STARC Systems, a Brunswick company that makes sound-deadening construction barriers for hospital work environments, secured $3.5 million in investment.Blue Heron Capital, an equity fund based in Richmond, Va., led the investment round in STARC Systems.STARC, which is based in TechPlace in Brunswick Landing, was founded in 2012 by Tim Hebert, chairman of Lewiston-based Hebert Construction.STARC’s […]
STARC Systems, a Brunswick company that makes sound-deadening construction barriers for hospital work environments, secured $3.5 million in investment.
Blue Heron Capital, an equity fund based in Richmond, Va., led the investment round in STARC Systems.
STARC, which is based in TechPlace in Brunswick Landing, was founded in 2012 by Tim Hebert, chairman of Lewiston-based Hebert Construction.
STARC's containment system is a leading containment solution for health care facilities during renovation projects, according to Blue Heron Capital's news release.
“Hospital systems spend $2.5 billion per month on renovation projects,” said Andrew Tichenor, co-founder of Blue Heron. “It is imperative for these systems to remain operational during the construction process. This creates real problems with regard to infection control and dust mitigation. STARC has created a unique containment system that exceeds all infection control requirements, is quiet, clean, fast and reusable. Blue Heron's investment will allow STARC Systems “to rapidly expand across the United States and into several adjacent markets.”
Hebert said STARC came out of a need identified by his family owned construction business, which created a specialty in health care construction.
“Construction companies invest too much time and resources on temporary measures,” Herbert said. “In some cases, we would spend more time on the temporary walls than on the construction project itself. We created a solution that not only protects the work environment but also saves significant labor, time and money and reduces waste.”
Its containment structures have been used in projects at Central Maine Medical Center, St. Mary's Health Systems and Maine Medical Center, according to the company's website.
STARC is also the beneficiary of Maine's Seed Capital Tax Credit Program, an innovative program administered by the Finance Authority of Maine.
MEMIC dividend to top $21 million
MEMIC Group said it will issue a record policyholder dividend in November.
The dividend of $21 million will be delivered to 18,000 Maine employers, who buy workers' comp insurance through Portland-based Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Co. MEMIC's board authorized the dividend on Sept. 29.
“What's especially nice is that this dividend will end up in the private, public and non-profit sectors in all sixteen counties,” said Michael Bourque, who took over as CEO of MEMIC in September.
Since 1998, MEMIC has returned $241 million to policyholders.
The dividend, which is not guaranteed, is contingent on safety results and efficient management of the company, but also investment and bond-market performance.