bath/Brunswick.  Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) matches and professionally supports one-to-one mentoring relationships between youth and adult volunteers.  These mentoring relationships have shown incredible improvements in the academic and personal success of local youth throughout their lives.

Governor Janet Mills today presented her Administration’s plan to gradually and safely restart Maine’s economy. The plan, which comes as the State appears to be successfully flattening the curve, establishes four gradual stages of reopening, the first of which begins  May 1st. The stages focus not on essential v. non-essential designations like those used to originally limit business operations and activities, but on the ability of a business to operate or an activity to occur in a manner that protects public health and safety. As the Administration gradually eases restrictions on some businesses and activities, it also implements protective protocols, along with broader additional health and safety measures, to protect Maine people.   

“The Brunswick Development Corporation’s Pandemic Emergency Loan fund is recapitalized to $100,000 and BDC is accepting applications.  The PEL fund was replenished through a $25,000 private donation, a $25,000 match by the Town of Brunswick from Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenues, and a BDC allocation of $50,000.  

On Wednesday, April 1, the new Families First Coronavirus Response Act went into effect.  This federal Act requires some employers in Maine to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded medical leave for reasons related to COVID-19. A link to the FFCRA language can be found here: https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ127/PLAW-116publ127.pdf .

The new federal requirements apply to covered employers as defined in the Act, which includes most businesses with fewer than 500 employees and almost all public employers.  The Act allows for these businesses to be reimbursed for expenses they incur to provide required paid leave through a payroll tax credit. Certain businesses with fewer than 50 employees can seek an exemption. Businesses must seek this exemption at the federal level.

A best-practice primer with a touch of kindness from Executive Director Cory King

Brunswick and Portland, Maine – Representatives from Mid Coast–Parkview Health and MaineHealth received final clearance yesterday to move forward with the planned merger of the two healthcare organizations. Mid Coast–Parkview Health will join MaineHealth as a member on March 1, 2020 and will work toward full integration over the next several months as operations become unified.