Continued from last week’s glimpse at the first six months of 2012, the second half of the year saw new businesses opening and lots of generous donations to local charitable organizations from the business community.
July
• Caribou Business and Professional Women elected new leadership: Rani Belanger, president; Jenny Coon, president-elect; Darlene Grass, secretary; and Leah Mazzerole, treasurer.
• Caribou’s Margaret Kimball was named the Maine Business and Professional Woman of the Year. Earlier in the year, Kimball had won Caribou’s BPW of the year. Kimball won the award for her past business experience and volunteer work.
• The Aroostook County Action Program received certification as a Community Development Entity, making it an intermediary vehicle for the provision of loans, investments or financial counseling in low-income communities. ACAP is one of only nine CDEs in Maine.
August
• Contractor Jim Martin of Caribou received the Maine Major Achievement in Construction Award for his involvement outside of his business to help advance the construction industry.
• Doug Hunter, owner of Caribou’s Lancaster Morgan Funeral Home, purchased Duncan Graves Funeral Homes in Presque Isle and Mars Hill.
• Financial services firm Edward Jones opened a branch in Caribou with Betty Buzzell as the branch’s financial advisor.
• Cary Medical Center and Pines Health employees and volunteers completed the most successful internal capital fundraising campaign to date, raising over $152,000 through direct or payroll donations to benefit the Jefferson Cary Foundation’s Women’s Imaging Center project.
September
• Davis Long Term Care Group held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new $6 million facility to be built in Limestone.
• Sweet Dreams Candy & Bake Shoppe opened on Water Street and a Dollar Tree discount store opened in a portion of the old Miller’s Department Store building on Bennett Drive in Caribou.
• The Greater Limestone Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant held an open house to showcase the facility’s extensive renovations.
October
• County Physical Therapy marked 25 years of serving the public’s physical therapy needs with offices in both Caribou and Presque Isle.
• The Aroostook Medical Center added Caribou to its list of drive-up flu shot clinics locations.
• Breast Cancer Awareness month was recognized with special pink-pages sections in the Aroostook Republican and Star-Herald newspapers
• Mike’s Family Market in Limestone held one of several three-minute shopping sprees the grocery store has sponsored in which a lucky winner is granted three minutes to grab whatever they can from the shelves at no charge.
• Griffeth Ford presented the Caribou Athletic Boosters with a check for $2,940 from Ford’s Drive One 4 UR School fundraising program. Griffeth Ford had held an event earlier where Ford donated $20 for every vehicle that was test-driven.
• Gas Natural Inc. of Ohio closed its acquisition of a leasehold interest in the 189-mile pipeline corridor easement running from Searsport to Limestone known as the Loring Pipeline. The pipeline is owned by Loring Development Authority. Gas Natural intends to convert the former jet fuel line into a natural gas line.
• Gifts Galore, a candle and handmade gift shop, opened on Bennett Drive in Caribou.
• Caribou’s Halfway Home Pet Rescue found a new home in the Belanger Diesel building on South Main St. Use of space in the building was donated by building owners John and Chi-Chi Belanger.
• Margaret Kimball was honored in a Business and Professional Women’s ceremony as “Woman of the Year.”
• The Caribou Public Library celebrated “Food Day” in which the children from the library’s Story Time group listened to a story about nutrition then were treated to a free piece of fruit from Paradis Shop’n Save in Caribou.
• The County Federal Credit Union moved into the top 10 of the Maine Credit Union League’s mid-year ranking.
November
• Fanciful Impressions photography studio opened on Bennett Drive in Caribou.
• The Northern Maine Development Commission hired Robyn Bonville as an accountant and promoted operations assistant Stacy Moir to Business Finance Department loan officer II. NMDC also lowered its business loan rate from 7 to 5 percent and hired Natalie St. Pierre as a part-time business outreach coordinator for the Disability Employment Initiative program.
• Property and casualty insurance company MMG donated $10,000 to the Cary Medical Center Women’s Imaging Center project. MMG was one of several local businesses to donate to the $800,000 project.
• S.W. Collins employees Cindy Dufour and Barb Michaud won awards in the Maine Chapter of the National Kitchen and Bath Association design contest.
December
• The TD Charitable Foundation, funded by TD Bank, donated $10,000 to the Aroostook County Action Program as part of the bank’s commitment to giving back to the community.
• The Maine Office of Tourism met with a group of representatives from The County to discuss what is being done to boost northern Maine’s tourism efforts.
• Griffeth Ford donated $500 to Catholic Charities of Maine after their Go Further with Ford night held at the Caribou and Presque Isle locations.
• Dead River Company’s Share the Warmth effort yielded 5,000 pounds of food and $10,000 for Catholic Charities to distribute to local families in need.
