Maine Ahead October 2011

m a i n e s b u s i n e s s & e x e c u t i v e l i f e s t y l e m a g a z i n e

People & ProfitKristine Avery helps Maine HR pros create value through people power . . . 18

$ 5 .9 5 U. S . $6.95 in canada

Tom moser 51 | keeping your nesT egg 38 | edward Johnson iii 10

o c t o b e r 2 0 1 1

Inside White Rock Distilleries . . . 26

pLus

Life and Disability products underwritten by Anthem Life Insurance Company. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of: In Colorado and Nevada: Rocky Mountain Hospital and Medical Service, Inc. In Connecticut: Anthem Health Plans, Inc. In Indiana: Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. In Kentucky: Anthem Health Plans of Kentucky, Inc. In Maine: Anthem Health Plans of Maine, Inc. In Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area): RightCHOICE Managed Care, Inc. (RIT), Healthy Alliance Life Insurance Company (HALIC), and HMO Missouri, Inc. RIT and certain affi liates administer non-HMO benefi ts underwritten by HALIC and HMO benefi ts underwritten by HMO Missouri, Inc. RIT and certain affi liates only provide administrative services for self-funded plans and do not underwrite benefi ts. In New Hampshire: Anthem Health Plans of New Hampshire, Inc. In Ohio: Community Insurance Company. In Virginia: Anthem Health Plans of Virginia, Inc. trades as Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Virginia, and its service area is all of Virginia except for the City of Fairfax, the Town of Vienna, and the area east of State Route 123. In Wisconsin: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin (BCBSWi), which underwrites or administers the PPO and indemnity policies; Compcare Health Services Insurance Corporation (Compcare), which underwrites or administers the HMO policies; and Compcare and BCBSWi collectively, which underwrite or administer the POS policies. Independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Choice. Affordability. Wellness.That's the real value of Anthem.

With Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, you can offer your employees

more than just health coverage. You can offer them a health benefits

package that provides real valuefor you and for them.

A range of affordable health, dental and vision plans. Wellness care resources and tools your employees can use to live healthier.

Potential cost savings through the strength of our network. Real value for your employees and the benefits they need. Value for

your company by helping to manage costs and create healthier employees.

Find out more about Anthems complete solutions for your company

today at anthem.com/connects2.

October 2011 Maine Ahead >> 1

Contents

PRIVATE TOUR: White Rock Distilleries 26

ROUndTAblE: Keeping That Nest Egg 38

B U S I N E S S

UPFRONT

Fertile at Fidelity . . . 10Edward Ned Johnson III, Maine summer resident, is un-commonly good at cultivating net worth. Including his own.

BACKBONE

Going Mobile . . . 16Connect with Bill Broadbent, founder of Mowbi, a new Portland-based company helping businesses ride the mobile commerce wave.

PODIUM | Cover story

Up with People Power . . . 18 Kristine Avery talks about a tried and true way to up the bottom line: people power.

PRIvATE TOUR

Dessert in a Bottle . . . 26White Rock Distilleries is proof positive that a company can both respond to and initiate new consumer tastes.

ROUNDTABLE

Keeping That Nest Egg . . . 38Two lawyers and two financial planning pros give us sagacious tips on protecting our assets.

>> FEATURES

IllU

STR

aTIO

N: M

. ScO

TT R

IcK

ETTS


l I F E S T Y l E

WORTH THE TRIP

Anchored in History . . . 48Founded by descendants of sea captains, Penobscot Marine Museum is a good way to sea off another tourist season.

vANTAGE POINT

Becoming Thos. Moser . . . 51There are many Thos. Moser wannabees in the fine furniture world, but theres only one original.

CHEFs CHOICE

Down by the River . . . 58Rick Hirsch is cooking up a table full of fresh and savory comfort food at the Damariscotta River Grill.

O P I N I O N

BULL PEN

Bonding to Rebuild Infrastructure = Jobs . . . 60Orlando Delogu believes the price is rightright nowfor borrowing to rebuild Maines infirm infrastructure.

Maines Unrealized Human Potential . . . 62Poland-born Felix Zandman rose from a literal grave to live an inspirational American life. What other Zandmans are in our neighborhoods?

