Passages
PHOTo / Brandon McKenney
Dave Tomm has been the energy and enthusiasm behind Seasoned Workforce, the Rockland-based advocacy group that tries to pair mature workers with businesses that could use them.
By my estimate, I've interviewed somewhere north of 4,000 people in my 30-year career. There have been many standouts, and Dave Tomm was one of them.
Dave, the energy and enthusiasm behind Seasoned Workforce, the Rockland-based advocacy group that tries to pair mature workers with businesses that could use them, was a force of nature. A master at cajoling, arguing and, yes, even flirting, he would do just about anything to convince business owners to consider older workers as they tried to fill vacancies and stave off the oncoming work force crisis.
"They have to take another look at the way they hire, their benefits and other creative things they're able to do," he said in the 2008 profile we wrote when Dave was named to our annual Next List. "It's not rocket science, it's just recognizing things. And what businesses have to do is recognize change."
Sadly, we lost Dave to his battle with pancreatic cancer just a few weeks ago. Knowing his illness was terminal, Dave was determined to use his remaining weeks for good. In March, he sent me a poignant letter thanking me, on behalf of Mainebiz, for the Next recognition and how it helped advance his crusade. And he wrote a check for $1,000 to the Mainebiz Next List Scholarship Fund.
The scholarship, administered by the Maine Community Foundation, is available to help a Maine student get a degree in business (go to mcf.org for details). We will award the scholarship for the first time this year, thanks, in part, to Dave's donation, which vested the fund. I think Dave's action is a fitting legacy for a man who worked tirelessly in the present, but who focused almost exclusively on the future. I like to think there's a young entrepreneur out there who will benefit from Dave's generosity and share my fondness and appreciation of him.
Carrying on
Dave would have applauded Maine's exporters for "recognizing change" in the way they market their businesses overseas. The rules are totally different for a Maine company that wants to sell its products internationally, as Contributing Writer Bob Holtzman explains in our cover story, "Getting global attention."
In his story, Bob talks to executives at exporting companies to glean best practices from their experiences — part of this issue's focus on transportation and trade. We also shine a light on a quandary in the trucking industry in Senior Writer Jim McCarthy's piece, "Legal limbo." Long-haul truckers face new federal hours-of-service rules that may not be affirmed by judicial review. The new rules will be enforced July 1, despite the unresolved legal challenge.
We also take a look at the role cold storage plays in Portland's ability to maximize new European container service to its port in the story, "Chilling effect" by Staff Writer Matt Dodge.
A little closer to home, Portland Regional Chamber CEO Chris Hall talks to us about the challenges and rewards leading Maine's second-largest chamber. (Sorry, Chris. My old buddies at the Androscoggin Chamber would have my head if I failed to mention they passed Portland's membership in January.) Chris brings the vibrancy and energy that marked his time in Augusta as a lobbyist to his new role. Check out his Q&A by Contributing Writer Douglas Rooks in "Changing perspective."
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