Thursday, December 03, 2009
11:07 AM
The Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) was recognized as a regional winner at The Bond Buyer’s 2009 Deal of the Year Awards ceremony held December 1 in New York City.
FAME was selected as a Northeast regional finalist through a competitive process as part of the newspaper’s eighth annual Deal of the Year Award. All regional finalists were considered for the publication’s overall Deal of the Year Award, as well, which FAME did not win.
The awards recognize some of the nation’s most innovative municipal bond issuers. The 2009 awards considered deals that closed between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009. Over sixty nominations were submitted. Two finalists were selected from each region covered by the paper: a large issuer and, in FAME’s case, a small issuer of bonds.
Award entries were evaluated by The Bond Buyer’s editors and bureau chiefs, who considered innovation, efforts by government issuers to accomplish their goals in challenging times, the ability for a deal to serve as a model for other financing, and the public purpose for which a transaction’s proceeds were used.
FAME was recognized for its role issuing $14,495,000 in taxable waste motor-oil revenue bonds to help finance important environmental clean-up at a variety of Maine waste-oil disposal sites. The Maine Legislature imposed premiums on certain motor vehicle oil transactions to fund the costs of bond payments.
From approximately 1969 to 1980, a waste oil recycling business improperly disposed of oil at various Maine sites, contaminating soil and groundwater. The federal and state governments have negotiated response cost recovery and liability settlements with a number of parties. The bonds will be used to pay a portion of the remediation costs.
“FAME’s financing through the waste oil clean-up program helped our company meet its obligations under the law and the unexpected costs that resulted from waste oil disposal,” stated John B. Darling, Chairman of the Board of Darling’s automotive group in Brewer. “The recent issuance of bonds will help clean the environment and assist Maine businesses in paying the costs of remediation.”
“We are honored to accept this award on behalf of the State of Maine,” stated Beth Bordowitz, FAME’s Chief Executive Officer. “FAME was pleased to collaborate with many statewide partners to address environmental damage and financially assist numerous, well-intentioned Maine towns, school districts, and businesses left responsible for the clean-up. The award recognizes innovative bond financing in challenging economic times, and we are pleased to have played a role in that.”
The Bond Buyer is SourceMedia’s 118-year-old daily newspaper covering the municipal finance industry. For more information on the paper, please visit www.bondbuyer.com