J. DOE

Cleaning Up Maines Mess . . . 64Maine state treasurer Bruce Poliquin pauses from his fiscal cleanup duties to explain why and how the LePage administration is tackling the dirty jobs that no one else wants to face.

Contents cont.

I n E v e r y I s s u e

BACK THEN

Change Your Oil? . . . 9Remember the days when you could stay in the car and trust your gas, glass, and oil to the man with the star?

MAINE GOODs

Crooked Little House . . . 12Wonky lines, wah-hoo colorsKids Crooked House makes pint-sized playhouses a little tyke can love.

sTICKY BUsINEss

Exiting Strategically . . . 14Think youre ready to retire? Read Peter Plumbs column before you give up your desk and break out the champagne.

THE WAY WE WORK

Always on Her Toes . . . 72As a child, Katrina Smedal fell in love with ballet. Heres a look behind the curtain at the making ofand main-tenance required fora career as a professional ballet dancer.

VAnTAgE POInT: Tom Moser 51

PhO

TO:S

: (TO

P) c

OU

RTE

SY O

F Th

OM

aS M

OSE

R; (

cEN

TER

) cO

UR

TESY

OF

PEN

OB

ScO

T M

aRIN

E M

USE

UM

; Ill

UST

RaT

ION

: M. S

cOTT

RIc

KET

TS

PROGREss NOTEs

MEREDA . . . 66Industry insights from Roxane Cole, Keith Luke, Nate Rudy, and Rod McKay.

PROMOTIONal cONTENT

wORTh ThE TRIP: Penobscot Marine Museum 48

J. dOE: cleaning Up Maines Mess 64

meet and greet

6 >> Maine Ahead October 2011

>> PUBLISHERS NOTE

PUBLISHer

Mark T. Wellman

edItOr In CHIeF

Tori Britton

managIng edItOr

Melanie Brooks

art dIreCtOr

Sandy Flewelling

BUSIneSS edItOrS

Mike Woelflein

Henry Garfield

COnSULtIng edItOr

Annaliese Jakimides

ILLUStratOr In CHIeF

M. Scott Ricketts

PHOtOgraPHy

Irvin Serrano

Shane Leonard

Kevin Couture

PrOdUCtIOn deSIgner

Ashley Ray

admInIStratIve team

Melissa Sherman

Gibran Vogue Graham

InternS

Austin Michaud

Dakota Paradis

COntrIBUtIng WrIterS

Richard Shaw

Orlando E. Delogu

Perry B. Newman

dIreCtOr OF SaLeS & OPeratIOnS

Christine Parker

SaLeS COnSULtantS

Christie Spearen

SUBSCrIPtIOnS

10 issues $29.95 online, by phone or mail

www.maineahead.com

PrOdUCtIOn OFFICe:

One Cumberland Place, Suite 316

Bangor, Maine 04401

207.941.1300

Maine Ahead is published by Webster Atlantic Corp., a

Maine-owned company. Newsstand Cover Date: October

2011, published September 20, 2011, Vol. 2, No. 8, Issue 17,

copyright 2011. Advertisers and event sponsors or their

agents are responsible for copyrights and accuracy of all

material they submit.

ADDRESS CHANGES: To ensure delivery, subscribers must

notify the magazine of address changes one month in

advance of cover date.

Opinions expressed do not represent editorial positions

of Maine Ahead. Nothing in this issue may be copied or

reprinted without written permission from the publisher.

Maine Ahead is published 10 times annually. To subscribe,

call 207-941-1300 or visit www.maineahead.com.

COVER IMAGE: Irvin Serrano

Email Mark Wellman at [email protected].

Lessons from a Tough EconomyReading and writing are important, but so is arithmetic.

I FIrSt Went IntO BUSIneSS for myself in 1987, but Ive

always been interested in earning money. I began learning

the ways of the business world as a paper boy, where I took on

a route twice the normal size. If youre up at 4 a.m., you might

as well make it count. even then, the administrative side of

thingscollectionswas something Id rather avoid.

as an ad agency owner, creating things like jingles and

marketing campaigns was easy. managing balance sheets

and people, not so much. So I delegated as much of the finan-

cial management as I dared to, hired self-starters, and focused

on doing good work. that approach usually worked.

If the publishing business and this economy has driven

home anything, its that a quality product and a great crew

arent always enough. the numbers have to make sense, too.

When I interviewed furniture maker/designer tom moser

last month, he told me that he didnt really know how to

calculate his companys profitability until 7 years into its

history. though he admits his passion was always about the

furniture, not the books, it took him 13 years to hire an outside

gm. a man after my own heart.

recently our company began working with a pro named

Jacques Santucci who specializes in helping companies better

understand and enhance their financial performance. One of

the things I like about Jacques is that he doesnt look down on

me for being a creative rather than a numbers guy. Ive learned

alot. And now that I know that a business revolutionary like

Tom Moser also has the same tendencies, I feel almost vindi-

cated. Besides, I did get a hell of an interview, if I do say so

myself. Enjoy the issue.

Mark Wellman, publisher


Tori Britton says:

One of the biggest professional compliments Ive

ever received was from a boss who told me that

I made her look like a genius. I feel the same way

about the people we cover in Maine Ahead.

Tori Britton (left) was valedictorian of the class of

1980 at Schenck High School in East Millinocket,

and shes been striving to be worthy of the title ever

since. The mother of three college-age children and

a graduate of Gordon College (BA) and Binghamton

University (MA), Britton spent 20 years in the adver-

tising and marketing industry before joining Mark

Wellman in a publishing venture in 2005. The latest

offspring of that union is Maine Ahead.

Melanie Brooks

Melanie Brooks, Maine Aheads managing editor, is

also the woman in charge of its sister magazines,

Bangor Metro and Real Maine Weddings. She

is a graduate of Towson University (BA) and

New York University (MA). She and Shane Perry,

engineering installation team chief at the Maine

National Guard, recently got married overlooking

a coastal Maine vineyard. Brooks looks forward

to attending another wedding this month, Real

Maine Weddings 2011 Wedding of the Year, at the

Harraseeket Inn in Freeport.

>> CONTRIBUTORS

Call 773-8890 today. . .

... work from your

Portland office tomorrow.

Executive Office CentersCall David Glaser at 207-773-8890, visit www.maineoffices.com

or visit the Time & Temperature Blg., 5th floor on 477 Congress St.

quality furnished offices flexible leases virtual offices

receptionist service conference rooms average plan $800


back then

>> Check the Oil? ca. 1955, Hampden

PhO

tO:: c

Ou

rte

sy O

f r

ich

ard

new

cOm

b

Service with a Smile has gone missing from many maine gaso-

line stations, most having long ago morphed into convenience

stores where customers pump their own fuel and proprietors

make more reliable profits on snacks, beer, and cigarettes.

in the mid-1950s, proprietors like raymond carleton (center)

kicked the rubber, checked the oil, washed the windshield, and

filled the tank without his customers even asking. carletons

texaco station was a hampden highlands haven for motorists who

appreciated uniformed attendants, including raymonds wife,

edna, and his daughter helen, who proudly wore the texas Star.

carleton also fixed cars as well as filled them; perhaps the 1949

Ford, shown at right, was fresh off the lift.

hampden historian richard Newcomb recalls several gas

stations in town during his youth. his great-uncle, Percy e. Sever-

ance, operated the first filling station by the railroad tracks on

route 9. competitor leon Foss esso station on route 1a would

be dwarfed by todays irving station on the same site, with its

sweeping canopies and blinding lights.

maines few remaining family-owned filling stations are

reminders of a simpler time when workers climbed ladders to

change gas prices, and names like Socony, richfield, and Flying a

were household words. Dysarts in hermon, famous for its big rigs

and truck stop blueberry pie, is one of the few remaining family

businesses where fuel is still a headliner.

Other reminders of yesterdays gas stations are found on

vintage postcards sold at antique shops, and in will andersons

1999 book, You Auto See Maine, which features a ca. 1949 picture of

the c. c. Banks mobilgas station in liberty, where owner charles F.

chase also sold and serviced hudsons, a long-extinct automobile.

while theres still time, younger mainers might want to sit down

with their grandparents and ask about an era when gas attendants

wore uniforms, air and road maps were free, and the biggest fear at

the pump was that gas would spike at a dollar a gallon.

Richard Shaw

upfront p e o p l e | p l a c e s | p r o d u c t s | p r o g r e s s


Fruitful with FidelityEdward Ned Johnson III is Maines richest summer resident. He got that way by growing the worlds most lucrative crop: money.

Mount Desert IslanD, where nelson rockefeller was born, is known as a

summer playground for some of the wealthiest americans. according to Forbes

magazine, the islands richest seasonal resident is edward ned Johnson III, the

81-year-old Ceo of Boston-based Fidelity Investments.

Johnson has headed Fidelity since taking over from his father three

decades ago, the only change in leadership since the companys

founding in 1946. though he rarely gives interviews, hes active in both

business and play. he still travels the world for Fidelity, attending confer-

ences and meeting with clients. Fidelity Investments manages $1.4 tril-

lion in assets for clients worldwide, and has 37,000 employees.

according to published reports, Johnson works out regularly at a

gym in Boston, keeps up his tennis game, and skis in the western united

states. he also keeps an eye on his finances: Johnsons net worth is esti-

mated at $78 billion.

after graduating from harvard with a bachelors degree in 1954,

Johnson joined his fathers firm as a research analyst in 1957. he assumed

executive control of the company in 1972. at the time, Fidelity had assets

under management of a mere $3.9 billion.

Johnson quickly established a reputation as an innovator within the financial

services industry. he pioneered the direct marketing of mutual funds, and made

Fidelity the first company to offer check writing on money market funds. he devel-

oped technology-based customer services and introduced innovations such as

hourly pricing for sector funds.

he has also become a model of succession planning. his daughter abigail, pres-

ident of Fidelity since 2001, is no. 22 on the Forbes 400 list, besting her father by 11

notches and $4.2 billion.

the fortune doesnt all stay in the family: Johnson supports many charitable

organizations in the Boston area and pursues philanthropic activities as chairman

of the Fidelity Foundation and the edward C. Johnson Foundation.

>> mogul of the moNth

NED WORTH

320 Number of baseball seasons Alex Rodriguez would have to play at his current salary ($25 million) to amass Edward Johnson IIIs wealth.

31 Number of times 8 billion $1 bills, laid end-to-end, would circle the earth.

5 Number of people on Forbes magazines list of the 400 richest Americans who own property on MDI.

296,012,090 Assets in dollars in the Edward C. Johnson charitable fund in 2010.

Illu

str

atIO

n: m

. scO

tt r

Ick

etts


BUSINESS PRESS

Edison Liu Md, an international leader in cancer biology, genom-ics, human genetics and molecular epidemiology, has been chosen as the new president and CEo of The Jackson Laboratory.

PowErPays corporate headquarters, located in the former Portland Public Market, is now the first LEEd Gold office building in the state of Maine and its first example of a LEEd certified commercial adap-tive re-use project.

MainE orGaniC Milling (MoM) of auburn has named warren C. Cook of Kingfield as its general manager. MoM is a cooperative, owned by 12 Maine farmers, producing about 200 tons per month of mash and pellets.

GoodwiLL industries of northern new England has chosen anna Eleanor roosevelt as its new CEo. she will provide strategic guidance for Goodwills programs and retail stores in Maine, new Hampshire, and Vermont.

A womans health is her capital. Harriet Beecher Stowe

m a I n e W a V e s

>> Good Stuff, Close ByPICture a sChool FunDraIsIng catalog filled

with goodies from Maine, featuring merchants

like simply Divine Brownies, sea Bags, even

angela adams. to Masey Kaplan (pictured center),

it seemed not so wild a dream. so in 2010 the

mom of two and graphic designer launched Close

Buy, and this fall, Close Buys second catalog of

local goods is in the hands of pint-sized fund-

raisers from over 40 Maine schools. View the list

at www.closebuycatalog.com..

