New TechMaine head to broaden influence
Photo/Rebecca Goldfine
John Spritz is the new executive director of TechMaine
Photo/Rebecca Goldfine
Joe Kumiszcza has stepped down as head of TechMaine after 13 years
TechMaine, Maine's trade association for technology companies, has a new executive director and is searching for a new home in Portland to be closer to the technology community.
John Spritz, the former marketing director at Walch Education in Portland, has stepped in to replace longtime director Joe Kumiszcza (pronounced Kom-is-kah), who left in April. The organization also moved out of its office on Main Street in Westbrook last summer. "It was logistical," Spritz says of the move. "In this economy, does it make sense to have a large space that is hard to get to?" He says he's looking for a more accessible office in Portland. Membership too fell off during the recession from 230 in 2008 to about 175 today, according to Spritz.
Kumiszcza began at TechMaine in 1997, overseeing its transition from Maine Software Developers Association, or MESDA, which he says had seven members at the time. The name change reflected the organization's shift to include all technology sectors in the state, from biotech to web design.
Following this trajectory, Spritz says he wants to broaden TechMaine's reach to include not just technology companies, but also businesses that are technology dependent, which these days is almost everyone. He mentioned, as an example of a prospective member, a local specialty food producer, saying, "Absolutely they should be a member. They have a big IT department." All IT employees, no matter if they work at a law firm or an insurance company, he says, need to stay on top of such issues as new technology, security and data storage, issues that Spritz says TechMaine can address. "Not enough people are aware of TechMaine," he says. "We need to get the word out more."
By increasing membership, Spritz says TechMaine can expand programming, attract high-caliber speakers and most importantly "give us more clout to go beyond our borders. ... A larger organization can tell our story outside of Maine," possibly helping convince companies to move to Maine.
"Will Maine ever rival 128 [Rte. 128, the thriving technology strip around Boston] or Silicon Valley? Or will Microsoft move here and hire 5,000 people? No. But we could attract smaller companies," Spritz says. "TechMaine is at its very bones an economic development organization, both for members, by helping them attract workers, and for the state of Maine."
Spritz's background is in marketing. Originally from Philadelphia and educated at Harvard University, his first job in Maine was program director at WPMK, a classical radio station in Saco. He ran his company, John Spritz Marketing, in Portland from 1997 to 2007, and worked at Walch from 2007 to 2010. He is married to Helen Pelletier, the spokeswoman for the Maine Community College System.
Kumiszcza's tenure
Kumiszcza says he left TechMaine after a confluence of changes in his life that included the deaths of his mother and father-in-law, as well as his and his wife's medical struggles -- he suffered a detached retina in March, and his wife was badly attacked by a feral housecat in upstate New York.
Since 2008, Kumiszcza has been running a company on the side called Online Associates, a consulting company that he says helps companies tap into the best technology for their needs. "The most fun I had at TechMaine was making these linkages, and getting people and companies together," he says. "I'll continue to use all the connections I have, so I can point companies to the right person."
He'll put energy into developing this business, but first is taking some time to finish a home addition, restore an old Jaguar and pursue other hobbies.
Reviewing his 13 years at TechMaine, Kumiszcza says his greatest accomplishment was creating a Fund of Funds (known as the Innovation Finance Program), an initiative that built a $20 million pool of private equity investment for emerging technology startups and ideas. Kumiszcza's cultivation of a more supportive legislative environment for technology also led to the elimination of a sales tax on customized software developed in Maine. And he says he made TechMaine a portal for technology jobs and a place where businesses could access job training, by, for example, buying tech courses at a discount for Maine companies.
Kumiszcza has high praise for Spritz, and says he's not going to offer advice to his successor because he'll "determine his own path. He's more cerebral than I am and it's a different time for the organization. When I started, the organization was not on the radar. We succeeded in that and it is time for John to take it to the next level."
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments