Paper Trails Acquires Local Economy

Paper Trails, a Maine-based payroll and HR services company, has acquired Local Economy Payroll, a family-run payroll firm in Portland. Clients get payroll support from a local team that knows Maine small businesses, with the added resources of a larger HR and compliance practice. Local Economy Payroll was founded by Tom Gangewer and Jim Belanger, who brought more than 50 years of combined accounting experience to the job of making payroll affordable and easy for small business owners. As they head into retirement, they chose Paper Trails to carry the work forward. Paper Trails has served Maine businesses since 2004 and works on payroll, HR and compliance challenges. The transition is designed to be simple. Local Economy employees Abbey Gangewer and Brittany Wezner have joined the Paper Trails team, so existing clients keep working with the same account representatives. Paper Trails also runs on isolved HCM, the payroll software Local Economy already used, so there is no new system to learn. A welcome kit explains how to log in, what resources are available, how to handle common HR issues and who to contact. Paper Trails is based in Kennebunk, and its team of 17 payroll and HR specialists lives and works in Maine. Clients can expect the same payroll services they relied on before, plus training on Maine's Paid Family and Medical Leave requirements, extra safety and security protocols and a growing set of HR compliance tools. The company describes small businesses as the backbone of their communities, and its focus is on local Maine employers who want payroll and HR handled by people nearby. This is a regional payroll and HR provider, not an offshore call center or a large-scale BPO company USA buyers would use for customer support. If you are a Maine business looking for back office payroll help, or a former Local Economy client with questions about the change, get in touch with the Paper Trails team.