Applications are open for the Roux Institute’s Founder Residency Program. They are seeking tech-based startups to apply for this unique year-long opportunity. Learn more and speak with their team!

ReMaine Clean Energy Internship Program is a workforce development program that subsidizes 50% of clean energy interns’ wages up to $22/hour for 240-hour placements. Register here for a Lunch and Learn presentation on Tuesday, April 16 at noon. The presentation will include an overview of the program, a Q&A session, and steps to get funding for your own intern. Email remaine@neep.org with questions or to set up another time to meet.

Join the University of Maine for their Research and Development Services Expo on April 23 from 4:30-6:30 pm at the Maine Center. Come to experience interactive displays from experts on their cutting-edge research.

Check out the E2Tech job board for open positions in the environmental & energy sectors! We have current opportunities from policy and engineering roles to project managers and internships spanning all over New England!

Join the Maine Climate Council’s working group meetings to provide input on Maine Climate Action Plan. Visit the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future’s website for more information.

Maine Innovation Exchange in Orono has been postponed to June. Click here for details on the gathering designed for businesses to learn how to innovate and grow. Joshua Henry, CEO of Timber HP, is the keynote speaker.

Check out the E2Tech job board for open positions in the environmental & energy sectors! We have current opportunities from policy and engineering roles to project managers and internships spanning all over New England!

Join the University of Maine on April 17 from 4:30-6:30 pm at the Portland Gateway for the Advanced Manufacturing Showcase! Participate to engage with experts in demonstrations and displays of their cutting edge research.

A Vermont couple's successful journey to decarbonize their home, as told by Wired. Two climate journalists work to end their reliance on natural gas in their family home and explain every step in the process.

On Friday the Appropaitions Cmte in Augusta unanimously approved a proposal for the state to issue a $25M R&D bond. Many thanks to John at ORPC and Melissa at Tanbark Molded Fiber who spoke at a legislative lunch gathering  that E2Tech helped organize. 

Register for the Maine Innovation Exchange on April 11 from 11am-4pm in Orono. The conference is designed for businesses to learn how to innovate and grow, featuring Joshua Henry, CEO of Timber HP, as the keynote speaker.

Last Friday and Saturday our Exec Director went up to Aroostook County to meet with staff at UMPI, MSSM, NMDC, Aroostook Partnership, and Central Aroostook Chamber, and the regional liason for Congressman Golden. The Partnership's Housing Development Conference was on Friday - how to get small homes built was a major topic. Lots of positive change in that region. 

Alongside Volt Energy Utility & Microsoft, ERPR is excited to announce their second environmental justice program, launched by the development of our Hickory Solar Farm in Illinois. What makes this program extra special is our focus on workforce development and our partnership with Volt, a national African-American led renewables developer, plus our partnership with Sharing the Power Foundation. Our goal and commitment will be to ensure women and minority-owned businesses are front and center in developing Hickory. Microsoft joins us in the program as the clean power and RECs off-taker.

Paid internships at The Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF). Apply by April 1st! The positions are hybrid and based out Augusta for the summer of 2024.  

E2Tech is also seeking firms, orgs, and agencies that would like to host ReMaine interns. Click here for the flier. Last year nearly two dozen entites received funding to host early career explorers.

NPR had a story this week on the Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC. Sadly some of the 2,500 trees will need to be cut down. The Tidal Basin at the Washington and Jefferson Memorials has sunk about five feet in the past century, so the National Park Service has hired Maine-based Cianbro to do $112M in repairs.

It's not just New England that cares about offshore wind; the Canadian Climate Institute also has been exploring the potential for wind generation off of their Atlantic Provinces. Established in 2020 with support from their federal government, the Institute produces rigorous analysis, economic modelling, and in-depth research focused on incentivizing clean economic growth and low-carbon competitiveness, reducing emissions and accelerating Canada’s net zero energy transition, and making their economy and infrastructure more resilient to a warming climate.

E2Tech is creating monthly fliers / summaries about different segments of Maine's Green Economy. The first one can be downloaded here. The April issue will focus on sustainability and climate adaptation professionals. We welcome your feedback.

The BTS Center, the successor to the Bangor Theological Seminary, is seeking nine teams of four from Christian congregations around the region to participate in a weekend retreat in Acadia National Park in late June on Claiming Your Call for a Climate-Changed World. “Responding to climate crisis is not just the work of scientists, policymakers, and advocates. The church brings spiritual resources to this moment that cannot be filled by any others.” Teams will share deep conversation with theologians, scientists, and indigenous scholars about how climate change will impact the communities where we live and what a spiritually-grounded, justice-seeking response could look like.

Apply to the ReMaine Clean Energy Internship Program here or email a resume to remaine@neep.org. Interns will be paid between $18-$22 / hour for a total of 240 hours, the program is specifically supporting the placement of women and BIPOC participants into the clean energy sector.

Maine State Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Energy Summit is on March 13 in Hallowell with Senator Mark Lawrence, Chair of the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee; Dan Burgess, Governor’s Energy Office; Pedro Azagra Blazques, Chief Executive Officer of Avangrid, John Flynn, President of Versant Power; Joe Purrington, President of Central Maine Power, and others. Three E2Tech Board members are on the 10 am panel: Jeff Marks, Executive Director of ClimateWork Maine; Benji Borowski, Partner at PretiFlaherty; and Michael Stoddard, Executive Director of Efficiency Maine Trust.

