Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce names local stars

HEBRON — At its annual dinner, held January 31 on the historic campus of Hebron Academy, the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce recognized those business and individuals who made the greatest impact in 2008.

Nine awards were passed out, with all but two selected by the OHCC executive committee, from hundreds of nominations submitted by chamber members.

Director’s Choice

Noting that the Chamber now has more than 60 people volunteering on its various committees, OHCC executive director Steve Wallace singled out one, Bruce Little, of Frost Farm Gallery, in Norway, with a Directors Choice Award.

“Bruce was one of the first people to embrace me when I was hired,” said Wallace.  “It seems like, no matter what is going on, Bruce is there to help.  He has very unselfishly dedicated a lot of hours to helping me as a new executive director.  He truly has a love of the Chamber.  He is about this community.”

Above and Beyond

NEPW Logistics was given a special “Above and Beyond Award” for getting through the devastating week-long fire at it Paris warehouse in December.

Most impressive, said chamber Chairman Sue Goulet, was the fact that the company managed to carry on without laying off any of its employees.

“We cannot imagine the challenges you experienced,” said Goulet, in presenting the award to to NEPW manager John Dumant.  “We just really felt you deserved this for bringing the community together and for standing firm for your employees.”

New Business of the Year

The New Business of the Year Award went to Element Day Spa, in Paris.  Wallace credited owner Su-Ying Chavez with making an extra effort to contribute to the community, such as when employees gave free messages to weary firefighters at the NEPW blaze.

“Element Day Spa may be a new business, but you are old-time good when it comes to doing things right,” said Wallace.

Rising Star of the Year

Heath Poland was named Rising Star of the Year.  Having joined Flanders Electric eight years ago as a journeyman electrician, Hearth bought the company this past year.

“In just his first year of ownership, Heath has taken the generator sales and service side of the business to one of the top 20 in the nation,” said Wallace.

Poland said he was “humbled” to be named a “rising star,” but was too savvy to miss the marketing opportunity provide to him by a few brief moments at the podium.

“Please think of Flanders Electric for all your electrical and generator needs,” he said, to the delight of the crowd.

Small Business of the Year

Small Business of the Year Award went to Cafe Nomad, in Norway, owned by Scott Berk, who will grace the cover of the Chamber’s 2009 annual magazine.

“The cafe has filled an important niche in the economic and social fabric of downtown Norway and the Oxford Hills,” said outgoing chamber Chairman Michael Newsom, in presenting the award.

Employee of the Year

Employee of the year went to Ena Derenberger, sales manager at Turnkey Homes of Maine.

Derenberger was credit not just with her work on behalf of Turnkey Homes, but for community volunteerism, having logged countless hours for Toys for Tots and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

“Your can-do attitude is a testament to your commitment to make Turnkey Homes and the Oxford Hills a better place to live and work,” said Wallace.

“I really consider it a blessing to be recognized for this award, when there are so many equally deserving people in the community” said Derenberger.  “Working at Turnkey Homes with such a dedicated and truly exceptional staff makes what I do really rewarding.”

Nonprofit Business of the Year

The Oxford Fair was recognized as the Nonprofit Business of the Year.

“It was just eight years ago that the Oxford Fair was a fair in decline,” said Goulet. “Attendance was down, buildings were in disrepair and money and support were in short supply.

“Now, with hard work, community partnerships, strong leadership and creative ideas, the New Oxford Fair is growing,” said Goulet, adding that it was “the only agricultural fair” to grow in 2008, based on attendance figures.

“We will always strive to honor this award,” said fair president Suzanne Grover.  “We promise to keep the fair affordable, fun and exciting.”

Large Business of the Year

The Large Business of the Year Award, for concerns with more than 25 employees, went to Norway Savings Bank.

Wallace noted that, as a mutual bank, owned by its depositors, Norway Savings cannot be sold to or acquired by any other bank.  The bank was recently named the best place to work in Maine for 2008 by the Best Companies Group.

