CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE: CHAMBER AWARDS HONOR COMMUNITY LEADERSannually, The chamber honors a number of organizations and indi-viduals for their significant contributions to our communities. Thisyear’s awards will be presented at the 2012 annual Meeting at theramada conference center on Thursday, February 9th. The Business Leadership Award for a larger company will be pre-sented to Agren Appliance. in 1969 the agren family business wasa phone and two repair trucks. routine weekday calls for appliancerepair, emergency responses on weekends and over critical holidayperiods helped build agren’s reputation for reliability with manyMaine families. Their first store was established in auburn in 1978,the fourth store opened its doors on Foden road in south Portlandin 1993, and the fifth was established along the Mid-coast, indamariscotta in 2000 (later moved to a busier rt. 1, in waldoboro,in 2006).The Business Leadership Award for a smaller company will bepresented to Baxter Brewing. Baxter Brewing began brewing inJanuary of 2011 and by the fall doubled their capacity to keep upwith growing demand. The brewery, which is located in the historicBates Mill complex in downtown lewiston, is open daily for toursand tastings as well as many special events (birthdays, post-weddingrehearsal dinner get togethers, company outings, you name it!). Thebrewery also features an in-house retail shop.

The prestigious Ray Geiger Award will be pre-sented to Steve Closson of Androscoggin Bankfor his long standing support for and leadership ofThe chamber and the community. after sevenyears on the Board of directors including a termas chair of the board, steve continued illustriousservice to The chamber by assisting with thebuilding campaign, leading the bank to sponsor

five of The chamber’s annual meetings, and being a volunteer inthe annual membership drive.  in 2011, steve was one of the leadingrecruiters — bringing in two new members. Two Community Service Leadership Awards will be presented.The first will be given to the L/A Cash Coalition which has helpedthe l/a area lead the state in filings for the earned income tax cred-it. in the last eight years, over 7500 local individuals have receivedassistance in filing their taxes resulting in over $13 million in localand state tax refunds and almost $4 Million in earned income taxcredits. The second community service award will be presented tothe organizers of the L/A Art Walk, a group led by Mike dostie.From May through september hundreds of people were drawn todowntown l/a the last Friday of the month to visit art exhibits allover our downtowns.The Poland Business Award will be presented to Pike Industries.long a fixture in Poland, Pike industries put into operation a new,state-of-the-art asphalt production facility, allowing the company toproduce warm mixed asphalt, which saves fuel and is easier to useby paving crews. They operate on the premise that quality work,good service and dedicated employees are the basis for their longhistory of success. They continue to train employees, and researchbetter methods and products. The Public Service Leadership Award will be presented to auburnPolice chief Phil Crowell. Most recently chief crowell held multi-ple roles with the city. while serving as police chief, he also servedas assistant city manager and acting city manager. he also serves

on many local and state boards as well as being a visible role modelfor children in our communities.The Education Award will be presented to Healthy Androscoggin.healthy androscoggin is a community coalition dedicated toimproving the health of androscoggin county citizens. The coali-tion has four main community goals that include: supporting tobac-co free lifestyles, increasing physical activity, promoting healthyeating, and preventing substance abuse. They are a healthy MainePartnership, funded in part by the Fund for a healthy Maine. Two years ago The chamber introduced a new award, “CoolChamber Award,” which is presented to an organization that hasmade a significant difference in reducing energy usage and preserv-ing resources. The 2012 award will be presented to IndustrialRoofing who has been a leader in helping customers build andretrofit their facilities for increased energy efficiency.The Ken Additon Small Business Advocate award will be pre-sented to the Lewiston CareerCenter. The careercenter workswith local businesses to assist in recruitment, job postings, hiring,office space, and more, all free of charge.  They also work withbusinesses to coordinate training resources for employees.The 2012 New Member of the Year award will go to CenterStreet Dental for their incredible support of The chamber andmany other community organizations including the Francoamerican heritage center, The central Maine community collegeFoundation, and the lewiston auburn Film Festival.There will be two winners of the prestigious President’s Award.The first will be awarded to Northeast Charter and Tours andowner Scott Riccio for the incredible growth of the company andall they do to support our communities. The second award will goto The Library Café and owners Daphne and Bill Berta. Openingin 2009, the café has developed an incredible presence not just atthe auburn library but as a caterer serving the community. Morethan that, they have established a presence by volunteering supportfor a large number of community events.