Last week Maine's Land Use Planning Commission has rejected a proposal for mining on Pickett Mountain in northern Penobscot County, near Katahdin.

At the other end of the state, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is deleting the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery from the National Priorities List (NPL), commonly referred to as Superfund. Many millions were contracted to E2Tech members since the listing in 1994. 

In Down-east Maine, Acadia National Park's new $32.6 million maintenance facility will include rooftop solar panels and charging stations of 12 electrical vehicles.

Governor Mills announced Maine Jobs & Recovery Grants to upgrade electric grids for local firms, including Maine Plywood USA and Tanbark Molded Fiber Products, which together received over $2M.

U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriation Committee, announced that three Maine airports will receive a total of $18,024,800 to make critical infrastructure improvements. A portion of this is likely to go to E2Tech members. 

Some E2Tech members build, upgrade, or operate commercial real estate or manage things like indoor air quality. The Boulos Company reported that office space vacancy increased slightly to 7%, while The Dunham Group reported that vacancy rate for industrial space in the Greater Portland Area was ~1%.

The Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) and Maine Rural Development Authority each approved $500K loans to TimberHP, a manufacturer of wood fiber-based insulation products located at the former Madison paper mill. This wil allow the firm to add a second and third production like and create and retain approximately 114 jobs in Somerset County.

2023 was the third year of our five-year Strategic Plan and our 21st Year of providing services to the businesses and people of Maine. 

Here's a brief look at 2023.

Our organization remains very active in advancing economic growth and opportunities for the green economy in Maine: those working in fields such as environment, energy, cleantech, sustainability, and climate adaptation.

* We hosted/convened 24 events, mostly in Southern Maine

* Reporters from PPH, BDN, MainePublic, Maine Monitor, Channel 8, and others came to our events

* Externally funded research and initiatives rose slightly

* Income and expenses in 2023 remained steady as compared to 2022

* We helped launch ReMaine, an internship/career exploration program for young Mainers

* We did weekly surveys on the price of carbon-based fuels

* We hired a new Exec Director and a new CleanTech Program and Policy Manager

* We reappointed 5 members of our board for another three-year term

* And much more. .....

Thank you for your support of E2Tech and Maine's green economy.

Visit E2Tech's Job Board to learn about and apply for new open positions at the Governor's Energy Office, the Roux Institute, Efficiency Maine and GMRI.

Competitive Energy Services, an E2Tech member since 2013, celebrates the promotion of three team members, Andrew Price to President & CEO; Matthew Gamache to Chief Operating Officer; and Eben Perkins to Chief Strategy Officer.

Join AVCOG, in-person or on Zoom, on Tuesday, February 13th from 10:30-1:30 to discuss household hazardous waste (HHW) & waste diversion tactics and programs. Lunch will be provided, so please RSVP and email Zach Gosselin with any questions.

The City of Biddeford is seeking qualified firms to provide consulting engineering services related to the disaster declaration process with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The firm will recommend, design, and seek permits for repairs to city infrastructure that sustained storm damage in January 2024. The RFQ is due Feb. 13.

The next round of GEO’s Community Action Grants (up to $50,000) will fund projects that reduce energy use and costs, transition to clean energy, and community resilience. This round (due March 29) is open to enrolled communities that have not yet received a CAG award, and the next fall 2024 solicitation will open to all enrolled communities. View the Program Statement and Application Form.

Mitchell Center's sustainability webinar on 2/12 at 3 pm is with Gary Fearon, Director of Housing for the Penobscot Nation, who will discuss the Tribe's efforts to make their community more energy resilient and reduce their carbon footprint on their traditional homelands.

The Central Maine Growth Council and Dirigo Labs is offering $10-20K for an Entrepreneur in Residence to advise and mentor CleanTech firms in that part of the state in 2024. Applications due January 26, 2023.

Join the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Manufacturers Association of Maine on Jan 24 for a tour of LL Bean's facility in Brunswick.

Three E2Tech partners were specifically mentioned in the Boston Globe's story about the Electric Grid and legislative developments in Massachusetts: the Acadia Center, Northeast Clean Energy Council, and the US Energy Information Administration.

Construction of a 175 MW battery storage project is set to bring this spring in Gorham ME. The $100M project is headed by Power Plus and is integral to the energy transition which relies on solar and wind in Maine.

Join E2Tech and others at Startup Maine's evening of networking on Jan 25 from 5-7 pm. Learn about business opportunities with Canada at the Portland Art Gallery.

The Maine Climate Council's Energy Working Group is responsible for developing, evaluating, and recommending strategies for the MCC to consider in the update of Maine Won't Wait, join one of their upcoming meetings.

Join GEO, Efficiency Maine, and MaineHousing on Jan 23 for their public meeting on Maine's draft plan for deploying $70M+ for home energy efficiency and electrification rebate

The Green Economy: For the second year in a row, global banks earned more money underwriting bonds and loans for green projects than they earned from financial oil, gas, and coal activities.

AVGOC's Household Hazardous Waste program collected materials at 12 sites last year. The largest waste day in history was in Bethel and brought in 12,440 pounds over a 3-hour period! The 2024 events are set to start in May.