Last month, we wrote about the business structure of B-Corporations (Benefit Corporations), also known as a B-Corp. B-Corps are businesses that go through a voluntary certification process to ensure that the company not only maintains a healthy bottom line, but is also responsive to the community and the environment in which it operates. Craig Olson of our Small Business team notes that through his experience of running various nonprofits in the past, he knew about B-Corps, but he hadn’t heard much about social enterprises until recently.
Category: Blog
Rural Libraries and Digital Inclusion
Posted by Neil Arnold & filed under Blog.
On June 25, 2019, Island Institute staff facilitated a meeting co-hosted by the Maine State Library and held at the Rockland Public Library to discuss the digital inclusion work happening in libraries throughout Maine. Attendees representing fifteen libraries from Washington County to Wells, Maine, shared experiences and exchanged resources for meeting the needs of communities in a world increasingly dependent on the internet.
2019 Legislative Session: Highlights for Maine’s island and coastal communities
Posted by Neil Arnold & filed under Blog.
The first session of the 129th Legislature wrapped with a flurry of activity. This blog post captures few of the important energy and climate change related outcomes for island and coastal communities.
End-of-year event gives students the opportunity to celebrate, connect, and learn from each other
Posted by Neil Arnold & filed under Blog.
On June 18th, twelve students from four Maine islands, and their families, gathered at Thomas College in Waterville to celebrate the high school graduation and send-off of the MAP class of 2019 and welcome the newest MAP cohort. The event also kicked off the annual MAP Leadership Intensive.
Guest blog: Value in seeing how it’s done
Posted by Neil Arnold & filed under Blog.
Residents from five Maine islands and two coastal communities joined the Island Institute in May 2019 for a community broadband tour of the Cranberry Isles. During the exchange trip, members of the Cranberry Isles Broadband Group shared what it took to connect their five islands, and guests exchanged ideas with the other island and coastal communities represented. In this guest blog post, Keith Harriton of the Swan’s Island broadband group reflects on the trip and the benefits of building connections and learning from each other.
Commercial Currents: Business for Good, Part 1—B Corps
Posted by Neil Arnold & filed under Blog.
On a recent trip to Scotland, Craig Olson of the Island Institute’s Small Business team was inspired by the Social Enterprise businesses in the UK. So, we decided to use the next few Commercial Currents to explore the concept of “business for good.” This month, we are going to talk about Certified B Corporations, or B Corps, and then next month, we’ll tackle the Social Enterprise concept.
Policy Update: State Investments in Broadband Infrastructure
Posted by Neil Arnold & filed under Blog.
Much has been written about why Maine needs to expand access to broadband, but less has been written about where the state has made investments and where they are likely to be made. In our latest policy update, Senior Policy Officer Nick Battista looks at why state funding is a critical piece in bringing broadband to the rural parts of our state and investing in infrastructure that is critical to their future.
Commercial Currents: Maine’s seasonal workforce
Posted by Neil Arnold & filed under Blog.
According to the Center for Workforce Research and Information, Maine sees a 3% spike in employment for June, July, and August. To put a number on it, Maine’s seasonal businesses are employing around 20,500 more people each month in the summer. As anyone who runs a seasonal business in Maine knows, that number is not high enough. t’s a struggle for Maine’s seasonal businesses to get fully staffed each spring, and it seems to get harder and harder each year. Mainland businesses, particularly in high traffic tourist destinations like Bar Harbor and Ogunquit, rely heavily on the H-2B visa program, which allows a predetermined number of out-of-country workers to work seasonal jobs in the United States.
The 48-Hour Field Trip
Posted by Neil Arnold & filed under Blog.
Last week I was fortunate to experience my first ever TLC field trip. The Outer Islands Teaching and Learning Collaborative, or TLC, is a group of one- and two-room school houses whose teachers support each other on curriculum and problem solving and whose students meet for virtual reading groups, student council, and science classes. Based on my experiences the past few months, the highlight of the TLC is the biannual field trip. Each fall and each spring, the TLC schools join together for multi-day field trips off island, a chance for socialization and off-island experiences, not to mention overstimulation, play, packed schedules, and possibly a college campus dining hall buffet (dessert, anyone?).
Archipelago Artist Profile: Susan Beebe
Posted by Neil Arnold & filed under Blog.
If you spend enough time in Rockland, Maine, you may have seen a woman of medium stature walking up and down Main Street, tending the pollinator garden by the harbor, or sipping a cappuccino at Rock City Coffee. She is artist, gardener, educator, and Rockland resident, Susan Beebe. This past winter, I asked Susan if I could interview her at her “studio” space. While her true studio space is outdoors and she knew I wouldn’t get an authentic view into her working space during one of Maine’s coldest months, she agreed, and we spent a little time talking about art and midcoast Maine.
