Eastern Tire and Auto Service, an independent tire dealership with locations in Rockland and Rockport, Maine, has donated $10,000 to the MidCoast Regional Housing Trust to support workforce housing development.

The nonprofit organization works to develop year-round housing for working residents in Maine's Knox County, where an estimated 1,200-plus additional housing units will be needed by 2030.

For Eastern Tire, the donation addresses a challenge facing the dealership and other local employers: attracting and retaining qualified workers in an area with limited affordable housing.

"The people who keep our community running struggle to find affordable year-round housing and this impacts our ability, as well as other local businesses, to find and retain qualified workers," says Alvin Chase, president of Eastern Tire and Auto Service. "Our employee owners wanted to do something about it and are excited to be a sponsor of this project."

Eastern Tire has served Maine's Midcoast region since 1946 and operates as an employee-owned company through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

The dealership doubled its service capacity in 2023 with the acquisition of Herricks Garage in Rockport. Employees of the acquired business also joined Eastern Tire's ESOP.

More information about the MidCoast Regional Housing Trust and its workforce housing initiatives is available at www.mcrht.org.