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It was my lucky day in late winter 2012 when Carol Coultas, Mainebiz editor at that time, called me at home with a hint of desperation in her voice. “Have you finished up at Bangor Daily News?” she asked. “Two people gave me their notice and I’m about to go on vacation. I could really use your help, if you’re free.”
It so happened that I had just finished a nine-week stint as a temporary editor at BDN, filling in for someone who was out on medical leave. Even with the long daily drives to the newspaper’s office in Bangor, I relished my time there. Until then, after being downsized as the editorial page editor at The Times Record the previous summer by the newspaper’s out-of-state owners, I’d been thinking my days in journalism were over. I’d been at the Brunswick daily for 26 ½ years, including 10 years as its managing editor, after a two-and-a-half year stint at a weekly newspaper in New Hampshire.
My time at BDN rekindled my hopes of being employed in journalism again and here was Carol — someone I’d known from her time at the Lewiston Sun Journal that paralleled mine at The Times Record — inviting me to fill in at Mainebiz.
I quickly said, “Yes,” figuring there was nothing to lose and, perhaps, everything to gain. When Carol came back from vacation I told her I’d like to join her on the Mainbiz staff as senior writer.
Seven years later, my Mainebiz portfolio includes stories reported from Aroostook to York county, from Millinocket and Greenville to Monhegan Island and Isle au Haut. I’ve met dozens of memorable Mainers and did my best to tell their stories. I’ve gained important friendships among my talented and hardworking co-workers here at Mainebiz.
Working here has deepened my love for Maine and its people.
I’d known since moving here from Cleveland and working as a construction laborer on the paper mill in Jay during the winter of 1976 that it takes hard work and determination to make a living in this state. And almost three decades of community journalism in the Midcoast region helped me appreciate the way unsung heroes — people both young and old from all walks of life — pitch in to make their communities better places to live in.
But the business focus of Mainebiz broadened my perspective and helped me realize the equally vital role played by entrepreneurs, bankers, business owners, nonprofits and, yes, even politicians.
It takes courage to put one’s time and money on the line to succeed in business, as every owner knows in their very bones. It takes vision and trust to lend the money that can make someone’s dream a reality. It takes idealism and grit to advocate year after year for countless good causes, knowing that those causes, for some, are seen as frills. It takes dogged determination to do the people’s business, enduring hours of debate and plowing through reams of paper that accompany even the simplest of civic endeavors.
I arrived here from Cleveland in 1974 with the ambition to be an artist and the good fortune of being hired to work in a small summer gallery in Newagen, at the tip of Southport Island. It took me almost a decade to find my way into journalism and a career that would engage my creative skills to be part of the wider community-building efforts of fellow Mainers.
And now, at age 66, it’s time to retire. My final day at Mainebiz is June 14. Will Hall has been hired to replace me as digital editor and he’ll bring to that role his own creative talents and ideas.
To those who ask me why I’m retiring now, I can think of no better answer than the one Henry David Thoreau gave when he left Walden Pond after living there for two years: “It seemed to me that I had several more lives to live.”
I’m grateful for all the experiences I’ve had working here, especially collaborating with my Mainebiz colleagues in telling the stories that business owners and others have trusted us to share with our faithful readers.
To one and all: Thanks.
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.
* * *
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.
* * *
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.
* * *
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.
* * *
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.
* * *
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:
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.
Jim, I was lucky enough to work with you at TR for quite a few years, and have really appreciated your insightful work on Mainebiz. I wish you all the best in retirement! Mary Ellen
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Learn moreThe Giving Guide helps nonprofits have the opportunity to showcase and differentiate their organizations so that businesses better understand how they can contribute to a nonprofit’s mission and work.
Work for ME is a workforce development tool to help Maine’s employers target Maine’s emerging workforce. Work for ME highlights each industry, its impact on Maine’s economy, the jobs available to entry-level workers, the training and education needed to get a career started.
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