AP / Russ Dillingham

mCaddie has several options to help golfers

In Lewiston, Maine, Kurtis Petersons, left, and James Daniels display the mCaddie prototype with which they won the statewide business plan competition sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern Maine School of Business. Petersons, 25, a 2001 Poland Regional High School graduate, and Daniels, a 22-year-old University of Maine math major who has background in user interface design and Web-based applications, invented the device, which tracks a golfer’s score, computes the handicap, shows a satellite image of the next hole and suggests what club to use. It also acts as a mini-clubhouse in which golfers can book tee times, chat with other duffers and check out their buddies’ scores. The database includes thousands of golf courses nationwide, including 120 in Maine. The two entrepreneurs won the competition’s grand prize of $10,000 cash and $15,000 to pay for consulting services for the business they formed. They also won $12,500 in seed money from the nonprofit Maine Technology Institute. The business partners are working to get mCaddie, which is still in the testing phase, added to Apple’s menu of applications for the iPhone. They are also working to get mCaddie developed for Android, Google’s operating system, and plan to develop it for Windows mobile and BlackBerry so it can be used on other wireless devices.

Conn. credit union liquidated

A federal agency has liquidated the New London, Conn., Security Federal Credit Union, saying it is insolvent and has no prospects for reviving operations. The National Credit Union Administration, which charters and supervises federal credit unions, took the action Monday. The credit union was chartered in 1936 and served 365 people as of Monday. It had reported $12.7 million in assets. The NCUA will issue checks to members to cover losses up to $100,000 per account. The Day of New London reports that the credit union was a faith-based organization with less than $200,000 in loans outstanding. Edwin F. Rachleff, the 82-year-old broker who handled investments for the credit union, committed suicide hours after federal regulators closed it.

Wind-power project OK’d by Maine voters

Members of the Fox Islands Electric Cooperative from the islands of Vinalhaven and North Haven, Maine, 10 miles off the coast in Penobscot Bay, have voted 382 to 5 in favor of siting a wind-power project in their community. The vote included both the seasonal and yearround communities, and gave the nod to a precedent-setting alternative-energy project. It will be the largest wind-power development in the coastal zone of the northeastern United States, and will produce a total output of between 3.5 and 5 megawatts of power. It will also enable the two communities to sell power in the winter when the offshore wind is strongest, and buy power in the summer when energy consumption is the highest, making them virtually “energy-neutral.” As a community project, where power generation is controlled by the residents, it will reduce their cost of buying power by between three and six cents per kilowatt hour, and stabilize the price of electricity.

Millipore awards grant to stem-cell scientist

Billerica, Mass.-based Millipore Corp., a provider of technologies, tools and services for bioscience research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing, has named stem-cell researcher Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia as the first recipient of the Millipore Seed Grant Fellowship, recently established in partnership with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. She will receive $100,000 of the $500,000 Millipore grant to HSCI announced last September and is eligible for continued funding next year. The money will be used to support her research in the area of embryonic stem-cell differentiation. Geoffrey Crouse, vice president of the life science business unit of Millipore, said, “This type of research could lead to breakthrough therapies for a whole host of medical conditions. Millipore is committed to advancing life science research. We believe stem cells are critical to improving drug safety and ultimately addressing major human health issues.”

Change of leadership at Cannondale

Bethel, Conn.-based Cannondale, a global designer, developer and manufacturer of high performance bicycles, apparel and accessories, has announced that Matt Mannelly, president and CEO, will be leaving in September. The move is in line with the strategy developed when Dorel Industries purchased Cannondale in February. After the acquisition, Jeff Frehner, formerly president and CEO of Pacific Cycle, was appointed president and CEO of the Cannondale Sports Group, a new Dorel division. Frehner will assume all direct leadership responsibilities for the company.

Loan will help restart mill in Old Town Maine

An investment company has agreed to provide a $13.6-million loan to Red Shield Environmental and RSE Pulp & Chemical to pay off debt and restart the mill in Old Town Maine. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing on the financing agreement proposed by Woodside Capital Partners of Massachusetts is scheduled for next week, said Red Shield lawyer Robert Keach. If approved, the loan would restart operations and bring back the work force, he said. Red Shield and RSE laid off 160 workers and filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month. Company officials blamed spikes in material and fuel costs. Red Shield’s business plan called for reactivating the defunct Georgia-Pacific mill’s 16-megawatt biomass boiler, which burns a mix of green wood and construction and demolition debris, to produce power for the mill and for the power grid. Its tenant, RSE Pulp, brought the 200,000-ton hardwood pulp mill back to full production, according to company officials. Before filing for bankruptcy, RSE Pulp was converting its operation to manufacture dissolving pulp, which is sold as rayon and is used in clothing.

Vt. expected to receive less revenue

The recent increase in fuel prices is expected to drain $800 million from Vermont’s economy this year, hurting the state’s finances just as it has those of many individuals. That was the word Tuesday from the economists who provide periodic economic forecasts to the budget writers from Gov. Jim Douglas’ administration and the legislature. The state’s general fund is expected to receive $17 million less than it was projected to in April — and that was already a reduction from the January forecast. The transportation fund forecast is down about $8 million and the education fund is down about $5.1 million. Douglas said he hopes state government can move quickly to make cuts on the spending side to meet the reduced revenue expectations.