ANDROSCOGGIN BANK TO SPONSORCHAMBER’S 124TH ANNUAL MEETING

chamber members and guests will gather at the ramada conferencecenter on February 9th for the 124th annual Meeting and awardsprogram — The chamber’s largest event of the year.The annual Meeting will feature The chamber awards program,emceed by chamber Board chair, Kurk lalemand of next levelBusiness coaching.  Those being recognized include: Thechamber’s new members in 2011; past and present chamber lead-ers; and the distinguished community members who will receiveThe chamber’s highest awards.The evening will begin at 5:00 PM.  The cost of the evening is $50per person and reservations are required. special recognition will begiven to organizations that are table sponsors.  The prime sponsor ofthe annual meeting is Androscoggin Bank and cosponsors areOxford Networks, Poland Spring Bottling Company, andProcter & Gamble.

2 0 1 2 THE CHAMBER N E W SINSIDE:

Chairs’s Message

Calendar of Events

Thank You Day

What We Stand For

B to B Trade Show

Volunteers Wanted

What’s Up

Job Fair

2011 Member Survey

Not Your NormalFormal

Member in Focus

Winter/SpringSeminars

J A N U A R Y

The Business servicecenTer aT KeyBanK Plaza P.O. BOx 59lewisTOn, Me 04243-0059Ph: (207) 783-2249Fax: (207) 783-4481weBsiTe: www.andrOscOggincOunTy.cOMe-Mail:inFO@andrOscOggincOunTy.cOM

P A G E 1 N E W S L E T T E R OF THE ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

CHAIR’S MESSAGEBy Kurk lalemandAction Plan for 2012i am proud to have been elected chair of our chamberBoard of directors. it is an honor to lead an organiza-tion which is so respected and valued in our communi-ties and around the state of Maine. as we begin theyear, i would like to congratulate past-chair Susan

Stacey of Kaplan University on a very successful 2011 — a year inwhich chamber membership grew to over 1410 members. clearly 2011was a challenging year for us all, but The chamber responded by keepingmember costs at low levels and by significantly expanding the number ofmember service programs.in november, your chamber Board of directors held its annual planningmeeting at chickadee in lewiston to chart our course for the year ahead.2011 was a great year with more programs attended by more membersthan any other time in our history. Our hope is that even more chambermembers will take advantage of our programs in 2012.highlights of The chamber 2012 Plan of action are:

• Push for local action on collaboration and cooperation between the cities of lewiston and auburn.

• utilize monthly chamber Breakfast to highlight major policy issues.

• strong voice in augusta on issues affecting chamber members. Push hard for improvement in business and regulatory climate.

• identify and implement more collaborative programming between yPlaa and traditional chamber divisions.

• educate local residents about all the l/a area has to offer.• continue to let the rest of Maine know that the l/a area has

changed dramatically and is a cool place to live, work, and learn. develop new strategic plan for promoting the area to spread the word about all the l/a area has to offer.

• work with area economic development organizations to determine how The chamber can best support economic growth.

• utilize scholarship scramble as a key fund raiser to support local students and working adults who are pursuing post-secondary education opportunities.

• develop “Put up or shut up” – an interchange between local businesses and K-12 schools.

The chamber exists for the sole purpose of serving the needs of memberbusinesses and organizations and the community as a whole. we areexcited about the prospects for a great year in 2012. My hope for thenew year is that every member will continue to do what they do best inmaking our communities the great places they are — to live, work andplay!The Board of Directors and Chamber Staff join me in wishing you allthe best for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Jan 5 Th yPlaa Professional development seriesbegins with Kurk lalemand

Jan 10 T career Fair for area tenth graders, cMcc, 9amJan 12 Th chamber Breakfast, 7:15am, Annual Economic

Forecast, hilton garden innJan 16 M Martin luther King, Jr. day, chamber closed Jan 19 Th Business After Hours, gritty Mcduff’sJan 20 F chamber Board of directors, 7:30 a.m. Jan 26 Th seminar, “Basic sales skills,” 8:30-11:30 am at

The chamberJan 26 Th seminar, “Master selling – For Business

growth,” 1:30-4:30 pm at The chamber

Feb 1 w Brown Bag, “workforce and labor Trends”Feb 2 Th chamber Breakfast, 7:15am, ramada, “Celebrating

our New Members”Feb 9 Th chamber Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony,

ramada conference center, 5pmFeb 16 Th Thank You Day Breakfast at Marco’sFeb 16 Th Business After Hours, J dostie Jewelers, 5-7pmFeb 17 F chamber Board Meeting, 7:30amFeb 20 M Presidents’ day, chamber closedFeb 22 w Brown Bag seminar, “Creating a Wellness Culture

in Your Organization,” noon at chamber Feb 23 Th “Know Your Chamber,” 11:30 am at The chamberFeb 28 T seminar, “The Top Three Qualities of Millionaires,”

with Jaime Tardy

Mar 6 T Brown Bag, “Health Insurance – FindingYour Way,” noon at The chamber

Mar 8 Th chamber Breakfast, 7:15 a.m., Martindale, “Theandroscoggin green way state Park”

Mar 15 Th Business After Hours at l/a arts, 5-7 pmMar 16 F chamber Board Meeting, 7:30amMar 22 Th seminar, “Team Building” presented by lee szelog,

8:30 am – 11:30 am, The chamber

P A G E 2 N E W S L E T T E R OF THE ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

FEBRUARY

MARCH

JANUARY

chip Morrison, lilia conway, Kelly david, & scott riccio “stuff the Bus” forchamber & yPlaa Kids for the holidays. stuff the Bus is sponsored by northeastcharter & Tour.

