Chamber Connections - May 12th
Some Good News...
Governor Mills announced a rural reopening plan aimed at reopening certain additional businesses in rural Maine over the course of the next two weeks with added health and safety measures.
Under the plan, retail stores and restaurants will be permitted to open to in-store and some dine-in service, respectively – with enhanced safety precautions – in counties where community transmission is not present. Lincoln and Waldo Counties are among those listed.

The Administration has partnered with Maine-based IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. to purchase enough of the company’s recently authorized COVID-19 testing kits to more than triple the State’s testing capacity. The breakthrough will soon allow anyone in Maine suspected of having COVID-19 to receive a test.

Restaurants are permitted to open on Monday, May 18 with added health and safety precautions, including physically distancing customers, ensuring employees follow enhanced hygiene and sanitation practices, and controlling customer flow through reservations whenever possible.
Restaurant owners are also being asked to limit staff members to working in the same designated areas for their entire shifts and also limit the sharing of items such as pens, credit cards and receipts. Salad bars should be closed, the Governor said, and laminated menus should be used for easy cleaning. 

Governor Janet Mills is convening an Economic Recovery Committee charged with developing recommendations to mitigate the damage to Maine’s economy caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to jumpstart a long-term economic recovery for Maine people, businesses, and organizations. The thirty-seven member Committee, includes representatives of small businesses, non-profits, financial institutions, unions, municipalities, tribal and immigrant communities, hospitality and tourism industries, and educational institutions as well as a bipartisan delegation of legislative designees.

With thousands of Mainers losing jobs and, often, employer-sponsored health insurance during the recent COVID-19 outbreak, leaders of a program at MaineHealth want people to know that assistance is available to connect them with resources to obtain new coverage and find affordable options for care. The MaineHealth Access to Care Team specializes in assisting patients in getting the coverage and care they need. With more than 100,000 Mainers out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, program leaders say they remain ready to support those whose health care coverage has been impacted.

Read the new guidlines
Businesses Open
With the current situation constantly evolving we are gathering information on which businesses are still open in the region and what services they are offering.

Share your information to change or be added to the list .
Closed for the Summer? Boothbay Register needs to know.
Farm 23 raffle supports small businesses
Laura and Josh Puchalski at the Boothbay Harbor bakery Farm 23 are holding a raffle this month to benefit their fellow business owners in the region.

Laura baked up the idea for a raffle after hearing Gov. Janet Mills’ four-phase plan to reopen the state’s economy, and after hearing how many small businesses were following Mills’ plan by not opening, or closing if a year round business, or altering their operations, as is the case of restaurants serving curbside.

“Small businesses following the plan were finding out that the help that was promised to them in the form of loans or unemployment wasn't there, they were denied, or couldn't get into the system at all, or that curbside pickup wasn't enough to sustain them,” she said. “I was trying to find a way to get money into the hands of local business owners right now, and I started thinking about gift cards.”
Although the public was being encouraged to buy gift cards to help these businesses, Laura thought the idea needed an element of fun and excitement – like a prize!

“So I combined those ideas into the raffle to encourage people to seek out business owners, buy gift cards, drop them here at Farm 23 (or mail them) and for every $5 in gift cards they bring in, they get one entry to win the whole pot on May 31,” she explained. Customers can also email Farm 23 at  info@farm23bbh.com
AOS98 Open Positions
The following positions have been posted for next school year.
If you are interested, please reach out to the respective building principal.

Thank you for your interest in employment at AOS98 schools. You will be awed by our great team of professionals who are focused on providing the best education possible for our learners. If you think you have what it takes to join our team, we would like you to consider ‘coming aboard’.

View all open positions here .
Your Virtual Library - Introducing Hoopla and CloudLibrary
Even though BHML has been closed to the public for nearly two months, the library staff has been busy working behind closed doors (safely distanced, of course!) to keep services running.

Elementary school children who don’t have library cards were mailed library card applications and a self-addressed, stamped envelope in which to return them; kids with expired cards were invited to upgrade to our shiny, new 14-digit barcode cards (complete with a keychain hook, making them the 2020 backpack charm); and kids with active, new cards got a personal hello letter with a cool bookmark.

High-schoolers had it even easier — they each got an active library card mailed home!
The letters introduced Hoopla and CloudLibrary, our two eBook services, so that kids could begin reading right away. The letters also included an invitation to submit original work to BHML’s Poetry Now project, and a fun poem for inspiration. For more information visit us online .
Red Cloak Tours introduces ‘TeleTours’
Red Cloak Tours is offering a new product that will allow small groups or families in Boothbay Harbor, Wiscasset, and other Maine locations to enjoy a personalized, guided outdoor adventure while learning about history and/or mystery, all while staying within COVID-19 distance and safety guidelines.

The new 30-40 minute TeleTours will be walking tours done by telephone on speaker as a Red Cloak guide narrates the folklore, history and sometimes ghostly tales of each area. The TeleTours will be available seven days a week beginning May 15.

For reservations and more information on Red Cloak Tours, telephone 207-380-9912, email  redcloaktours@gmail.com , or visit www.RedCloakTours.com

For up-to date news - visit our Chamber COVID 19 page