>> SRO in CamdenIn MID-august, tICKets to an event in Camden

quickly became impossible to come by. the

attraction was a lecture by historian and author

David McCullough, who mesmerized a standing-

room-only crowd at the Camden Public library.

the sonorous sage (movie buffs will remember him

as the narrator of Seabiscuit) made sure to sprinkle

his lecture with plenty of Maine factsincluding

hat Camden has one of the highest per capita

instances of library card ownership in the u.s..

>> Digital Medicinewhen 8-Year-olD grahaM MorIssette was

sick with leukemia, he would use the familys

computer for hours to draw, exchange emails

with classmates, and chat online with other sick

kids. after he died, his mother leslie was

determined that other seriously ill children like

gabby (pictured) would have computer access.

Maine-based grahamtastic Connection now

lends laptops to hospital- or home-bound kids in

40 states. Donate at www.grahamtastic.org.

PHO

tOs:

(tO

P) c

Ou

rte

sy O

f le

slIe

mO

rIs

sett

e; (c

ente

r) c

Ou

rte

sy O

f m

asey

kaP

lan

; (b

Ott

Om

) gly

nn

Is JO

nes



In 2005, glen hallIDaY was trying to encourage

his three kids to entertain themselves with

outdoor fun instead of cartoons. no luck.

hallidays first crooked construction project

was actually built for his cousins son, who

wanted an outdoor playhouse. all the prefabri-

cated playhouses halliday and his cousin looked

at bored them, so, halliday says, the two men

went home to sulk and watch some childrens

tV with their kids. they liked the cartoon shows

featuring houses with wonky lines, skewed

angles, and off-kilter windows. halliday, an art

director for a publishing company, decided to

try building a 3-D version of a cartoon house.

the first crooked house was built in his barn

in windham. when the neighborhood kids saw it,

they all wanted one, and a business was born.

I had just enough marketing background to

be dangerous, halliday says, and in 2007, Kids

Crooked house won a nationwide marketing

contest sponsored by Yahoo. In June 2009,

halliday and crew built four crooked houses on

the reality tV show John and Kate Plus Eight,

which was watched by 10.6 million people.

since then its been a whirlwind education.

every day theres a new curveball, halliday

says. hes outgrown his barn and leased produc-

tion space in Portland, where a crew of four fills

orders from around the world.

the crooked houses come in three basic

floor plans and start at around $1,500. the

houses are individually designed and are made

of Maine wood. the base is treated so that it can

sit flat on the ground and withstand the

elements. theyre built to last, halliday says.

the houses are shipped in panels; assembly

requires nothing more than two adults with a

power screwdriver and takes less than an hour.

theyve proven popular at childrens hospitals,

summer camps, and airports.

halliday still gets excited when he delivers a

new custom-designed crooked house. You can

see the whole family light up, he says. Its the

greatest thing.

BUSINESS PRESS

E.s. BouLos Company recently received special recognition for its out-standing safety record from MEMiC of Portland and Cross insurance of Bangor. The company surpassed the one million hour mark without a lost-time work-place injury.

BaTH iron worKs was awarded a contract by the. department of the navy in september for the amount of $1.8 billion to $2 billion to construct the ddG-1001 and ddG-1002 destroyers..

sEnaTor oLyMPia snowe has been named honorary co-chair of newly-formed u.s. senate oceans Caucus. its stated mission is to facilitate congressional conversa-tions about our coasts, estuaries, and open oceans and the policies that govern their management, use and protection.

MEdiCaL CarE development, a Maine non-profit headquartered in augusta, has received a grant award to establish a telehealth resource center for new England and rural new york. The award is $325,000 a year for three years.

>> maiNe goods

PHO

tO: c

Ou

rte

sy O

f k

Ids

crO

Ok

ed H

Ou

se

cROOkED LITTLE HOusEGlen Halliday builds crooked houses in a straight world.What began as a way to pull his children away from the TV is now an asymmetrical phenomenon.

If so, your son or daughter may be able to attend high school at Washington Academy for FREE

Thousands of Maine students are eligible to attend Washington Academy for free. It all starts with seeing if youre from a sending town at www.washingtonacademy.org. Those who apply and are accepted into our Maine Scholars program will have their tuition covered by their hometown, and their room and board paid for by WA.