ART BOULAY, MBA, CMC207.373.9301ABoulay@StrategicTalentManagement.com

To take yourself or your organization to the next level:www.AchieveTheSummit.com

THANK YOU DAY SCHEDULED FOR FEBRUARY 16th

By chip MorrisonThank you day is a very special day for our chamber. On that day morethan 100 volunteers will take the brand new 2012 Business resourceguide and deliver it to all chamber members – as our way of saying“Thank you” for making us the strongest and most vibrant chamber in thestate. The day starts at 7:30 a.m. with a complimentary breakfast at Marco’s forall volunteers. The volunteers then head out across our communities tomeet members, thank them for their support, and give them the new 2012resource guide. volunteer assignments are grouped geographically – tomake the best use of our volunteers’ time. it is my hope that in 2012 we will have a record number of volunteersjoin us. if you would like to be part of our special Thank you day onFebruary 16th, call Maureen aube at The chamber, 783-2249, or send heran email at mmaube@androscoggincounty.com.

2012 WHAT WE STAND FORThe Business advocacy committee with the leadership of Peter Trail ofnason Mechanical systems and clifton greim of harriman associateshas again recommended a plan to improve Maine’s business climate andcontinue our high quality of life.  What We Stand For – 2012 is quitedifferent than previous years in that it opens with the policy prioritiesidentified by members in The chamber’s spring survey and then high-lights the progress made in the last session of the Maine legislature. The2012 version goes on to point out that Maine continues to face significantchallenges. Priorities for the upcoming session of the legislature are:

• Keep the changes instituted in regulating health insurance in Maine and lay the groundwork for the implementation of the Federal affordable care act.

• lower income taxes further and fully conform with the federal estate tax laws.

• align Maine’s public assistance benefit levels so that they are no higher than the national median

• consolidate and reorganize government agencies and services to reduce costs and duplicative efforts

• Formulate a constitutional amendment to reduce the size of the legislature

• emphasize outcomes in education and in workforce development so graduates enter the workplace and post-secondary education with the necessary skills to succeed

• allocate more resources for pre-K education• Provide for a more diverse and lower cost mix of energy resources• drastic decrease in the cost of electricity• approve a significant transportation bond issue to decrease the backlog

of unfunded projects and to boost the sagging construction industrya full copy of What We Stand For - 2012 is included as an insert withthis newsletter, the Business advocacy committee will continue tostrongly articulate these messages to our elected leaders.

ANDROSCOGGIN BUSINESS TO BUSINESSTRADE SHOWThe 17th annual androscoggin Business to Business Trade show will takeplace on Thursday, June 14, 2012 at the androscoggin Bank colisee.registration forms will be mailed and available online within the nextfew weeks.

The Business to Business Trade show is the largest, one-day businessshow in the state, and attracts more than 2,500 attendees and nearly 200exhibitors. The show is a networking bonanza and is renowned for itshigh energy and for attracting a steady stream of qualified leads. Theshow is organized by the lewiston-auburn economic growth council incooperation with the androscoggin county chamber of commerce.

companies interested in opportunities to sponsor and/or exhibit shouldcontact calvin rinck, Marketing director at the lewiston-auburneconomic growth council, 784-0161, or e-mail crinck@economic-growth.org. For more information, please visit www.economicgrowth.org.

WANTED: VOLUNTEERS FOR CHAMBER COMMITTEESBy chip Morrison

The wide array of chamber programs is possible only with the help ofour active membership. would you like to help in any of the followingareas?

• Membership Committee, Patti Gagne, Chair – designing programs for members and recruiting new members to be a part of our growing organization

• Ambassador Committee, Stephanie Gelinas, Chair– helping members feel “at home” at chamber functions

• Education Committee, Mary LaFontaine & Jennifer Hogan, Co-chairs – working to involve members in programs that bring businesses, teachers and students closer together. current projects include recruiting classes and volunteers for Junior achievement and bringing financial literacy into the schools.

• Business Advocacy, Peter Traill and Clif Greim, Co-chairs, – working with our legislative leaders and our local legislators to let them know the needs of our local businesses and communities. recently formulated “what we stand For -2012” and will be advocating for improvements in state’s business climate.

• Regional Image, Hillary Dow and Iman Poeraatmadja, Co-chairs – working to improve the image of our area, both locally and around the state and region.

• Not Your Normal Formal – planning and implementing The chamber’s annual gala event.

• Golf Tournament, Jennifer Willey, Chair – planning and running the premier golf tournament raising funds for scholarships for local youth.

call me or any of the committee chairs if you have any questions aboutthe work of any of our active committees. and if you want to be involvedin one of the chamber committees, just call The chamber at 783-2249 orsend me an email at cmorrison@androscoggincounty.com.

P A G E 3 N E W S L E T T E R OF THE ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

P A G E 4 N E W S L E T T E R OF THE ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Skelton, Taintor & Abbott is proud to announcethat two of its attorneys have been selected byBest lawyers® as 2012 “lawyers of the year”,

Gretchen L. Jones and Bryan M. Dench. Community Credit Union is pleased to announce the hiring of

Andrew Lunn as the new accounting supervisor.Willis of Northern New England, Inc. is proud to announce that JudithM. Conley has been promoted to the position of vice President, clientadvocacy, human capital Practice and that William J. Lewis, aic hasbeen promoted to the position of vice President, alternative Markets.Advocates for Children and Senator Margaret Craven recently deliv-ered purple hats to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center’s FamilyBirthing center. The hats were given to each baby born at st. Mary’s innovember as part of a national campaign to increased awareness of thePeriod of PurPle crying, a normal period in an infant’s developmentwhen they cry more than any other time. Colleen Michel, staffing coordinator at St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilionreceived the 2011 celebrating excellence in caregiving award. Norway Savings Bank was presented with a gold-level well workplaceaward by the wellness council of america (welcOa). This award dis-tinguishes norway savings Bank as one of the healthiest companies inamerica. Austin Associates, PA, CPAs congratulates Albert Bergen for attaininghis license as a certified Public accountant.   albert joined austinassociates in 2010 and has been working with small businesses in multi-ple industries for nearly seven years.  he is currently accepting newclients, 783-9111, www.austinpa.com.Savage has been named one of “america’s safest companies” by EHSToday magazine.  savage employs 72 team members at the Savage SafeHandling operation in auburn, Me.For the second consecutive year, Skelton, Taintor & Abbott has receivedimpressive placement in the u.s. news-Best lawyers® ranking of “Bestlaw Firms” in america. The firm has been given the prestigious “First-Tier” ranking in the following practice areas: family law, health care law,person injury litigation (defendants), product liability litigation (defen-dants), tax law and trusts and estates law.The Franco American Heritage Center is pleased to announce the hiringof Todd M. Richard as Marketing Manager and Box Office coordinator. The Salvation Army of Lewiston/Auburn recently received 60 turkeysfrom Electricity Maine. during the Thanksgiving and christmas season,more than 60 food baskets will be distributed to families in need.The Stanton Bird Club is proud to announce they have a new web pageon MaineTrailFinder.com. The Auburn Public Library received a $1,500 donation from a local per-son (who wishes to remain anonymous) to purchase 3 early literacy iPad2’s for lending out from the children’s room!

Susan Baltrus, president of the Central Maine Medical Center Collegeof Nursing and Health Professions, was recently elected to the nationalleague for nursing accrediting commission (nlnac) Board ofcommissioners.Falcon Performance Footwear announced today that its employees haveachieved significant cost savings as a result of a lean traininginitiative.  led by the Maine Manufacturing extension Partnership (MaineMeP), the initiative worked with all 55 company employees to identifyways of improving production efficiency.  The initiative succeeded in cut-ting the company’s production time by 40 percent.The People’s United community Foundation, the philanthropic arm ofPeople’s united Bank, has announced that it has awarded $2,500 tocommunity Financial literacy (cFl). This grant to cFl will help sup-port their expansion and growth as they serve refugees and immigrantswith targeted culturally-appropriate financial literacy courses.OTT Communications introduces the cloud Powered communicationsystem! This will change the way you do business. This system is deliv-ered over the internet, there are fewer start-up costs, it requires minimalon-site equipment and there is less operating demand on your iT people!www.ottcommunications.com or 1-877-643-6246. The Midcoast Symphony Orchestra presents “an Orchestra showcase”on January 14th, 7:30 at the Franco-American Heritage Center. Ticketsavailable by calling 689-2000, or on line at Midcoastsymphony.org.Tickets also available at the door on concert night.Electricity Maine has reached its first goal of enrolling 10,000 customers.This equates to a combined annual savings of more than $500,000 forMainers. Carol Palmer, Quickbooks specialist and bookkeeper for the accountingfirm of Robustelli, Soucy & Hussey P.A, has achieved the QuickbooksProadvisor designation.Maine Oxy recently received the american heart associations gold levelsTarT award. This award is for their employee fitness campaign andstrategies for 2011 and beyond. The award was presented by susancrandall, corporate events director of the aha. Maine Oxy is an auburnMaine based, employee owned company with 13 locations in newengland. who wants to be an innkeeper????  Jan Barrett of the Ware Street Innwants to retire!!!!  Turn-key well-established B&B for sale…..strike whilethe iron is hot!!!!On november 17, Brann & Isaacson attorney Peter D. Lowe traveled tolas vegas for the 16th annual advance employment issues symposiumto give a presentation entitled, “Monitoring employee e-Mail, Texting andFacebook: what’s Off limits?” he also presented on “Managingworkplace safety & risk with Medical Marijuana” at the science andPractice of Occupational and environmental Medicine conference innewton, Ma on december 1.

