This week marks the one year anniversary of Maine Icons. During the past year, we profiled the stories and successes of Maine entrepreneurs and leaders. In celebration of our anniversary, we decided to revisit our 2016 Maine Icons to see what they are up to. The people we profiled haven’t stopped working, and several enjoyed significant achievements since they were featured. We’d like to share some of those accomplishments with you.
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Live and Work in Maine, founded by Maine Icon Ed McKersie, is entering into a public-private partnership with the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. The partnership, which includes a $100,000 award through a competitive RFP process, enables Live and Work in Maine to increase their efforts to attract a larger more skilled workforce to the state.
Landry/French Construction, founded and owned in part by Maine Icon Kevin French, received the 2016 Governor’s Award for Business Excellence. Earlier in the year, the company was awarded first place in the Building Category at the AGC-sponsored Build Maine Awards for their work on the Charles E. Moody School at Good-Will Hinckley. They were also named one of 2016’s Best Places to Work In Maine.
Other Icon-affiliated businesses making an appearance on the 2016 Best Places to Work In Maine list are Norway Savings Bank, of which Patricia Weigel is president and CEO; Moody’s Co-worker Owned, founded by Shawn Moody; and Sage Data Security, founded by Sari Greene.
David Banks, the very first Maine Icon, certainly had a successful year. His sales topped 2015 by 20%, with 307 properties sold in 2016.
Beth Shissler and her company Sea Bags have opened five more stores with another four in the works. In 2016, they saved 7,000 sails from heading to the landfill and unveiled a new design honoring Tom Brady. The bag features a number 12 on a blue background which should prove popular following Super Bowl win number five for the quarterback!
In November, Heather Sanborn of Rising Tide Brewing was elected to the Maine House of Representatives. In December, Rising Tide announced plans for doubling in size after their output grew from 3200 barrels in 2015 to 4500 in 2016.
Chris Thompson, the developer of Thompson’s Point, continues to expand his property’s offerings. This winter, in addition to the popular ice rink, the site added a tubing hill. Thompson and his partners are in the process of turning an old train repair building into an event center. Slated for completion in March, the first event in the refurbished building is a music and beer festival set for March 4th.
Congratulations to all of the Maine Icons on their achievements and undoubtedly, their future successes. We are looking forward to another year of learning about entrepreneurial and driven Mainers and sharing those stories with you!
Thank you for your continued support of Maine Icons.