This is an opportunity of a lifetime because Washington Academy is a very special place. As a WA student, your child can take advantage of career opportunities such as WAs new Maine Guide Ecotourism Program, or its Certifi ed Nurse Assistant, Boat Building and Marine Technologies, Culinary Arts, and Personal Fitness Trainer programs and othersand graduate from high school ready to go to work.

Motivated students can take part in WAs early college programincluding 9 Husson University courses taught at WA, as well as UMM classes and 12 AP courses.

All students benefi t from WAs international campus with students from 15 countries. Add to that small class sizes, full athletic and extracurricular off erings, excellent teachers, and a caring community, and it equals a life-changing education. For your son, daughter, or grandchild, it may even be free! Call our admissions offi ce at (207)255-8301 x209 for more information.

Maine sending tow

ns include: Isle au Haut Saco Blue Hill Trenton Monhegan Castine Indian Township Lubec Holden Eddington

Poland Lyman Arundel Vassalboro China W

indsor Harmony Allagash Grand Isle Dover-Foxcroft and m

any, many m

ore.Do you live in a Maine town with school choice?

E AST MACH I AS , MA I NE ( 207 ) 255-830 1 WWW.WASH INGTONACADEMY.ORG

Since 1792

NOW at WA New Arts and Music Center New Fitness Center New International Business Program

Come visit and see for yourself!



This months expert:

>> sticky busiNess

Peter PlumbFounding Partner, Murray, Plumb & Murray

Peter Plumb is a cofounder and senior director of murray, Plumb & murray, based out of Portland. His practice focuses on giving advice and counsel to small businesses, including business and family real estate succession planning; and to creditors and debtors involved in financing, bankruptcy, and related litigation. In recent years, he has been building a mediation practice focused on his areas of expertise.

A: TO MAKE SURE YOU have a smooth transition into retirement, consider

these suggestions for creating a

fiscally sound exit:

Assess your annual income needs

carefully before you decide to sell.

If you want to sell your business and retire

outright, remember in most cases your annual

income will not be matched by a reasonable

return from a sale.

For example, lets say you receive $150,000

a year in salary and benefits and sell your busi-

ness for $2 million. After payment of taxes of

about 25%, you would have around $1.5 million

which at an (optimistic!) 5% annual return is

$75,000 without invading the principal. Moral:

It is better to stay employed!

Selling? Seek payment up front, and ask for

safeguards. If you do decide your best option

is to sell, get as much cash up front as you can.

Many buyers need private financing in addi-

tion to bank financing, so you generally

become an involuntary bank. Negotiate for as

much security as you can in the company

assets, including the right to take the company

back if you have to. Your objective is to make it

difficult for the buyer not to pay you.

Train, delegate, and reward. Create and

groom a strong management team that can

run the business in your absence. There is

nothing wrong in being a largely absentee

owner if the proper incentives are in place for

the people doing the work. These include:

equity interests in the company that increase

over time; deferred compensation plans for

key employees; and/or an ESOP plan allowing

the employees to buy the company over time.

Take care of your staff. Be fair with your

employees during what might be a lengthy

transition process. Employees who feel they

are being treated fairly will create a smoother

succession process for you.

Dont let taxes rule your decisions. Taxes are

always an important consideration, but should

not be the only consideration.

Allow more time than you think it will take.

In this economy, some major transactions are

taking longer, especially if they involve buyer

financing. Get the succession process started

now.

Sticky business questions need answers.

Email yours to [email protected].

BUSINESS PRESS

uniVErsiTy of new England recently honored four outstanding Maine women of achievement at the 50th annual deborah Morton awards Ceremony. The honorees are Kaye Flanagan, Lynn Kraemer Goldfarb, Gail Kelly, and donna M. Loring.

THrEE FinaLisTs for this years Maine Lobster Chef of the year competi-tion, Kristian Burrin, ryan Campbell, and Tom regan, will compete for the title in a cook-off before a live audience on october 21.

LiaM HuGHEs is the new director for Maines animal welfare Program. He will be responsible for directing staff, policy development, and program legislation, and overseeing animal cruelty and neglect investigations.

naTaLiEs restaurant at the Camden Harbour inn has been selected by Wine Spectator magazine o receive an award of Excellence for the third year in a row.