“As we all know, whether you are a for-profit or a nonprofit, the success of any organization is built upon the people you work with,” said CEO Bob Harmon.  “I’m really proud to say that the 275 employees of Norway Savings Bank are great [and] hardworking.  They make Norway Savings one of the best institutions I have ever seen.”

Citizen of the Year

Finally, the Citizen of the Year Award was presented to SAD 17 Superintendent Dr. Mark Eastman.

“He doesn’t just delegate, he gets personally involved,” said presenter Tally Decato.  “Others realize this as he has twice been names Maine’s Superintendent of the Year.”

In a parody of Eastman’s popular “Top 10” lists unveiled at the start of each school year, his son, Andrew presented via video a list of “Top 10 things you need to know to become citizen of the year.”

These included “the ability to get people to see things your way and make them think it was their idea,”  “getting your friends on the committee,” and “always make sure your sox match.”

Eastman congratulated Decato and his wife, Cille — termed a “mistress of deceit” — with perpetrating a conspiracy to keep the surprise from him.

“This one completely got by me,” said Eastman.  “I am certainly privileged, honored and humbled to be included among the list of citizens of the year,” said Eastman. 

Referring to the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child” Eastman deflected personal credit for any public education success stories.

“It’s this community that’s pulling together to do those things,” he said, citing the Aspire Higher Parade, the Oxford Hills Scholarship Foundation, community schools, the comprehensive high school — “unique in the nation” — Christmas for Teens, Tots and Kids and partnerships with Norway Savings, Community Concepts and Stephens Memorial Hospital.

“All of these things represent towns coming together to become a community, and provide the support we need to create the greatest opportunities for our young people,” said Eastman.

Eastman then concluded by giving thanks for having made his home in the Oxford Hills.

“When I think of places like the Seeds of Peace Camp in Otisfield, the historic academy in Hebron, and [SAD 17’s] partnership with the Zhe-Jiang University Middle School in China, I see, the world comes to the Oxford Hills,” said Eastman.

“When I think of our manufactured housing industry, the McLaughlin Garden in Paris, historic Paris Hill and our beautiful four seasons,” said Eastman, “I see that America comes to the Oxford Hills.”

“When I think about the Waterford World’s Fair, the Oxford County Fair, Oxford Plains Speedway, I think that New England comes to the Oxford Hills,” said Eastman.

“When I think of the sidewalk art festival in Norway, the Chamber’s Christmas parade, the wonderful lakes and recreation areas we have throughout our 11 towns,” said eastman.  “I see that the state of Maine comes to the Oxford Hills.”

“When we wanted a place that had a quality of life with a small town feel and experience, we came to the Oxford Hills,” said Eastman, “and we’re glad that we did.”

A CLOSER LOOK

Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce Citizens of the Year

2009 — Dr. Mark Eastman

2008 — Lisa Jones

2007 — Rev. Donald Mayberry

2006 — Mary Ann Brown

2005 — Hon. Richard Bennett

2004 — Andrea Burns

2004 — Myron Pierce

2003 — Joseph Cooney

2002 — Ann Siekman

2001 — Charlene Chase

2000 — Robert Andrews

1999 — Suzanne Grover

1999 — Rupert Grover

1998 — Al Bancroft

1997 — Dan Allen

1997 — Shirli Allen

1996 — Harrison Hahn

1996 — Donald Gouin

1995 — Barbara Hall

1995 — Betty Gianquinto

1994 — Roland Sutton

1994 — Leon R. Truman

1993 — Paul Hodson

1993 — Lucille Hodson

1993 — Lilo Knudson

1992 — Francis H. Shorey

1992 — Lloyd A. Watt

1991 — Rev. Dr. Donald McAllister

1991 — Raynor Brown

1990 — Robert Butters

1990 — Cotton Damon

1989 — Nancy Sutton

1989 — Robert Bizier

1988 — Jerry Major

1988 — Sen. R. Donald Twitchell

1987 — Grace Emmerton

1987 — Alfred LeClerc

1986 — Neil Tame

1986 — Susan Bell

1985 — Stanley Gates

1985 — Dr. William Medd

1984 — Dr. Charles “Doc” Hall

1984 — Connie Allen

1983 — Lajos Matolcsy

1983 — Alice B. Cornwall

1982 — Peggy Wolfe

1982 — Cynthia Wescott

1981 — Hervey Willey

1981 — Dr. Harry L. Harper

1980 — Dr. Walter Dixon

1980 — Anita Dixon

1980 — Linwood Allen

1979 — Dr. Beryl Moore

1979 — Robert Goodwin

1978 — John P. Cullinan

1978 — Mabel Brown

1977 — Josephine “Jo” Stone.

