2021 Directory

For Your Business
Employee Retention Credit
The Employee Retention Credit is a refundable payroll tax credit available to employers paying wages to employees who have suffered economic hardship related to COVID-19. The CARES Act allowed for a credit equal to 50% of up to $10,000 in qualified wages per quarter paid to an employee between March 13, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020. The credit is not available for federal, state, and local governments and their agencies or any business that received a Small Business Interruption Loan under the Paycheck Protection Program. In Dec. 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Relief Bill, which increased the credit to 70% of up to $10,000 in qualified wages in any quarter, extended the credit through July 1, 2021, and clarified that the credit is available to businesses who participated in the Paycheck Protection Program.

Garrett Mason is a Maine native with roots that go back generations. Born in Lewiston, Maine, he was raised in Lisbon Falls, where both sides of his family have lived for over 200 years. He is a 2006 graduate of Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Marketing.

Through the pandemic, our membership remained strong and grew with the support from you, our members!

I am honored to be your chair and look forward to the opportunity to meet, listen, and know you better. We are here to serve you, guide you through any challenges you may have, and listen to suggestions and solutions on improving as an industry. When we all lean in, we create an environment that supports everyone.

We just survived a year like no other.
We talk about normalcy; do we even know what that is anymore? 2020 was like no other. Our focus was on daily reports of the pandemic, how many cases, how many were hospitalized, and sadly, how many deaths. We saw businesses, schools, and borders closed, and waited for them to reopen. We learned about phases, N95 masks and Zoom. We saw grocery store shelves empty and “out of stock” too many times when shopping online.