Maine-based developers of smartphone applications swap ideas as part of a networking group. (Is there an app for that?)

While most retailers expect 2010 holiday sales to top last year’s dismal numbers, the majority of Maine residents, like the majority of Americans, say they will not increase their holiday spending this season, a new poll suggests.

In a survey of 600 Maine residents this month by Critical Insights, 48 percent of respondents said they expect to spend less on holiday gifts this year and 49 percent said expect to spend the same amount. Only 3 percent said they expect to spend more.

“Holiday spending is one area where we can cut back,” said Christina Baker, 71, a retired University of Maine professor from Bass Harbor. “We have 11 grandchildren, but we have to be careful in our choices.”

A Maine company that makes herbal supplements has received a $24,000 loan from Whole Foods Market, part of a $10 million fund the national retailer has set aside for small-business loans nationwide.

It’s the first loan the company has made in Maine.

The loan program reflects a national trend by major retailers to stock shelves with products made in the same region where they are sold.

The Yarmouth mapping company ‘moved society forward in 2010.’