Welcome to the Brunswick Landing Neighborhood News

a publication of the BBRC

February 21, 2024

Dear Subscribers,

If you receive the BBRC newsletter on Fridays, then some of this edition's content will be redundant but we feel it's important to pass along information that affects almost all small businesses. You'll find information on the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and the Maine Retirement Investment Trust (MERIT) below.

Below you'll find a recap of the 2nd Cook's Corner Area Business meeting hosted by the BDA, an opportunity to raise money for BTLT at Spark Cycling Studio (shameless plug as the other hat I wear is owner of the studio), and links to last week's BBRC newsletter and to the BDA's event calendar.

As always, please submit your Brunswick Landing events and news using this link. Thanks for reading, see you in a couple of weeks!

Brittany Hyde

Marketing Support Specialist, BBRC

Part of our duty is to inform and educate our membership about regulations and policies coming down the pike. Below you'll find a rundown of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and the Maine Retirement Investment Trust (MERIT). CTA affects all small businesses and MERIT affects any business with 5+ employees. With all of the responsibilities sitting on the shoulders of business owners, it's easy to miss policy changes so we're hopeful that this information, and the workshops we organize, help you manage these things.

The Corporate Transparency Act: What You Need to Know

Courtesy of SCORE

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and effective from January 1, 2024, introduces essential changes for U.S. small business owners. This law aims to prevent money laundering and other illicit activities by increasing ownership transparency in LLCs, corporations and similar business entities. Individuals exercising substantial control include senior officers and other important decision-makers regardless of actual ownership.

The CTA mandates small business entities to report "beneficial owner" details to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Beneficial owners are individuals who own at least 25% of or exercise substantial control over the reporting business entity​​.

SCORE has done a fantastic job of laying out all of the information, including who needs to comply and how that is accomplished, on their website.

MERIT: What You Need to Know

Courtesy of MANP

MERIT, the Maine Retirement Investment Trust, was created by the Maine State Legislature to improve access to retirement savings programs. It is a State Sponsored Roth IRA Retirement Program under which all companies with 5+ employees are required to register, regardless of if they already have retirement plans in place.

There are a few key dates that you should know:

• Employers with 15 or more covered employees need to register or enroll in the program by April 30, 2024.
• Employers with 5 to 14 covered employees need to register or enroll in the program by June 30, 2024.
• Penalties for employer non-compliance begin July 2025.

The Maine Association of Non-profits has a great explainer on their website and we ran a workshop on MERIT last week. We are considering running another one but are gaging interest before scheduling. Email Cory or Anthony if it's of interest to you!



Community News + Events

Cook’s Corner Area Business Meeting #2

Hosted by the BDA

Cook's Corner Area Business Meeting #2: Recap

Last Thursday morning at Flight Deck, the BDA hosted a second meeting with Cook's Corner and Brunswick Landing businesses. Business leaders representing MCHPP, the BBRC, the Landing YMCA, Spark Cycling Studio, Wild Oats Bakery and Café, Flight Deck Brewing, Pepper's Landing, Atlantic Pointe, the BNAS Museum, Bar Harbor Bank and Trust, MRRA, BDA staff, board members and volunteers, and staff from the town of Brunswick were all in attendance (among others). A variety of topics were covered including:

• Structure and format of these meetings going forward
• What business owners want/need from the BDA and how it's different on this side of town
• Signage around Brunswick Landing - the lack thereof and challenges to solving
• New design standards set by the town for Cook's Corner
• Bringing awareness of services available on Brunswick Landing, especially to new residents in newly completed apartment complexes, but also to Brunswick and surrounding communities
• Potential events in the future - what do they look like compared to the downtown?

The conversation was lively with a wide variety of voices weighing in. It's certainly recognized that this side of town has different challenges and needs and putting a focus on those things can only be beneficial.

The next meeting is on Thursday, March 14th at 8:00am (location TBD). If you are not on the invitation list but would like to be, send us an email and we'll pass it along.

Spark Cycling Studio's March Benefit Ride

March Benefit Ride

Spark Cycling Studio

Sunday, March 3rd, 9am

New year, new round of Spark Cycling Studio's Benefit Rides!

First up: Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust on Sunday, March 3rd at 9am with Jack.

As always, class is free with a suggested donation of $20 or more via cash/check/Venmo. ALL DONATIONS go straight to BTLT - we crushed the fundraising for them at Flight Deck in 2022 so let’s do it again! Big thanks to our sponsor, Accel Physical Therapy.

Bikes open on Sunday, February 25th on Spark Cycling's website!

Save the Date for the MARC Grand Opening!

Additional Local Information

Looking for events in Downtown Brunswick? Look no further than the Brunswick Downtown Association's list of events.

The Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber is also chock-full of regional information - check out last week's newsletter here!

Stay In the Loop!

Follow the BBRC on Social

Was this email forwarded to you? Would you like a copy sent directly to your inbox? Fill out the form here and we'll add you to the list.