WHAT’S UP…?

Dick GleasonPresident & General ManagerTel: (207) 784-5868 Cell: (207) 754-3777E-Mail: DickGleason@Gmail.comOffice: 555 Center Street, Auburn, ME 04210GGLEASON

MEDIASERVICES

www.GleasonMedia.com

Radio StationsWOXO 92.7 & 100.7 • WEZR 1240 • WTME 780 & 1450

Internet ServicesEmail Marketing • Web Site Development

did you used to participate in your high school and/or college band? ifyes, here is your opportunity to re-live those fun times! January is OpenMembership Month for the Auburn Community Concert Band. it does-n’t matter how much time has passed since you last touched your instru-ment. simply having wednesday evenings free to attend weeklyrehearsals is the only requirement. rehearsals for the summer concertseason begin January 4th. new members are welcome to join through theend of the month. For more information, visit www.auburncommunity-band.com, or call Band director Milt Simon at 782-3917.

The Androscoggin Land Trust and the City of Lewiston are celebratingthe permanent protection of garcelon Bog, one of the city’s most impor-tant ecological features.  

Blanchette Moving & Storage Co. has won the following awards fromallied van lines: apex award - highest quality rating of excellent forcustomer focus performance. safety award - three consecutive years ofsafe performance. customer For life - based on objective measurementof customer satisfaction and performance excellence.

Keller Williams Mid Maine Real Estate has joined The Maine RealEstate Network-Maine’s #1 independent real estate agency. TheMaine real estate network consists of ten locations throughout Mainewith 260 real estate professionals. The auburn office can be reached at689-9800 or sales@themainerealestatenetwork.com.

“stations of the cross”, a sonnet cycle by Timothy Victor Richardson ofProseWorks(tm) Associates, is being featured in a special poetry issue ofthe harvard divinity Bulletin.

Austin Associates, PA, CPAs is honored to receive the united way’sspirit of the androscoggin award.  recipients of this award display out-standing campaign support and caring through community outreachefforts.

Join Adriane Kramer of Girl Power Fitness for $5 zumba(r) at clubTexas, center street, auburn, every Monday night, 7 to 8PM.  Or at thesilver spur at 272 lewiston street, Mechanic Falls, every wednesdaynight from 6 to 7PM. For more information zumba4me@oxfordnet-works.net, on Facebook, or 312-2277.

Governor LePage honored Brann & Isaacson attorney Daniel C.Stockford for his commitment to ending domestic violence in Maine ata ceremony at The Blaine house on October 4, 2011.

The Bangor Savings Bank Foundation has announced the 68 non-profitsfor the 2012 community Matters More ballot. Of those 68, six non-prof-its are listed for the greater Portland, lewiston, auburn area includingLewiston-Auburn Community Little Theatre. voting begins by ballotand online January 23, 2012 and ends March 5, 2012. Best of luck to allnon-profits involved!

Camden National Bank was named the Finance Authority of Maine(FAME)’s “Financial institution of the year” at its annual showcaseMaine meeting and awards event in november.

The American Red Cross, United Valley will be holding its annual RealHeroes Award Breakfast in lewiston on March 13, 2012. in preparationthey are looking for individuals from androscoggin, Kennebec, Oxford,Franklin and somerset counties who have gone above and beyond to helptheir fellow community members in 2011. To make a nomination pleasevisit www.maineredcross.org/real-heroes-awards or contact Jennifergaylord at 376-0615.

Androscoggin Head Start and Child Care is pleased to announce theselection of Betsy Norcross Plourde as the new executive director.

The corporate and community services department at Central MaineCommunity College reports that their spring continuing education andworkforce training classes will be posted on their website starting afterJanuary 1, 2012. Please visit www.cmcc.edu/training to learn more.upcoming courses include: The MeMic center for workplace safety,“aBc’s of accounting” and icd10 Transition Medical coding.

Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice is offering programs this winter toprovide information and support to adults and youth in central and west-ern Maine grieving the death of a loved one. For more information,including program locations/dates, or to pre-register call 777-7740 or 1-800-482-7412.