CoLLEGE oF THE atlantic has been awarded $1 million from the Partridge Foundation to expand its work in sustain-able agriculture.

EXITING sTRATEGIcALLY

Q: I am a small business owner nearing retirement. What options are available to set my business up for a smooth transition while also making sure my retirement is secure?


www.BiddingforGood.com/PBRCCAuction 207-596-0376Featured itemFISHER HT Series snowplow, 7'6" from Fisher Engineering

Browse the online catalog Online bidding fromSeptember 19October 10

Live auction at the Rockland Elks Lodge on October 14

Sponsored by: Fisher Engineering, Gamage Antiques, Bangor Metro/Maine Ahead, The Coastal Journal, The Free Press, Maine Home + Design/Maine magazine, Mainebiz, The UPS Store and VillageSoup/The Herald Gazette

PENOBSCOT BAY REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

MaineAhead_Layout 1 7/12/11 2:19 PM Page 1


backbone

he menu at Cava 15, the wine bar at Donald Trumps newest luxury

hotel in Panama City, Panama, comes on an iPadusing an app

built by Mowbi, in Portlands Old Port.Many Maine business owners know

Mowbi for their subscription-based mCom-merce (mobile commerce) tools, such as the area directories used by the Freeport Mer-chants Association, the Bar Harbor cham-ber, and the Maine innkeepers and res-taurants associations. Those tools, which allow companies to inexpensively build an mCommerce businessa mobile site with myriad features, payment processing, in-voicing, and moreare still at the heart of Mowbi, launched in April 2010.

But theres much more, says CEO Bill Broadbent, who started t-shirtking.com in the late 1990s and sold it to art.com before moving to Maine in 2008. Building cus-tom apps can be huge for uswere talk-ing to the Trump people about a lot more than Cavaand were good at it.

After developing apps for Spurwink Services, a Portland-based nonprofit men-

tal health agency, and with a bank app in the works for a Maine-based client, get-ting the Trump deal convinced Broadbent that Mowbi, with six full-time employees and six part-time programmers and de-signers, is beyond the survival struggle of a start-up. Mowbis revenues have more than doubled in the last six months.

We always believed wed make it, but Trump took us from here to there over-night, Broadbent says, adding that the Trump Hotel Collection has plans to fea-ture in-room iPads in place of hotel in-formation books, allowing guests to or-der services on the touch screen. Thats something we could handle and some-thing we would enjoy doing.

The even bigger deal could be mCom-merce. Mowbi sells a set of modular tools that offer everything you need to do busi-ness on your mobile phone, says president Wendy Bouton, formerly of Winter People Image Marketing in Freeport, who joined Mowbi this year, in part to head up sales for the area directories.

Freeport merchants saw coupon sales

Going Mobile

Portland-based Mowbi, led by CEO Bill Broadbent,

aims to be a major player in the growing fields of

mCommerce and custom apps. by Mike WOelflein


double and triple within the first few months. All members get a one-page mobile site and, for a one-time $200 fee, can upgrade to all Mowbi servicestap to email, call, or get directions; plus menus and coupons, videos and photos, a mobile store that accepts credit card payments (including Google Checkout and PayPal), invoicing and reminders services, text marketing tools, and QR (Quick Response) codes, which allow cus-tomers to instantly link to content, social media profiles, or even make purchases by scanning the code with their smart-phone. The association receives a cut of Mowbis revenues from its members.

We want to cover everyone, Broadbent says. You can now take pictures for a garage sale, publish them, and let people buy stuff on their phone before they even show up. And when they show up, you can accept credit cards. We want to go right to the enterprise level for companies that want their drivers to accept payment on the spot, or for remote sales teams to buy and sell from their phones.

Forrester Research forecasts that the U.S. mCommerce market will grow nearly 40% annually through 2016, to $31 billion, and while there is (or will be) fierce compe-tition that includes the tech giants, Broad-bent says their products cost more and need to be purchased one by one. He also believes that if a big company wanted to develop a full suite of technologies, theyd

be more likely to buy a company such as Mowbiwhich spent about $250,000 to build theirsthan build their own.

