Portland company that turns restaurant grease into fuel has opened its first gas pump for vehicles. Maine Biofuel is able to produce about 3,000 gallons of biodiesel a day, according to founder and CEO Jarmin Kaltsas, and can make 1 million gallons of fuel a year. The pump’s located at 51 Ingersoll Drive, off Riverside Street in Portland, and is open between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Payment must be in cash for now, but credit cards will be accepted soon.

Kaltsas calls his company a “recycling plant,” because the biofuel is made from recycled vegetable oil, rather than food crops that have been converted into fuel. The waste grease is collected from local restaurants.

Governor John Baldacci helped unveil a 43,000 square foot Maine Studios filmmaking warehouse on Presumpscot Street that was unveiled to a packed house this week. John Seymore, Chief Operating Officer of Wasted Minds Media Group, worked with the Nappi family to obtain a lease for the space.

The studio space will be available for lease by anyone in the film and media industry for everything from commercial shoots to feature films. At least one of the teams that participated in the recent 48 Hour Film Project shot some of their work here.

The University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension reports that its effort to develop a Regional Learning Center at Tidewater Farm in Falmouth has raised $675,000 of its $1.9 million capital campaign goal.  The Learning Center will be an educational hub for teaching Maine Youth and adults in York and Cumberland counties about sustainable living by promoting local agriculture; ecological home horticulture; land and water conservation and innovative home-based businesses in the region.  Anyone interested in the program should contact Associate Director, Doug Babkirk at 207-712-1414

Local film producer, Andy Davis, has announced that Abandoned Cinema has completed principle production on the company’s first film “Adelle.” They also posted a teaser trailer for the film, which can be seen by going to: http://www.abandonedcinema.com/trailers.htm
“We’re very excited for the debut of our first film, Adelle is a sort of marriage between art and horror.” Said Co-Founder Sandy McKeon.

“Adelle.” tells the tale of a young deaf girl who is left in the middle of nowhere by her parents in the 1930’s. Adelle is forced to try and survive based on her very limited life skills. Along the way, her voyage turns into a very dark, horrifying trip.

The Boulos Company secured the Buyer,  L.E. Springer, Inc. and represented the Seller, GRE Congress Canal, LLC , in a transaction that included The Maine Bank & Trust building at 465 Congress Street and the Public Market Garage at 315 Cumberland Avenue, in Portland..  L.E Springer, Inc. is   wholly owned by Lawrence E. Springer of Bangor, ME and has long history of real estate ownership in Maine.

The 465 Congress Street  ten-story office building is an historic landmark featuring unique marble architectural details and a stunning first-floor banking lobby. Current tenants in the 67,567± square-foot building include; Maine Bank & Trust, MaineHealth and MaineHealth Associates, Applied Materials, Compass Health Analytics, Cloutier Barret Cloutier & Conley, Richardson Whitman Large and Badger, and Legg Mason Wood & Walker.

The Public Market Garage at 315 Cumberland Avenue is connected by skybridge to the former Portland Public Market, which is currently being renovated into offices for its new owner, PowerPay, LLC.

While using less power than a blow dryer, Portland artist and illustrator C. Michael Lewis propelled his carbon fiber ‘ERacer’ Electrathon car to a new national speed record of 62.2 miles in one hour on a pair of standard car batteries.

The venue was the Extreme Efficiency Trials at the Michigan Proving Grounds of Ford Motor Company, a 5-mile, smooth-as-silk test track built to test automotive engineering designs under the most ideal of conditions. The track was made available by Ford to select groups of the public as part of the 100-year anniversary celebration of their company’s history.

Just ask the Boulos Company.
The Maine Department of Labor has expanded into a 1,171± sf office suite at 175 Lancaster Street at the Bayside Complex, Portland,

• The State of Maine Department of Corrections has leased a 4,877± sf office building at 107 Washington Avenue in Portland.
• Rick Vance of Vance’s Driving School has leased 1,500± sf of office space at 991 Forest Avenue, Portland, from Income Property Management. T
• WMTW has renewed their lease for 11,703± sf of office space in the Time and Temperature Building at 477 Congress Street in Portland.
  American Housing Preservation has leased 8,425± sf of office space at 245 Commercial Street in Portland.
  The Blazin’ Ace, LLC has leased 1,500± sf of retail space at 432 Fore Street in Portland.
• Freihofer Sales Company, Inc has leased 3,012± sf of retail/showroom space at 1037 Forest Avenue in Portland.
• Safety and Health Council of Northern New England has leased 1,300± sf of office space at 15 Pleasant Hill Road, Suite 102, Scarborough.
• Goodwill Industries of Northern New England has leased 1,431± sf of office space at 407 Alfred Street, Suites 102-103, Biddeford.
• Little Wing, LLC has purchased 332 New Portland Road (to be renamed 17 Little Wing Drive) in Gorham.  This property consists of a 10,637± SF mixed-use building with warehouse, flex space and office available. The buildings sit on a 1.95± acre lot located just outside of the Gorham Industrial Park and minutes from downtown Gorham and Westbrook.
• Carroll Associates Landscape Architects has leased 1,120± sf of office space at 217 Commercial  Street in Portland.
• Bank of America, N.A. has renewed their lease for 3,600± sf of office space at 251 Woodford Street in Portland.
  Davidson/Bisson, LLC and JSD & Son, Inc. have purchased 55,170± sf of office space at 238 Riverside Street, Portland.
• Maine State Music Theatre has leased 6,445± sf of office and warehouse space at the Fort Andross Mill Complex located at 14 Maine Street, Brunswick.

Eliza MacLoed, 6, and Emily Patashnik, age 7, decided they wanted to have a talent show to raise money for kids with cancer.  On Saturday, June 14, oblivious to what adults may have thought would be an impossible task in our so-called “recession,” they organized and presented a one-hour talent show to 40 neighbors, family and friends.  The result? $236 raised for the Maine Medical Center’s Children’s  Cancer Program!

Once again, Prime Motor Group has broken all the records with its “just-in” sales recap for May! Owner Ira Rosenberg reports that his Prime stores sold 680 vehicles during May! 680 during a time when all we hear is bad news about the auto industry. And his Ford store was right up there with strong, strong sales. Recession? Apparently not when it’s Prime Time!

Goodwill Industries of Northern New England announced today that is has received an initial grant of $686,864 of a $1.1 Million three award from the Department of Labor (DOL) to manage the YouthBuild program in Lewiston, Maine.  Goodwill will recruit 70 at-risk, low-income youth ages 18-24 in the Lewiston-Auburn area to participate in the two-year program.

YouthBuild is a national program that assists out-of-school youth in obtaining their diplomas or GEDs while providing occupational training in the construction industry.  In addition to leadership training, the youth also participate in community service by renovating affordable housing in their communities.