Lewiston Adult Education’s winter/spring semester will be starting inJanuary. visit www.lewistonadulted.org for the full list of academic,office skills, computer and enrichment courses available between nowand May.

do you like to party? do you know someone who does? AflandersDistributing is now offering home parties. your choice of avon or FullerBrush Products. Theme parties a specialty. contact Alice Flanders 576-6213, aflanders@yahoo.com. The Lewiston-Auburn CA$H Coalition will again provide Free taxpreparation services by irs certified volunteers during the 2012 January– april tax season. To schedule a Free appointment, area residents maycall 513-3160 (phone line opens January 16, 2012). The coalition alsopromotes the earned income Tax credit for low-to-moderate-incomeworkers, as well as financial literacy awareness and opportunities.

COMMUNITY JOB FAIR SLATED FOR APRIL 13The chamber education committee, headed by Mary laFontaine of thecareer center and Jennifer hogan of community credit union, is plan-ning the 9th annual community Job Fair for april 13 at central Mainecommunity college. The fair will target job seekers of all ages includinghigh school seniors and area college students and will feature 50 localemployers who are recruiting for new employees. if you are interested inparticipating in the job fair, contact Jenny ziebart at The chamber at 783-2249.

sponsors of the Job Fair are The chamber, central Maine communitycollege, The employment Times, gleason Media group and The sunJournal.

P A G E 5 N E W S L E T T E R OF THE ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

HAVE YOU SEEN THE CHAMBER ROADSHOW?

The regional image committee has put together a 20-25minute PowerPoint presentation dramatically showingthe positive attributes of the l/a area. To date, the pre-sentation has been given to forty groups and over 1500

people. Those groups include: major employers, schools,churches and social clubs. To schedule a presentation to

your group, call chip at the chamber at 783-2249.

P A G E 6 N E W S L E T T E R OF THE ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

2011-2012BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Kurk Lalemand, ChairNext Level Business Coaching

Mary LaFontaine, Chair ElectCareer Center

Robin Robbins, TreasurerAndroscoggin Bank

Susan Stacey, Past ChairKaplan University

Jason AgrenAgren Appliance

Jan BarrettWare Street Inn Bed & Breakfast

Bob BernierMatheson Valley

Susan BerubeWGME-13

Art BoulayStrategic Talent Management

Nancy CableBates College

JoAnne CampbellMechanics Savings Bank

Michael Cox Central Maine Orthopaedics

Doug DiVelloCentral Maine Healthcare Corp

Adam DunbarWells Fargo Advisors

Jodi EllerProcter & Gamble

Patti GagnePatti Gagne Agency, Allstate Insurance

Stephanie GelinasSandcastle Clinical & Educational Services

Joyce GibsonUSM at LAC

Clif GreimHarriman and Associates

Kevin HealeySt. Mary’s Health System

Elaine HemenwayPayroll Management Inc

Jennifer HoganCommunity Credit Union

Matt JancovicOxford Networks

Paul LandryFish Bones American Grill

Michael MalloySkelton, Taintor & Abbott PA

Scott McKenneyHilton Garden Inn

Iman PoeraatmadjaNeokraft Signs

Peter SteeleTwin City Times

Peter TraillNason Mechanical Systems Inc.

Shane Wright, YPLAA ChairIsaacson & Raymond

Jennifer WilleyCanteen Services

2011 MEMBER SURVEY REPORTThe 2011 chamber Member survey asked members torate the performance of the chamber on a scale from 1(poor) to 4 (excellent).  The survey was conducted in midOctober and 164 members responded (more than a 10%return). The overall rating given to the Chamber was3.70 and all scores were above 3.38! Members wereasked about specific areas of chamber involvement.Networking opportunities (such as MembershipBreakfast, Business after hours, and the annualMeeting) ranked highest (as in prior years,) followed byproviding information (chamber newsletter, monthlysmall Business e-news and biweekly e-events), fol-lowed by promoting the community and communityevents.

Members were also asked to respond to several open-ended questions, the first of which was their highest pri-ority for chamber activity. The highest priorities forchamber activity was far and away networking, followedby advocacy for an improved business climate, followedby working to improve the image of the area, followedclosely by supporting economic development activities.

next members were asked where they would like Thechamber to put more emphasis. 59 members respondedto the question. while there was no overwhelming trend,the areas of activities most frequently mentioned were:

• community promotion and branding• advocacy on behalf of businesses in augusta• working to promote business growth

Members were then asked to provide comments aboutour new chamber website. There were many positivecomments and a number of helpful suggestions abouthow the site could be improved.