Chamber vows to ‘work hard’ in tough economy

ANNUAL GALA — More than 260 business leaders from across Western Maine
converged on the Hebron Academy’s Sargent Memorial Gymnasium, January 31,
for the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce annual dinner.  (photo by Duke Harrington)

HEBRON — If, having just arrived on the planet, you had happened inside Hebron Academy’s Sargent Memorial Gym, Saturday evening, you wouldn’t have know that we are one-year deep into a national recession.

Although the economic mood everywhere is gloomy, it was all smiles and forward-looking Yankee pragmatism at the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce (OHCC) annual dinner and award banquet.

“On the national economic front, we are facing a level of uncertainty about our future that we have not faced in long, long time,” said outgoing chamber Chairman Michael Newsom, of W. J. Wheeler & Co., of Paris.

“But the people of the Oxford Hills are no strangers to adversity, and I’m not just talking about the weather,” said Newsom.  “We are a resourceful, resilient people and there is nothing coming down the road that we cannot handle together.”

Nine business leaders were recognized for outstanding  contributions during the past year, Chamber leaders promised a laser-like focus on local needs, and the CEO of the Maine’s only private company dedicated to luring new business to Maine urged attendees to focus on their strengths, and to think big.

Matthew Jacobson, CEO of Maine and Company, spoke before a capacity crowd of more than 260 people, saying that success is tied to three key ingredients — business climate, an educated work force and a willingness to increase its environmental standards.

Credited with recruiting T-Mobile, Athena Health, NotifyMD and Boston Financial Data Services to the state, Jacobson focused on one failure.  Maine lost out to Tupelo, MS, on a $1.6 billion Toyota plant, Jacobson said, because Tupelo had met all three points.

After speaking with his counterpart in Tupelo, Jacobson said he learned that it was the only one of the final three cities under consideration by Toyota willing to raise its air quality standards to meet the manufacturers demands.  The others were afraid doing so might hurt existing businesses.

Mississippi also was willing to pass a $300 million bond package, some of which went to area community colleges  to train potential plant workers, while other dollars went to create an auto industry research and development program at the University of Mississippi.

Jacobson pointed out that Maine also voted in $300 million in bonds that same year on roads, bridges and conservation projects, but it was Tupelo that got 10,000 jobs.

“We don’t have to spend more money,” he said.  “We spent the same money.  They’re just more focused.”

Jacobson urged local business leaders to think regionally.

"This individual town and city attack, you're not big enough to compete," he said.

As an example, Jacobson focused his talk on Maine’s tourism industry, and its efforts to attract cruise ships.  Although he apologized that none are due to dock at in South Paris, Jacobson said the area can benefit if Maine will only look beyond its current philosophy, which he described as “Get ‘em off the boat; get ‘em to L. L. Bean’s; fill up their bags; get ‘em back on the boat.”

Jacobson said Maine needs to spend enough on marketing to lure up to 1,500 cruise ships up and down the coast, not just the $65,000 is spends to bring 202 ships to Portland each year.

Jacobson said Maine also should invest in education to train cruise ship captains and hospitality crews here in the state, and to provision ships with Maine produce.  The state also can revitalize downtowns by filling empty storefronts with cruise line corporate headquarters.

“Tourism is our biggest industry and there is no place in Maine to get a four-year degree in hospitality, culinary arts or hotel management,” said Jacobson.  “Why isn’t the best university in the world for tourism in Maine?  We can do that, and that’s how we are going to win.”

