Gorham schools, businesses named best places to work

The Maine State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management, Best Companies Group and Bridge Tower Media have listed the Gorham School Department, Moody’s Collision Center, and R.J. Grondin & Sons have been listed as among the 2025 Best Places to Work in Maine, a press release said.

Gorham School Department is named in the large employer category with at least 250 workers, as is Moody’s, headquartered in Gorham.

The Gorham construction firm Grondin & Sons was listed as one of the best places to work in the medium category for businesses with between 50 and 249 employees.

Rankings will be announced on Oct. 7 at an awards celebration.

According to the news release, Best Places to Work in Maine identifies, recognizes and honors the best places of employment in Maine in three categories: small employer companies (15-49 U.S. employees), medium (50-249) and large (250 or more).

To be considered, companies must be a publicly or privately held business; be a for-profit, not-for-profit business or government entity; have a facility in the state of Maine; have at least 15 full-time or part-time employees working in Maine; and be in business a minimum of one year.

Best Companies Group managed the overall registration and survey process and also analyzed the data and used its expertise to determine the final rankings.

There were two parts used to determine the rankings. The first consisted of evaluating each nominated company’s workplace policies, practices and demographics, worth approximately 25% of the total evaluation. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience, which consisted of 75% of the total. The combined scores determined the top companies and the final rankings.

Local teacher, author to speak at library

Nick Fuller Googins will be at Baxter Memorial Library, 71 South St., at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 27. Googins, an elementary school teacher in Maine, has written novels, “The Great Transition” and “The Frequency of Living Things,” in addition to published short fiction and essays.

For more information, call the library at 222-1190.

A historical note

The area incorporated as the town of Gorham in 1764 earlier had been called Narragansett No. 7. The General Court of Massachusetts granted it to 120 soldiers, or their heirs, who fought in the 1670s against Native Americans in what was known as King Philip’s War in southern New England.

The first settler, John Phinney, arrived in the wilderness that became Gorham in 1736.

50 years ago

The American Journal reported on Aug. 13, 1975, that longtime State Street residents James Moody and his wife had purchased the Clarence Carll home on Hillview Road and have moved there.