Members of Maine’s real estate industry are scrambling to comply with licensing requirements that take effect Friday, when home “loan originators” will need state licenses.

Originators are the people who make money from taking loan applications, including loan brokers and some staffers for real estate and manufactured-housing companies.

Maine’s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection has received 1,550 license applications. There are 18,000 loan officers registered under the state’s current system, said Julie Stolt, spokeswoman for the bureau.

Cuddledown’s owner bought the company after starting his career on Wall Street.

Cuddledown takes flight by focusing on the high end of bedding.

PORTLAND — Hundreds of job seekers mingled with hiring representatives from dozens of companies Tuesday at a job fair at the Italian Heritage Center.

Inside the convention room, people with work experience in a variety of fields chatted and exchanged business cards with staffers from 45 companies.

Among the employers with booths were insurance companies such as Liberty Mutual, New York Life, AAA and Combined Insurance.