Facing front

In his remarks, Newsom acknowledged “more than a few challenges” for the Chamber in the past few years, including “leadership turnovers, financial difficulties and a set of programs and events that didn’t always meet expectations.”

However, in handing the gavel over to incoming Chairman Sue Goulet, owner of Goulet Enterprises, Newsom said the Chamber is “stronger today than it has been in the past and is in a better position to achieve its mission to help our members succeed.”

Prime among those strengths — the “single greatest step,” said Newsom — was the May hiring of Steve Wallace as OHCC Executive Director.  For his efforts during the first nine months of his tenure, Wallace received a hearty ovation from the crowd.

“I’m really glad that the board of directors chose to take a chance on this former Marine living in Auburn,” said Wallace, as he acknowledged the applause.

Wallace said job one, when he took the OHCC helm was to poll its members.  Based on interviews with some 125 area business Wallace said he and the OHCC board decided to jettison “all the fluffy words” that dominated past Chamber agendas.

“Now, the mission statement of this Chamber is very simple,” said Wallace.  “We are going to help our members succeed. 

“For some members that might mean legislative advocacy,” said Wallace.  “For others it might be [help with] marketing, for others it might be sales, but no matter what you do, if you are a member of the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce, my goal, and the goal of the directors and the goal of all volunteers of this organization is to make your business succeed.  Period.  It’s just that simple.”

Newsom also credited seven new directors, who fill out the OHCC board to its maximum 18 seats.  Those new leaders include: Bob Klar (Design First Homes), Dawn Minigell (Modern Woodmen of America), Eric Lammers (Krack Media), Heath Poland (Flanders Electric), Khristopher Lalemand (Designs By Skip), Kristen Serles (Concentra) and Matt Delamater (Northeast Bank). 

They join sitting board members Amanda Huotari (Celebration Barn Theater), Becky Mason (Norway Savings Bank), H. Sawin Millett, Jr. (state representative) and Sharon Buffington (Western Maine Health Care) as well as the Chamber’s new executive committee — President Sue Goulet (Goulet Enterprises), Vice Chair Helga Thurston (Paris Cape Realty), 2nd Vice Chair Glen Holmes (Buckfield town manager), Treasurer Diana McLaughlin (Western Maine Health Care), Doug Van Durme (Bessey Motors), Terry Hayes (state rep.) and Newsom.

“We took an awful hard look at where we’ve been,” said Newsom.  “We’ve identified some new long-term strategic goals in the areas of finance, personnel, leadership, public relations and programs. 

“These are the areas in which we have struggled in the past,” said Newsom, “but I think we will become a force of strength in the future.”

New initiatives include a business success seminar series, a redesigned business showcase, several new fundraisers and a “buy local” campaign.

“A new executive director, seven new board members, a new mission, new goals and new programs,” said Newsom.  “Not a bad year, by my count.”

All that remained was for Wallace to outline what he expects to happen from here on.

“I am a believer that attitude follows conversation,” said Wallace.  “My conversation is always going to be positive because my attitude is always going to be positive.

“I will work hard with anyone who wants to work hard with me,” said Wallace, “to make this the best, pound-for-pound, chamber in the state.”

South Paris native American’s 7th biggest benefactor

SOUTH PARIS/ WASHINGTON, D.C. — An annual accounting of America’s top philanthropists has placed a Paris native at No. 7 on the list.

Interestingly, that man, Frank C. Doble, has been dead for 40 years.

Since 1996, the online magazine Slate.com had compiled the “Slate 60,” a listing of the country’s top donors.  The purpose of the list, prepared by staffers at The Chronicle of Philanthropy, was to inspire competitiveness among the super-wealthy. 

By publishing a list of gifts and pledges to nonprofit institutions, the magazine says, it hoped the Scrooge McDuck’s of the world would try to outdo each giving in their riches away, instead of seeing who could hoarding the highest pile.

Slate does not say if the strategy worked.  However, its editors did notice something odd about this year’s list.  For the first time, seven of the top 10 gifts came from estates, rather than from living people.