The next open-ended question that members responded toasked for suggestions for future seminar topics. This yearmore than ever before there were a number of great newideas for programs. The most popular topics listed were:

• social networking • Marketing/sales• human resource issues • leadership

The survey asked members to give feedback about thenewest chamber division, the young Professionals of thelewiston-auburn area.  comments were very positiveand many suggestions were made to make the organiza-tion even stronger.  One member said, “great idea! greatenergy! Keep it up.” several commented that yPlaa isa great way to groom future leaders for the community.Finally, another commented: ”i love to see the energy.This is a critical component in the transformation of ourcommunities.”

Finally, members were asked to give comments and sug-gestions to the chamber.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with manypositive comments about the Board of directors andstaff.  Positive comments received included:

• Thank you for all you do. The small staff gets anincredible amount of work done. you rock!

• The chamber has quite a presence across the state.• Keep doing all the wonderful things you are doing!• congratulations on another great year with

continued membership growth.• happy with the communication level,

professionalism and great events.

There were also some suggestions for improvementsincluding ideas for the website, expediting some of thebusiness functions at chamber breakfast and working tocreate smaller networking events.

chamber President chip Morrison was thrilled with theresponse to the survey. “it is great so many of our mem-bers took the time to give us targeted feedback on ourchamber programs. we will use the answers from thesurvey to guide our efforts in the year ahead.”

HELP PLAN NOT YOUR NORMAL FORMALThe chamber’s most special evening of the year, NotYour Normal Formal, will be held on Friday, May 4th atthe ramada inn. again this year the theme will be “TheKentucky derby at not your normal Formal.” last yearthe virtual horse race was a new special feature that wasenjoyed by all attendees. also, dressing up for the derbyproved to be a special night for many.

The gala evening climaxes with the drawing for majorcash prizes – making lucky attendees deliriously happy.The drawing follows a festive evening which includesgreat food, musical entertainment, dancing, and a liveand silent auction with over $25,000 in merchandise, ser-vices and travel donated by chamber members. arequest for donations for the auction will be in a futurechamber communication.

The party begins with a social hour at 5:00 p.m. thatincludes the silent auction, cash bar and plenty of horsd’oeuvres. invitations will be mailed to all chambermembers, but to reserve yours ahead, call deborahconway at The chamber office at 783-2249.

a planning committee for 2012 not your normal Formalis currently being formed. if you would like to help planthis signature event, call chip at 783-2249.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR“The Kentucky Derby at

Not Your Normal Formal”

FRIDAY, May 4th

5:00 P.M. AT THE RAMADA

Remember to register for Chamber events online at our website

www.androscoggincounty.com!

P A G E 7 N E W S L E T T E R OF THE ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

MEMBER IN FOCUS:

Mountain Machine Worksby Toni seger, ProseWorks™ Associatesdon’t tell Bruce Tisdale of Mountain Machine works (MMw) that manufactur-ing’s dead in the united states because his perspective is very different. “There’salways manufacturing work that can’t move offshore like emergency on-siterepair work. consider a wastewater treatment plant or a hydro-electric powercompany that suffers a breakdown. if that company is anywhere in newengland, new york or Pennsylvania, our portable machine shop can repair majorproduction equipment while it remains in place, any day of the year.” Then,Bruce adds: “critical infrastructure can’t be outsourced any more than thedefense department should outsource to china.” in early november when i visited MMw at2589 hotel road, Bruce had two newmachines due to arrive at a cost of$200,000 and he really needed another fouror five employees, but Bruce can’t find thehighly skilled technicians he needs for themanufacturing work he can get.Furthermore, Bruce says every machineshop in this country has the same ironicconundrum. in a country hungry for jobs,we have a shortfall of qualified machinistscapable of commanding annual salariesbetween $45,000 and $75,000 with bene-fits! More about the benefits later onbecause they deserve their own space. Ourdearth of qualified machinists isn’t a smallmatter. right now, the united states lacksover three million people pursuing skilledmanufacturing careers and the federal gov-ernment projects this will grow to an unbe-lievable 30 million by 2020! “The best news for our workforce is, manufacturing has returned to the unitedstates and it will continue to return as the advantage of using foreign labor con-tinues to decline.” according to projections, most cost advantages with chinesecompetitors will disappear by 2013. This story of a Maine machine shop, faced with a fruitless search for labor whilethe country’s middle class sinks into poverty, gets more ironic when you consid-er the excellent technical education at central Maine community college andMaine’s community college system as a whole. cMcc is so good it drawsfrom all over new england and other parts of the country. “if anything, we needmore schools like Maine’s community colleges and we need to focus on qualitymanufacturing skills as a worthwhile career objective”, agree Bruce and Beckycote, MMw’s administrations Manager. Machine work is complex, exacting and satisfying. it takes a decade to make atop quality machinist like a surgeon which, in its precision, it resembles. amachinist’s work is the underpinning of all industrial societies. everything in anurban skyline got started on a machine shop blueprint. in rapid fashion, Brucedelineates a multitude of busy projects in his shop, including one he’s proud tosay is helping rebuild the world Trade center in new york city. “Being amachinist is more than a job”, says Becky. “it’s a career path with generousrewards for highly developed skills.” The skills are certainly impressive likemeasuring the finishing of metal to a tenth of a thousandth of an inch. it’s especially frustrating to know people are desperate for employment whilegood paying work goes begging because, as Bruce says, if society addressed the

mismatch between businesses that could grow and a shortage of qualified labor,everyone would benefit. “The economy runs on manufacturing”, explains Bruce,“because it’s productive labor. you create something with value that becomespart of something else that adds value. That’s how we built this country.Building value is why it pays so well to work in manufacturing.”

