The Maine Icons team is excited to continue our work highlighting the leaders, innovators and rising stars in the world of Maine business. Our updates bring you news about the Icons and their good work here in Maine. Let’s take a look at what a few of these amazing folks are up to…
Help Maine Icons Grow!
One of our first Maine Icons, Beth Shissler, President and COO of Sea Bags along with her CEO Don Oakes, have been selected as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Maine Small Business Person of the Year. This state-level award also puts the pair in the running for the National Small Business Person of the Year Award. Winners will be announced at the SBA’s National Small Business Week celebration at the end of April. Under their leadership, Sea Bags reached several key milestones this past year, including growing the business to over 100 employees and opening 13 retail stores along the East Coast. Congratulations to Beth and Don for building a successful Maine business and receiving this well-deserved recognition.
Maine Icon, Josh Broder, CEO of Tilson Technologies, was recognized by Mainebiz as the 2018 Business Leaders of the Year in the large business category. In this feature article, Mainebiz profiles Broder and the story of Tilson Technologies’ growth and success as a Maine-based national company. From the recent completion of their new headquarters building on Middle Street and the company’s focus on hiring veterans to consistently achieving top-line revenue targets to satisfy investors, Broder continues to demonstrate his business savvy and dedication to Maine.
Maine Icon, David Banks, owner of RE/MAX, by the Bay and the David Banks Real Estate Team, recently announced that the official RE/MAX, results are in for 2017 and his team ranked 24th in the nation and 38th internationally for productivity and are recipients of the Collection Award, the Diamond Club, and the Team Diamond Club Award. Club awards recognize sales associates and team leaders based on commission earnings in a given year. Congratulations to David and his team on the work they do and for receiving this recognition.
Maine Icon Susan Corbett, CEO of Axiom Technologies, will play a large role in the newly announced $1.3 M Cranberry Isles broadband project. This grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Community Connect Grant Program covers construction of a broadband network. The project, which began earlier this year as a community-funded project will bring high speed, high-quality internet connection to three of the municipality’s five islands — Islesford and Great Cranberry Island as well as seasonal homes on Sutton Island. Congratulations to Susan and her team for working to move Maine communities and business forward.
Maine Icon, Pat Weigel, president and CEO of Norway Savings Bank, was recently featured in a Mainebiz article focusing on women in banking and finance. The article spotlights Weigel in her role as the first woman CEO of the regional bank and looks at the changing landscape of women executives in the banking industry. Norway Savings is leading the way where women now make up a third of the commercial teams and over half of the finance teams. And Weigel is one of nine women on the eleven-person executive team. “We’re in the midst of a sea of change,” Weigel stated. “Maybe the change has been a little bit slower to come to the country’s larger banks, but in community banks such as Norway, we are seeing a lot of change.