“Some of the country’s richest philanthropists say the bleak economy is causing them to put off making new gifts, and fund raisers already are noticing a dip in eight- and nine-figure donations,” says Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy.  “What’s different about this recession, as compared to the last few, is that it is affecting charitable donations of all kinds, not just those by the poor and middle class.”

Because 25 percent of the biggest gifts in 2008 came from the financial world, Palmer predicts fewer $100 million charitable donations will be seen in 2009.

In 2007, the Slate 60 totaled $7.79 billion in charitable gifts.  Last year, the tally ran to $15.78 billion. However, while the overall total doubled, most of the giving on this year's list came from gifts committed before the start of the current recession, in December, 2007, or else just before the bottom dropped out of the economy last fall.

That’s the case with Doble. 

Born in South Paris in 1886, Doble attended Paris High School and later moved to Massachusetts, where he founded the Doble Engineering Company in 1920.

The company was built around Doble’s first invention, a 7.5 pound portable telephone that allowed utility field engineers in remote areas to communicate with distant colleagues, safely, through high voltage transmission lines. 

Doble followed that up with an electric line insulator tester  to the power industry.  Credited with developing instruments and services that made the delivery of electricity safer and more efficient, worldwide, Doble’s company grew into a global corporation that made testing and diagnostic equipment for the electrical industry.

The company was sold in St. Louis-based ESCO Technologies early 2008 and, in April of that year, a trust Doble created to benefit Lesley and Tufts Universities was dissolved.

Doble earned his bachelors degree from Tufts, but it was his belief in the value of early childhood education that led to his endowment to Lesley, where he was a trustee.

According to Eleanor Eddy, a retired director of Doble Engineering, Doble’s commitment to Lesley stemmed from his belief that quality, early childhood education is necessary to scientific study. 

“He often cited his belief that preparation for college begins in the first grade,” said Eddy.  “Lesley in the 1950s and 1960s could have had no more devoted supporter for its principal mission at that time — teacher preparation.”

The $272 million in the trust was shared equally by Lesley University and Tufts University and the gift put Doble near the top of the Slate 60 list.

While the two largest gifts of 2008, from the estates of hotelier Leona M. Helmsley and medical inventor James LeVoy Sorenson, are estimates because the donors' estates have not been settled, it is worth noting that both, like Doble, are deceased.

Many of the living who frequently haunt the upper echelons of the Slate 60 list dropped off the list this year, including Pierre and Pam Omidyar, T. Boone Pickens, T. Denny Sanford, and Oprah Winfrey.

The following is Slate’s ranking of the top-10 most generous donors and how much each gave to charity in 2008:

• Leona M. Helmsley (bequest), $5.2 billion 

• James LeVoy Sorenson (bequest), $4.5 billion

• Peter G. Peterson and Joan Ganz Cooney, $1.02 billion

• Harold Alfond (bequest), $360 million 

• Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler (bequest), $334.2 million

• David G. And Suzanne Booth, $300 million 

• Frank C. Doble (bequest), $272 million

• Robert and Catherine McDevitt (bequest), $250 million

• Michael R. Bloomberg, $235 million

• Dorothy Clarke Patterson (bequest), $225 million

SAD 17 super calls for bright ideas to battle bleak future

OXFORD HILLS — In order to face down what he calls “the new reality of education in Maine,” SAD 17 Superintendent Dr. Mark Eastman plans to form a special committee and charge it with drafting a rescue plan for uncertain economic times.

The “broad-based” group — to include school directors, staff, parents, local business leaders and students — will be modeled on the “Fabulous 50” committee which, almost two decades ago, drew up plans for Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.

“They designed, I think, one of the most effective delivery models for secondary education in the country,” said Eastman, at the most recent school board meeting.  “Can we do that again — take the talent that is on this board, and in this community, to envision a district-wide approach to education for the next generation?”

Eastman said this new “visioning group” should look back to the founding of SAD 17 40 years ago, examine all the “lessons learned” since then, and then try to imagine what the district will look like 40 years from now, in the year 2050.

