Susan Ruhlin started in the role on March 23, succeeding Shanna Cox as the organization’s president and CEO. Cox announced her resignation last July to run for political office.
Susan Ruhlin, a business mentor-turned-entrepreneur who formerly led the Dirigo Labs startup accelerator in Waterville, has taken the helm of the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
Ruhlin started in the role on March 23, succeeding Shanna Cox as the organization’s president and CEO. Cox announced her resignation
last July to run for political office.
Cox, who led the chamber for nearly six years, is running for election to the Maine State Senate to represent District 21 as a Democrat, according to Ballotpedia.
Ruhlin was honored as a Mainebiz Woman to Watch in
2023.
Workforce top of mind
At the chamber, Ruhlin said her top priorities include ensuring the chamber delivers “measurable results” to its members; boosting collaboration across 16 communities; and workforce development and retention.
“Like many regions in Maine, we face demographic pressures and workforce constraints,” she told Mainebiz. “Supporting employers while also ensuring this is a region where people want to live, work and build careers is critical to our competitiveness.”
While taking on the new role, Ruhlin will continue to run her own startup called
JoynaTable, a dinner-party platform for vetted hosts to organize small gatherings for verified guests.
“JoynaTable is up and running and ready to book upcoming events,” said Ruhlin, who co-founded the platform with
Mufaddal Ali, a project management specialist at Dirigo Labs.
Ruhlin said the business “reflects my longstanding commitment to fostering meaningful connection and community, and I’m proud of the work we’ve built together and the momentum ahead.”
As a resident of the Franklin County town of Industry, Ruhlin brings a wide geographical perspective to her role at the chamber.
The chamber's 23 employees include staff members of Gather to Grow, a nonprofit community group whose work includes a grocery-style food pantry, community gardens and youth and school programs.
'Real momentum here'
Asked about the biggest challenges for the Lewiston-Auburn region, Ruhlin cited workforce constraints, housing availability pressures and the need to balance growth with affordability.
“At the same time, there is real momentum here,” she noted. “The opportunity lies in coordinating growth thoughtfully, investing in infrastructure and housing and ensuring that economic development benefits the entire region.”
With the region’s strong assets in health care, manufacturing, education and a growing entrepreneurial base, "the focus now is aligning those strengths in ways that support long-term sustainability and competitiveness,” Ruhlin said.
