Member Weekly Update - October 18, 2024

Welcome to this week’s update from the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast! As we head into fall, we have important news and events to share that are vital for your business and the logging community. Let’s dive into what’s happening this week:

✔ Logger’s Voice Fall Edition Now Available
✔ You are invited to the 2024 MLOFT Graduation!
✔ MLOFT Students Available for Interviews!
✔ Renew your PLC Membership on paper or online
✔ PLC Launches New Website
✔ John Deere – Right to Repair Events – ME
✔ Paid Family and Medical Leave Webinars
✔ Maine News Clips
✔ VT PLC Steering Committee Meeting and Governor Scott Reception Oct. 24
✔ Diagnostic Equipment Demo – VT (cancelled)
✔ Save the Date, 12/6: VT Legislative Breakfast & Board Meeting
✔ Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program – VT
✔ Vermont Low-Interest Loan Opportunity
✔ Vermont News Clips

✔ Member Alert – Acadia Dividend Announcement
✔ Maine DOL – SafetyWorks! October Classes
✔ Cross Insurance – Loss Control Services – SIG Safety Training
✔ Small First Aid Pack
✔ Crew First Aid Pack
✔ Northeast Safe Logger

✔ Cost Calculators
✔ PLC Store
✔ New Member Discount Available

PLC News and Events

The Logger’s Voice Fall Edition Now Available!

The Fall 2024 edition of The Logger’s Voice is now available! Copies have been mailed out!

Read the Voice

Please RSVP below by Oct. 31^st if you have not already received this invitation from Northern Maine Community College.

RSVP Here

MLOFT Students Available for Interviews!

PLC Members,

Students in this year’s Mechanized Logging Operations and Forest Trucking Program (MLOFT) are now available to meet with contractors to explore possible employment opportunities. If you need employees, we encourage you to reach out to schedule interviews now, as students typically are hired even before they graduate. (This year’s graduation will be on Nov. 7).

You may view information on each student below. If you are interested in meeting a student or students please contact Donald Burr directly at (207) 356-1541 or email safety@plcloggers.org

View Student Bios

Renew Online Here

PLC Launches New Website

Exciting news! We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our redesigned website: www.plcloggers.org

Our revamped platform is all about YOU, featuring:

✔️User-Friendly Navigation: Easily access important information and resources.
✔️Simplified Member Portal: Streamlined registration and renewal processes.
✔️Enhanced Resources: Discover better tools and information to support your needs.

We invite you to explore the new site and see all it has to offer. Your feedback means the world to us, so let us know what you think!

Please contact us if you encounter any issues with the new site!

Check out the new site

RSVP Here by Oct. 18

Paid Family and Medical Leave Webinars

The Maine Department of Labor will be holding a series of webinars this month to help inform employers and workers about the program:

Worker-Focused Webinars

Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave and Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition Webinar

Date & Time: October 22, 2024 | 5:00 PM-6:00 PM
To register for the webinar: https://mainestate.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CstdyilKTzyGf1CAXOFHSg#/registration

Employer-Focused Webinars

Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave and National Federation of Independent Business in Maine (NFIB) Webinar

Date & Time: October 23, 2024 | 12:00 PM-1:00 PM
To register for the webinar: https://mainestate.zoom.us/webinar/register/WNCtN8pXnrRZecww1EZ17JQ#/registration

Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave and Maine State Chamber of Commerce Webinar

Date & Time: October 16, 2024 | 12:00 PM-1:00 PM
To register for the webinar: https://mainestate.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sLJcLzAiSGqBXN7ViUu7AA#/registration

Maine News Clips

📌How much money has been spent subsidizing heat pumps in Maine? – Sun Journal
📌Baldwin, Collins Lead Bipartisan Resolution Recognizing October 12th as ‘National Loggers Day’
📌Northern Forest News Digest: Sept. 26 – Oct. 10, 2024
📌Conservation group offers to buy Kennebec River dams, Maine lawmaker says
📌Rep. Golden introduces bill to make the Maine Forest and Logging Museum a national museum

RSVP Here

-CANCELLED-

Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program

Vermont Members,

The application portal for the Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program (BEGAP) is now open. Businesses and nonprofit organizations, including landlords and farms, with property damaged by the 2023 and/or 2024 floods are encouraged to visit the BEGAP webpage to learn how the program works and what they need to have on hand before beginning the online application process. A pre-recorded webinar walks applicants through the application process and answers some frequently asked questions. The webinar slides are available on the BEGAP webpage.

The Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation (CVEDC) is the statewide technical assistance provider for BEGAP. All applicants seeking assistance in preparing to submit a grant application should submit a BEGAP Support Request Form.

Businesses can also attend walk-in clinics hosted by their local Regional Development Corporation. Clinics will be open from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at Do North Coworking in Lyndonville; on Tuesday, September 17^th at the Mad River Planning District Offices in Waitsfield; and on Wednesday, September 17^th at the Green Mountain Career and Technology Center in Hyde Park.

BEGAP ELIGIBILITY AND IMPORTANT DATES

2024 BEGAP grants are available for properties affected by the 2024 flood(s). Grants will cover 30% of the net uncovered damages up to $100,000. Preference will be given to Vermont-based operations. 10% of funds have been set aside for Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color applicants. Applications are due by November 15, 2024.
2023 BEGAP grants are available for properties affected by the 2023 flood(s) that have not yet already received 2023 BEGAP funding. Grants will cover 30% of the net uncovered damages up to $50,000. 20% of funds have been set aside for Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color applicants. Applications are due by September 30, 2024.
Supplemental 2023 BEGAP grants are available to businesses and nonprofit organizations with 50 or fewer employees that received a 2023 BEGAP grant and have ongoing unmet needs. Initial inquiries can be made using the application form. If the inquiry meets the eligibility requirements, applicants will receive an application via email. Inquiries are due by September 30, 2024.