The reason for peering into the crystal ball is clear, said Eastman — it’s because the present is so cloudy.

Although recessions have come and gone before, Eastman says, "we have a sense that things are going to be different this time.”

“The state’s budget shortfalls are anticipated to continue for the foreseeable future,” he said.  “As we look at school funding, we have the belief that the resources that we now use to maintain our current configurations and staffing patterns won’t be there.

“We are equally clear that the local economy will not support a shift form state to local resources in order to maintain current levels [of spending],” he said.

Eastman pointed out that, even in a flush economy, the funding model used by the state to redistribute tax dollars does not land equitably in all places. 

The "essential programs and services" (EPS) funding model used by the Department of Education doles out money for teachers based on total district enrollment.  For a district like SAD 17, which long ago chose to keep an elementary school in each of its eight district towns, that means some schools have classes with fewer than 10 students, while others have up to 25. 

Meanwhile, anything above the number allowed by the state must be borne by local tax dollars.  Districts that have larger, regional schools make out, says Eastman, because they can more easily shift students and teachers to even out burps in enrollment.

Transportation also is a bugaboo for SAD 17.  As Eastman often says, the district is Maine’s largest, at least in terms of pure geography covered by school buses each day.

In spite of the common Maine saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Eastman's message to the school board emphasized that, where public education is concerned, the time to fix it is not after it’s finally broken down for good.

“Without changes in the way we are doing the education business, we will not have the resources to meet our academic goals during these challenging times,” he said.

Eastman asked directors to merely mull over his suggestion for a visioning committee.  However, to get their creative juices flowing, he offered up a number of starter ideas.

Thoughts aimed at addressing transportation include “clustering” students by assigning each to the school closest to his or her home, rather than defaulting to the one in each child’s hometown.  SAD 17 also might lower transportation costs, and address overcrowding at Oxford Hills Middle School at the same time, by turning some elementary schools into K-8 institutions.

Eastman also said SAD 17 might rely on technology to create “virtual educational experiences” via distance learning, or online classes.  Despite Maine’s recent spate of school consolidations, the district also should continue to partner with neighboring districts on “delivery of service,” wherever possible, said Eastman.

Then there was one idea which already has drawn statewide attention. 

In a public hearing, January 26, the state legislature’s education and cultural affairs committee considered a bill submitted by H. Sawin Millett, Jr. (R – Waterford) that will allow schools to open for classes just four days per week.  The bill (LD 96) stipulates only that students must continue receive instruction on par with the current 175-day minimum requirement.

Eastman acknowledged in a recent interview that the bill was submitted at his behest.  However, he denied that a change is in the offing without significant input from parents and staff.

“I’m not really thinking that it’s realistic to do this, even next year,” he said.  “Right now, I’m merely looking at mining these ideas, exploring them, channeling them.”

Eastman said all alternative calendar ideas are on the table, whether that means shifting vacation weeks, extending the school year or playing with daily start and end times.

Millett’s bill was necessary to advance debate, Eastman says, only because it is the one possibility which Commissioner Susan Gendron claims to have no authority over.

“That’s the one thing we need the legislature’s approval on,” he says.

The education committee will consider the bill next on, February 9.

In the meantime, Eastman says he’s looking for feedback on his visioning committee idea.  Depending on the response, he says, he may unveil more information at the next school board meeting, also on February 9, or at the following session, March 2.

When Eastman finished his presentation, directors met his call for questions with 45-seconds of dead silence.  Finally, Don Gouin, of Norway, mustered the courage to speak.

“Mark, I think you’ve frightened us,” he joked.

Eastman admitted that the task he’s set forth is a mighty big one, especially in light of his imminent retirement, effective “no later” than June 30, 2010.

“You may say, this doesn’t sound like someone who’s going out the door,” Eastman told the school board.  “But, whether I’m going out the door, or not, it’s imperative that we begin these discussions, and that we begin to think differently, because I don’t think we can count on the revenue stream that we have had.”