The Mind Over Metal camp at southern Maine community college is a goodexample of what we need to do more. Teenagers learn welding, machining andother precision skills while they get exposure to opportunities in manufacturing.They also leave with something they made using a lathe or milling machine, dig-ital calipers and other expensive, sophisticated tools. skillsusa.com andskillsusaMaine.com provide more information about options for high schooland college students interested in highly skilled trades and/or technical futures.

The interview is fraught with ironies. i interviewed Bruce exactly seven yearsago when he had five more people on hiswork force and felt just as frustrated. ForBruce, it’s the economy in reverse; heneeds to hire and can’t while, at the sametime, his business enjoys the benefits of acutting edge, health care program whensome businesses are eliminating theirsentirely.

Mountain Machine works and its compan-ion business Mountain Fluid Power arepart of a partially self funded, insurancehealth plan through the Manufacturersassociation of Maine. The arrangementcreates a pool of employers. Broadeningthe pool among manufacturers levels theplaying field for small businesses andallows them to offer excellent group bene-fits.

however, Mountain Machine works does-n’t stop there. MMw is the first Maine company to use Meritain’s healthyMerits wellness program. The plan is proactive. it builds self-reliance by reward-ing wellness. Once a year, Meritain conducts a strictly private, comprehensiveseries of blood tests that identifies issues and potential issues. Once identified,you’re assigned a coach with a strategy for better health. it could include educa-tional programs to assist you with exercising and/or quitting tobacco. as workersget healthier and need less care, costs can be returned or benefits can expand toinclude dental or eye coverage. MMw is only in their second year of the pro-gram, but results are dramatic. “Two people quit smoking while six have lostover 15 pounds”, says Bruce. “i’ve lost 12.” “everyone has more energy”, addsBecky, “and i, myself am off high blood pressure medication”.

“if you’re lucky enough to have health insurance today”, says Bruce, you’reprobably feeling burdened by the cost and restrictions, but this plan is the oppo-site. you feel more secure and well covered at the same time you feel less likelyyou’ll need it.” Bruce wants you to know there are no candy machines in hisshop, but since 2007, MMw has had fresh fruits and veggies delivered fromBlackie’s Farm stand in auburn and everyone enjoys it. “we’ve created a cultureof health.”

To learn more, call Bruce or Becky at 783-6680 or toll free at 800-660-6680.

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P A G E 8 N E W S L E T T E R OF THE ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

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HILTON GARDEN INN TO SPONSOR DIVERSE SEMINAR LINEUP The Hilton Garden Inn Auburn Riverwatch has again stepped up to sponsor the winter/spring seminar series. Chamber members will share expertise with othermembers in an expanded, full line up of seminars. All the seminars and brown bag discussions will be held at the community conference room in the BusinessService Center at KeyBank Plaza. Seminar topics are in line with those requested by members in the annual member survey conducted in late 2011. Programsscheduled are:January 26 Seminar, “Basic Sales Skills” with Denise Martin of Good For You Coaching and Consulting January 26 Seminar, “Master Selling for Business Growth” with Denise Martin of Good For You Coaching and ConsultingFebruary 1 Brown Bag Seminar on “Workforce and Labor Trends”, with Glenn Mills of the Maine Department of LaborFebruary 22 Brown Bag Seminar on “Creating a Wellness Culture in Your Organization” February 28 Seminar, “The Top Three Qualities of Millionaires,” with Jaime TardyMarch 6 Brown Bag Seminar, “Health Insurance – Finding Your Way” March 22 Seminar, “Team Building for Organizational Effectiveness,” with Lee SzelogApril 3 Brown Bag Seminar, “Fundraising for Smaller Nonprofits” April 24 Seminar, “Social Media Policies Which Get You In – Or Keep You Out of Trouble,” May 1 Brown Bag, “Understanding Financial Statements”May 30 Seminar, “Dejunk Your Life” with Marilyn NewallJune 5 Brown Bag, “Preparing for a Trade Show”June 20 Seminar, “Gender Differences: Enhance Your Ability to

Communicate with the Opposite Sex – At Work and At Home” with Bob Labrie