Mainebiz NEXT honorees are changing the Maine economy
Mainebiz is happy to present its 2016 NEXT List. We're often asked, What does it mean to be a NEXTer? We have asked that within the halls of Mainebiz. Do we, as business journals across the nation do, honor business leaders under 40? In Maine, that's too limiting; we have too many people reinventing their careers at all ages. Do we honor entrepreneurs? Again, too limiting.
Let's refocus: These are people who are changing Maine's economy.
Maine, as a state, has a well-known brand.
I was born in a “flyover” state, a state whose identity is, for many Americans, interchangeable with Ohio and Idaho, or so I'm told.
People out there in the general “from away” area know Maine. They went to summer camp here. Their grandparents live here. They camped at Acadia National Park. They love Maine lobster. They have a pair of Bean boots.
As a state, Maine's brand is well-established.
Maine's economy, on the other hand, is a work in progress. It's in need of a makeover. We have old-line industries with strong traditions. But we need to reinvent the economy.
We need to create jobs. We need people to do the jobs. We need an immigrant population, not just to fill jobs, but to take over existing businesses and to create businesses in yet-undiscovered fields.
This year's NEXT honorees wear suits, they wear lab coats, they wear waders, they were jeans.
This year we have advocates, people like Elaine Abbott, a tireless champion for Eastport and Washington County; Sean Sullivan, who is working on behalf of Maine's brewers; and Brian Corcoran, who is bringing new events to Portland.
We have people working within traditional industries, finding new ways to do things: Maine Coast's Tom Adams, who has found a market for Maine lobster in Asia and Europe; Emily Smith, who is expanding the Smith's Farm footprint across the country; Drew Lyman, who gave new life to a Camden boatyard; and even Charlotte Mace, who is developing new uses for forest products.
We have Redzone's James McKenna, who is creating economic development opportunities in rural areas. There is Lucas St. Clair, who is creating new opportunities in northern Maine after having championed an effort to get a national monument in the Katahdin area. Finally, we have Unity College's Melik Peter Khoury, who is helping train college graduates to adopt 21st century skills and consider opposing views.
They alone are not going to change Maine's economy. But they're part of a wider network of people who are giving it a go.
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