Non-English speakers needing translation assistance can email ACCD.BizFloodGrant@vermont.gov to be connected with state-contracted translation and interpretation services. For additional questions about the Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program, please email ACCD.BizFloodGrant@vermont.gov.

Visit the FPR Forest Flood Resources page for additional flood recovery information and resources for forest landowners and forest economy businesses.

BEGAP Portal Link

Vermont Low-Interest Loan Opportunity

As a result of legislation that the PLC helped get passed this past legislative session in Vermont, we are pleased to announce that the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) is now offering low-interest financing opportunities for forest products industries in the state, which will benefit our Vermont Member companies and Master Loggers in Vermont.

VEDA, which is Vermont’s economic development finance authority, is now offering loans that will provide a 2% reduction from prime commercial rates for equipment, trucks and other business investments.

The PLC encourages you to click the links below to learn more about this opportunity and other VEDA resources, and/or apply for a loan. You may alsoreach out to VEDA directly with questions. Our contact is Sarah Isham, Director of Agricultural Lending, sisham@veda.org or (802) 828-5463 and tell her the PLC sent you!!

VEDA Loan Options
Forestry Loan Fact Sheet
VEDA Agricultural and Forestry Loan Application

Read the Report

Vermont News Clips

📌 Report finds no viable green alternative to Burlington’s McNeil Generating Plant
📌 Baldwin, Collins Lead Bipartisan Resolution Recognizing October 12th as ‘National Loggers Day’
📌 Northern Forest News Digest: Sept. 26 – Oct. 10, 2024
📌 New grant funding will help protect Vermont forests
📌 At what cost? Utility leaders and environmentalists debate Burlington’s wood-burning plant

Safety & Educational Resources

Acadia Insurance has just announced it will pay $419,241 in premium dividends to eligible policyholder members of the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast (PLC) Safety Group. Since 1999, Acadia has distributed over $14.5 million in premium dividends to eligible participants of this safety group.

This is a monumental total and reflects nine straight years when the loss ratio of our group has been low enough to provide a dividend. This is due to the PLC’s membership, our focus on safety, and our efforts toward risk mitigation. A total team effort and a job well done.

If members have questions on their dividend status, they should contact their insurance agent directly or contact the PLC.

You may read the full Acadia announcement by clicking the link below.

Read the Announcement

Maine DOL – SafetyWorks! October Classes

OSHA Recordkeeping
October 24, 2024 l 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Joseph Ferris Community Center, 318 Wilson Street, Brewer

This class provides thorough and comprehensive six-hour training for both new and experienced safety and human resources personnel. You will learn the OSHA rule (29 CFR 1904) regarding recording and reporting work-related injuries and illnesses as it applies to your organization, including COVID-19 recordability guidance. This class includes several hands-on activities on how to correctly fill out the required injury reporting forms. An additional 30 to 45 minutes will be available for businesses providing healthcare services or healthcare support services who are required by 1910.502(q) to keep a supplemental Covid-19 illness log.

Welding/Compressed Gas
October 28, 2024 l 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. SafetyWorks! Training Institute, 45 Commerce Drive, Augusta

This class covers the requirements of the welding standard, in addition to the storage and proper use of compressed gas. Proper inspection techniques of hoses, torches, and regulators will be demonstrated.

Impairment Detection Training for Employers
October 31, 2024 l 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. SafetyWorks! Training Institute, 45 Commerce Drive, Augusta

This one-day training session is designed to help owners, managers, and supervisors recognize and respond appropriately to employee-impairment in the workplace to reduce worker accidents and injuries. Participants will be taught procedures to detect impairment regardless of the substance or cause. This class is designed to fulfill the federal DOT requirements for reasonable suspicion training of supervisors. In addition, participants will learn how to develop and implement policies that address impairment in the workplace and are in compliance with Maine’s Substance Use Testing Law.

If you have questions about safety or upcoming classes, reach out to SafetyWorks! at 1-877-SAFE-345 or general.bls-safetyworks@maine.gov.

If you have questions about Wage and Hour compliance, please reach out to the Wage and Hour Division at 207-623-7900 or bls.mdol@maine.gov, or visit www.maine.gov/labor/bls/.

New Small PLC Operator/Driver First Aid Pack!

In response to demand for a smaller/”must have in an emergency” first aid pack to be stored in a machine or pickup, the PLC has created a new Operator/Driver First Aid Pack.

Contains “must have in an emergency” bleeding control items
One pack is recommended per machine/truck
Detachable velcro panel ideal for mounting in a machine or truck
Meets OSHA requirements for a logging first aid kit
Supplements PLC’s larger first aid back pack but is not a replacement

More information on the pack and its contents is available HERE.

Purchase

PLC Crew First Aid Backpack

PLC First Aid Pack: In response to widespread interest from members, we have created a PLC First Aid Pack that has everything you need for emergencies in the woods.

This Military Elite Tactical Trauma First Aid Backpack was designed for the PLC by Paul Stewart – EMT Houlton, ME.

Purchase

Now FREE to Maine Loggers! A $300 value!

Member Benefits

PLC Members Only! Equipment Cost Calculators Available

Members,

With expenses rising rapidly in the industry we know you are struggling to get a handle on your costs. This is a great time to utilize the cost calculators created in 2021 for PLC Members.

These new, easy to use, logging equipment and log trucking cost calculators are available on the PLC Members Only section of our web site You may access this private section of the web site with your member login or set up a login HERE.

These calculators allow you to quickly estimate the hourly cost of operation for any piece of your equipment.

DISCLAIMER: These calculators are being made available for your business use as a member benefit. They produce equipment estimates and are not official products of the PLC nor should they be used for negotiation purposes.