Member Weekly Update - March 14, 2025

Welcome to this week’s update from the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast! 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:

GENERAL NEWS & EVENTS

✔ URGENT: Register Now for Northeast Professional Logger Spring Safety Training!
✔ PLC 2025 Awards – Nominations Needed!
✔ PLC 30th Anniversary Annual Meeting – Register and Reserve rooms now!
✔ Logger’s Voice Winter Edition

MAINE NEWS & EVENTS

✔ Maine Paid Family & Medical Leave Updates
✔ Maine News Clips

VERMONT NEWS & EVENTS

✔ Vermont News Clips

SAFETY & EDUCATION

✔ FREE CDL Training May 27-29
✔ MDOL Safety Classes
✔ Small First Aid Pack
✔ Crew First Aid Pack
✔ Northeast Safe Logger

MEMBER BENEFITS

✔ Haix Weartest
✔ Cost Calculators
✔ PLC Store
✔ Member Discounts

Sessions marked below are beginning to fill up! Register immediately to get the location you want!

If you prefer to register on paper, click the button below to download a registration form! If you have questions, please email office@plcloggers.org or call (207) 688-8195!

PLC 2025 Awards – Nominations Needed!

Do you know a person or business involved in the logging industry who ought to be recognized for service to the community, outstanding professionalism or service to the industry? If you do, please NOMINATE THEM for one of the PLC’s annual awards.

🏆PLC Community Service Award – This PLC Community Service Award is given annually to a PLC member, Supporting Member or affiliated organization that has demonstrated a significant commitment to giving back to their community.

🏆PLC Logging Contractor of the Year Award – The PLC Logging Contractor of the Year award recognizes a PLC Logging Contractor for their commitment to the sustainability of the industry and logging as a profession. We will select 1 award for Maine and 1 award from Vermont.

🏆PLC Supporting Member of the Year Award – The PLC Supporting Member of the Year Award is presented annually to a PLC Supporting Member who has demonstrated an unprecedented commitment to logging contractors in the Northeast.

Nominations should be received no later than April 4, 2025

Awards will be presented at the PLC Annual Meeting on May 9 at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, ME

A list of previous winners is available HERE

Nominate Here

PLC 30th Anniversary Annual Meeting May 8-9 – Register and Book Rooms Now!

Event Highlights:
Dates: Thursday, May 8 and Friday, May 9
📍Location: The Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine
🪵Thursday North Haven Island Outing: Shuckin’ Fun: Timber, Tides, and Ferry Rides
🪵Friday Morning: PLC Membership Meeting
🪵Friday Afternoon: Dan Burns Live Chainsaw Carving & Beer Tent
🪵Friday Night: Log A Load Auction with Maine Cabin Masters cast

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! Join us for the PLC’s biggest event of the year! Register and book rooms through the links below! See you there!

PLC discount rate Samoset only May 8-9 starting at $179 while rooms last! **If you only plan to stay 1 night, be sure to adjust the dates accordingly***

If you need a place to stay on May 7 we have a room block at the Hampton by Hilton of Rockland. Reserve by calling the hotel directly at 207-594-6644 and referencing PLC Member block. or use the direct booking link provided below. Accommodations will be available until midnight on April 21, 2025.

Learn more about the event

Booking link for Hampton May 7 Only

Reserve Samoset Rooms May 8-9 Here

The Logger’s Voice Winter 2025

Read The Logger’s Voice

Maine News

Paid Family & Medical Leave Program updates FAQ on Private Plans

The Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program has updated their frequently asked questions (FAQ) document clarifying questions regarding private plans. Please see questions 35, 45, 46, 47 and 48 for additional information.

The FAQ can be found under the Department’s webpage on paid family and medical leave under the frequently asked questions tab.

Twelve Insurance Policies Certified for PFML Private Plan Substitutions

AUGUSTA – The Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program has announced the certification of 12 PFML-approved insurance policies that can be used by employers in applying for fully insured-private plan substitutions.

Under the PFML law, an employer may apply to obtain a substitution that demonstrates a paid family and medical leave insurance policy offers the rights, protections and benefits that are substantially equivalent to those provided to employees under the law. The Maine Department of Labor (DOL) adopted minimum criteria through the rulemaking process to determine plans that are substantially equivalent to the PFML law. To read more, click the link below.

Read the full announcement

Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Private Plan Substitution Process Presentation Available

A recording and the PowerPoint presentation of the webinar regarding the private plan substitution process has been posted to Department’s webpage. The materials can be found under both the educational webinars tab and under the employer resources tab. View the presentation by clicking the button below.

Visit the webpage

A reminder for employers,
If you haven’t already, you must register on the Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Portal.

It is the online system for employers to file quarterly wage reports and remit quarterly premium contributions. If you use a payroll company, they can request access to your account and file for you after you register. The portal also allows self-employed individuals and tribal governments to elect coverage.

Any employer with at least one Maine-based employee must have begun payroll withholdings January 1, 2025:

Employers with 15 or more employees contribute 1 percent of wages and may deduct up to half of the contribution from the employees’ wages.
Employers with less than 15 employees contribute 0.5 percent of wages and may deduct the entire amount from the employees’ wages.

Employers will begin their first quarterly wage reporting and premium payments April 1, 2025. They are due by April 30, 2025.

If you have questions, call the PFML call center at (207) 621-5024 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

*PFML staff are calling unregistered employers to remind them of the registration requirement and offer assistance – the calls will come from the above call center number, and no personal information will be asked for.

Access Portal Here

Maine News Clips

📌 ALC: The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe
📌 Crunch time for Western Maine loggers – Sun Journal
📌 March 12, 2025 – Licensed Foresters
📌 Maine Department of Labor Launches Work Source Maine Virtual CareerCenter
📌 N.B. forestry towns on edge as U.S. tariffs, duties pile up – CBC
📌Bridge Closure in Wilton

Vermont News

Vermont News Clips

📌 ALC: The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe
📌 GMALL Presents – How Climate Change is Affecting Vermont’s Maple Syrup Industry
📌 Strengthening Vermont’s logging & forestry community
📌 Farm Credit East Contributes $50,000 to Burlington Food Pantry
📌 Vermont’s Wood Warms Program Helps Families Stay Warm This Winter

Safety & Educational Resources

PLC FREE and easy CDL Training May 27-29th!

On May 27-29, the PLC will offer Members its 4th FREE CDL training class for their employees. Save the date and watch your email for full details soon!

Upcoming Classes.

Wage & Hour Compliance –
March 19, 2025 l 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. University of New England, Biddeford, 11 Hills Beach Road, Marcil Hall, Room 124, Biddeford
This course is designed for human resource or benefits professionals, accountants, business owners, managers, or payroll supervisors. Labor laws can be complex. This seminar covers wage and hour laws, including minimum wage, overtime, youth employment, severance pay, equal pay, rest breaks, leave requirements (earned paid leave, family medical leave, family sick leave and leave for victims of violence). This class addresses commonly asked labor-related questions.

Trenching & Excavation –
March 21, 2025 l 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. SafetyWorks! Training Institute, 45 Commerce Drive, Augusta
This course explains the dangers to employees from trenching and excavation operations, soil classifications, OSHA requirements, and the types of protective systems to prevent cave-ins. You will also learn what is meant by “competent person”.

Impairment Detection Training for Employers –
March 27, 2025 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 in order 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.

Register and browse more SafetyWorks! classes: https://www.safetyworksmaine.gov/training/scheduled_classes/register.shtml

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 https://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.