🔒Saying goodbye after a 35-year career in journalism

Here are a few quotes gleaned from stories I’ve written for Mainebiz these past seven years that brought home just how lucky I’ve been to work here and meet so many hardworking and interesting people in Maine’s business community. 

I. “We’re quietly ambitious here.” Melissa Smith told me in 2012, when I interviewed her as one of five “Women to Watch” honorees selected by Mainebiz that year. At that time, Melissa was president of the Americas of what was then the $553 million company known as Wright Express. Seven years later, as president and CEO of WEX, she leads a $1.49 billion company with new global headquarters in Portland and projected revenues in the range of $1.68 billion to $1.72 billion by the end of the year.

Take-home lesson: Mainers tend to be modest, but don’t let that fool you. They’re dogged and willing to put in the hard work to fulfill their quiet ambitions. 

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II. Less than a year later, in May 2013, the company’s name was now WEX and I was on the phone with President and CEO Mike E. Dubyak, who’d just announced Melissa’s promotion to “president” as part of a planned succession in which she would assume his other title and role by the end of the year. At the end of our conversation, I said, “Little did we know when we honored Melissa as a ‘Woman to Watch’ that she’d be advancing so quickly” … or words to that effect.

Mike replied: “Yeah. You really forced our hand.”

Take-home lesson: Even if Mike’s an Ohioan, like myself — he knows how to give a “snappy answer,” as Tim Sample might say. It’s often dry and laconic, but the Maine sense of humor is lightning quick and often serves as a reminder not to take one’s self too seriously.

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III. In late fall 2012, I was on the phone with Dan A. Cote Sr., CEO and treasurer of The Cote Corp., an Auburn crane and rigging company. I was hoping to interview him about the company’s two recent awards for safety. “Mainebiz? Sure, I’ll talk to you. When do you want to come by?” he said. 

But when we sat down in the company’s conference room for the interview, Dan seemed guarded and maybe not completely enthused about the interview. Safety, after all, can be a touchy subject for any company. I intuitively held back on jumping into the topic of safety and asked Dan to give me a brief history of the company founded by his father, Armand, in 1966.

And from that safe question came this quote: “Safety was always the No. 1 priority, we learned that at a young age. My Dad, being the sole source of our family business, if he were to get hurt, where’s the company? So safety had to be a major component of the business. My Dad made sure each of us understood that: He wanted to make sure his boys wouldn’t get hurt on the job either.”

My followup question went like this: “So when the company got bigger, your Dad extended that safety perspective to the other employees — in effect, making them part of the ‘extended family?’”

“Yes. Exactly,” Dan replied.

Take-home lesson: Every company has a history. It’s often the key to understanding a company’s present and future.

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IV. “It’s the little things that separate a company from the rest, that make you better. Little things add up and make you better. Little things become big things after a while.” Rodney McCrum, president and chief operating officer of Pineland Farms Potato Co. Inc. in Mars Hill, told me when I profiled him as our 2016 Business Leader of the Year in the large business category. 

Take-home lesson: Business owners acquire a lot of wisdom in the school of hard knocks; we’d do well as a state to tap into their wisdom more often.

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V. “All these issues are completely solvable. No money for the license? Loan them the money to pay for it. No jobs for our kids? Get them a license and let them dig clams. No transportation? Use an old school bus to pick up the diggers.” Tim Sheehan, co-owner of Gulf of Maine Inc., in Pembroke, explaining in October 2015 how he and his wife were trying to build up the local clamming industry in one of Maine’s poorest counties.

Take-home lesson: Mainers don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. They roll up their sleeves and figure out how to solve the problems that others might walk away from as unsolvable.

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VI. In August 2014, I reconnected with Bill Haggett, who I knew from my days as a beat reporter covering Bath Iron Works in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Bill was the shipyard’s president and CEO. Bill had retired from shipbuilding in 1997, but almost two decades later his second-act career as president and CEO of Pineland Farms Inc. had reached a significant milestone when the company’s Naturally Potatoes, Natural Meats and Creamery divisions hit the $100 million mark in collective sales.

In response to a question, Bill shared with me the seven guiding business principles that could easily be adopted by the people putting together Gov. Janet Mills’ recently announced initiative to develop a 10-year economic development plan for the state:

• As a manager, lead by example
• Manage businesses aggressively to generate growth, utilizing progressive and creative business practices
• Balance the interests of suppliers, employees, customers, owners and the communities in which we live
• Never compromise high quality standards
• Try to add value to what already exists
• Stay positive and keep employees informed
• Take full advantage of Maine’s best attributes — great people and a terrific place to live.

Take-home lesson: Maine’s demographic challenge as the oldest state in the union is also a great opportunity to tap people who, like Bill Haggett, are ready to embrace “second act” careers over a life of golfing and sitting in the easy chair.