Alcohol sellers and servers from seven businesses in Lincoln County received training on Thursday, May 24 at the Tugboat Restaurant in Boothbay Harbor. Healthy Lincoln County facilitates the trainings in partnership with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office every year in preparation for the busy season. Sgt. Mark Bridgham delivered the training to 13 clerks from stores, restaurants, and bars.

There will be another training offered on June 12 at the Central Lincoln County YMCA. Advanced registration through Healthy Lincoln County is required. There is a $15 registration fee.

Business owners have been able to utilize this training to equip their staff with valuable information that can reduce underage drinking, liquor law violations, accidents and injuries caused by alcohol consumption and the establishment’s insurance rates.

“We know there is value in training restaurant and store staff on these laws and regulations because we have seen an improvement in the numbers who are following the laws,” says Kate Marone, director of Healthy Lincoln County.

Lincoln County has approximately 146 liquor-licensed businesses. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office conducts compliance checks with those businesses to make sure they are following Maine’s liquor laws, and so far in 2018, about 93 percent have passed those checks, compared to about 63 percent in 2016.

Healthy Lincoln County is available as a resource to business owners and community members interested in learning more about the risks of alcohol consumption and detecting alcohol impairment in the workplace. Additional Seller-Server Trainings can be held upon request. Please contact Kate Marone for more information: kmarone@healthylincolncounty.org or call 563-1330.