U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a member of the Committee, are holding field hearings today in Portland, Maine, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire to hear from Maine small business owners and experts on ways the Federal government can help entrepreneurs weather the economic recession. Snowe will also take part in a small business forum tomorrow in Bangor. Small Business Administration (SBA) chief Karen Mills of Brunswick will be appearing at all three events.
“As Ranking Member and former Chair of the Small Business Committee, I am holding these events to both assess the impact of the small business provisions we spearheaded in the stimulus package Congress passed in February and to determine what additional tools small businesses require to put Mainers and Americans back to work,” said Senator Snowe. “Given that we have lost nearly 20,000 jobs in Maine and over 23,000 jobs in New Hampshire over the last year as a result of the deepest recession since World War II, we can have no higher priority. It is absolutely vital that we examine the impact of our actions where it counts the most, the states and communities in which we live, and these two days provide us with an honest, on-the-ground assessment of how small businesses are weathering the storm, and what more we can do on the Federal level to ensure businesses survive.”
Below is a listing of participants for each event:
Portland, Maine
• The Honorable Karen Mills; Administrator, United States Small Business Administration
• Mr. Richard Pfeffer, Co-Owner, Gritty McDuff’s
• Mr. James Donnelly, Senior Regional Vice President, Machias Savings Bank
• Mr. David R. Clough, State Director, National Federation of Independent Business
• Mr. Ronald Price, Ingraham Equipment
• Ms. Patricia Rice; Director, Maine Procurement Technical Assistance Centers
Portsmouth, N.H.
• The Honorable Karen Mills; Administrator, United States Small Business Administration
• Ms. Adria Bagshaw on behalf of Aaron Bagshaw, President, W.H. Bagshaw, Inc.
• Ms. Julie Gustafson, President and CEO, Amoskeag Business Incubator
• Mr. Scott Logan, Owner, Blue Mermaid Island Grill
• Mr. Joseph Reilly, President and CEO, Centrix Bank
• Ms. Dawn Wivel, Director, N.H. Office of International Commerce
Bangor, Maine
• The Honorable Karen Mills, Administrator, United States Small Business Administration
• Dr. William Beardsley, President, Husson University
• Mr. Mike Aube, President & CEO, Eastern Maine Development Corporation
• Mr. David R. Clough, State Director, National Federation of Independent Business
• Mr. Peter Gore, Vice President of Government Affairs, Maine Chamber of Commerce
• Mr. Jerry Jarrell, Vice President of Commercial Lending, Machias Savings Bank
• Ms. Patricia Rice, Director, Maine Procurement Technical Assistance Centers
• Ms. Laurie Lachance, President and CEO, Maine Development Foundation
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