The 2026 class of Mainebiz Outstanding Women in Business are all successful business leaders, and we’re pleased to share their stories with you.
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I am beyond excited to reveal our 2026 class of Mainebiz Outstanding Women in Business. These women are all successful business leaders, and we’re pleased to share their stories with you.
While Dottie Chalmers Cutter has certainly had success as a co-owner of her family’s fourth-generation insurance company, she has found passion in mentoring and teaching emerging leaders, particularly women, at the company. She is also helping to raise the profile of other businesses in Maine through her podcast, “The Community Cast.”
As president and CEO of the University of Southern Maine Foundation, Corey Hascall has been instrumental in back-to-back record fundraising years which helped complete the McGoldrick Center and the Crewe Center, both on USM’s Portland campus.
Debora Keller, executive director of Bath Housing, understands the intersection of housing and economic development. Nowhere is that more evident than her role in the 84-unit project, now underway with Bath Iron Works and Developers Collaborative, and in the development of other multifamily properties that will add much-needed workforce housing.
When Becky Shepherd moved Wild Oats from its Maine Street Brunswick location in the Tontine Mall to the Brunswick Landing amid the pandemic, no one could have envisioned the landmark that this anchor tenant would provide. Now a friendly gathering space, Wild Oats helped secure the stability of the base as it transitioned from the naval air station into an economic center of Brunswick.
The annual Christmas Prelude celebration is a vital economic event that helps sustain businesses in the tourist-heavy town of Kennebunkport. As ordinances jeopardized town funding, Nonantum Resort general manager Tina Hewett-Gordon stepped in to volunteer her time, rally the community, and coordinate fundraising which ultimately saved the event and earned attention for the town on “Good Morning America.”
Patrisha McLean drew on her own experience as an abuse survivor when she started the nonprofit Finding Our Voices. Patrisha has drawn the support of unlikely partners, such as dentists, to provide women leaving domestic violence a peer-to-peer support system ensuring survivors are set up for success.
The connecting thread with all these women is community — in their own way, each is contributing to and making their communities better through their work and their passion. I hope you’ll join us as we celebrate each of them at Halo at Thompson’s Point on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
