A successful businessman talks about his failed campaigns
The ongoing discussion about whether Maine is business friendly is not unique to this state or any other. Economic development is on everyone's minds because it drives job growth, but also, we hope, provides more work for existing companies and employees.
I recently met with Stephen M. Woods, a successful businessman who nonetheless might be more widely known for his “TideSmart Talk” radio show, where's he's known as “Stevoe,” and his failed bids for public office in Maine.
In 2012, he was one of six candidates seeking the seat held by retiring U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe. He ran as an independent, though the seat, as we know, was eventually secured by another independent, Angus King. Early in 2013, Woods made public his intention to challenge incumbent Gov. Paul LePage, this time as a Democrat, but withdrew later in the year. In this past June's Democratic primary, he lost to Cathy Breen in the District 25 state Senate race.
While Woods served on the Yarmouth Town Council from 2011–14, it is in business, not politics, where he's made his mark.
Woods is owner of Falmouth-based TideSmart, a marketing and health care company that has 100 employees and is in the process of adding new buildings to its campus. It has six divisions: Sumerian Sports & Entertainment, Ledgepoint Digital, EMG3, Promerica Health, Virdescence and TideSmart Logistics. At EMG3, services include “experiential” marketing, or face-to-face marketing, and include Super Bowl promos for Hannaford and mobile tours for Ace Hardware. Promerica Health supplies the mobile health-screening buses used nationwide by Lowe's Home Improvement. Annual revenue at TideSmart is projected to jump from $7 million last year to $12.2 million this year and $15 million by next year.
Reflecting on his campaigns, Woods says he can't help himself from taking a business approach to running government — to his apparent detriment. His basic tactic revolves around Maine's economic development issues, which he says could be greatly helped not by adding new sandwich shops or a new Trader Joe's store, but by bringing in outside capital to Maine. He's also advocated merging operations of towns that are currently insolvent (that would be 108 out of the 488 municipalities, by his count). The consolidation message did not sit well with voters, he says. And he acknowledges that winning candidates had a knack for keeping personal and accessible.
“I was talking about issues like the 108 municipalities and when someone would ask [King] about the health insurance issue, he'd reply with, 'Yeah, when I had to go the hospital, I was glad to have health insurance,'” he recalls.
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