We always joke that were waiting for our $100 million buyout, he says. I do think [selling the company] is possible, down the road. With or without us, the way people do business is going to change. Us-ing your phone is too convenient for it to not be the future.

Going forward, Mowbi is focusing on growing the directory business in the hospitality industry and pushing beyond Maines borders. Theyre negotiating with Massachusetts restaurant association, with 14,000 members to Maines 3,000. The goal, in the next three or four years, is to hit 100,000 members, the software-as-a-service-industrys sign that youre a major player. Mowbi has over 10,000 members now.

Longer term, they hope to build a nation-al and global customer base for subscrip-tion services and custom apps, growing to 40 or 50 employees in five or so years. Portland, Broadbent says, is the perfect place to find the HTML programmers and graphic designers we need.

The big challenge is convincing clients of the vital importance of mCommerce. Broadbents not worried. In 1998, he took a bet from a colleague who argued that Amazon.com wouldnt survive, because people wouldnt use credit cards for online purchases. Potential investors expressed similar concerns about mCommerce, he says, but thats changing.

Today, Amazons market cap dances around $100 billion, Broadbent says. And people know mCommerce is getting huge. Were in a great position to capital-ize on that.

We always believed wed make it, but Trump took us

from here to there overnight. Bill Broadbent

The Mowbi-designed menu app for Cava 15.

Business resources to drive success

Please visit us online at www.famemaine.com or contact us directly for consultation

800.228.3734 [email protected]

Innovative Financial SolutionsFAME is continually developing new programs and services to support Maine companies in their efforts to start up, continue in operation, expand or compete more effectively in the global marketplace. We can help businesses from start-ups to stable.

Direct Loans equity capitaL BonDs Loan insurance


ristine Averys childhood toy of a Barbie fold-out airplane in-spired an early career path in the airline industry. If her em-ployer had not gone bankrupt, she might never have discovered what really fires her jets: human resources.

Avery, a recent inductee into the Maine State HR Hall of Fame, is also director of the Maine State Council for SHRM, the Soci-

ety for Human Resource Management, or Sherm. In a time when busi-nesses large and small are looking to technology or a must-have new prod-uct or ingenious cost-cutting to save them, SHRM and Avery are here to remind us of the one thing that can make or break an enterprise: people.

Avery also is senior vice president of human resources at FISC Solutions in Lewiston, a company that provides invoicing, account statements, and related payment processing services for businesses across Maine. Like most companies, hers is continually changing. The customer mix has gone from the seven banks that founded the company in 1977 to about 150 clients. Less than half of them are now banks or credit unions. Ten years ago, FISC had 216 employees, but advances in technology, such as scanning and transmitting checks at the teller line, and recent legislative changes, including the federal takeover of student loans, have trimmed their staffing needs to 85.

As HR director, Averys response has been characteristically proactive and creative. Some employees have successfully shifted from customer service positions to more production-oriented jobs within the company. This is possible, she says, because most people have skills that are more tranferable than they realize. Among the retraining tools shes put in place is a special online training portal called FISC College and a tuition reimbursement program.

Its not all about work, work, work, though: FISC employees are also encouraged to take time for exercise by participating in the companys

podium

As director of the Society for Human Resource Management Maine State Council, Kristine Avery speaks enthusiastically about the people process. As HR guru at FISC Solutions, she practices what she preaches.

by TOri briTTOn & Mark WellMan pOrTraiT by irvin serranO

Up With People Power


podium

Above: Kristine Avery with David Pease, immediate past

state director of SHRM Maine State Council, on the cover of

HR Times. Right: Avery was named Maine 2010 HR Leader

of the Year at a ceremony at the Samoset.

phO

TO: c

Ou

rTe

sy O

f k

ris

Tin

e av

ery

formal walking program or tracking their physical activity level online in partnership with Anthem.

Any senior level executive looking for new ways to boost the bottom line might want to follow Kris-tine Avery around for a day or so. Shell remind you that higher profits require paying attention both to high performers and balance sheets, and that increased productivity doesnt always come in a software box.

When did you enter the HR profession?

Ive been in the human resource profession for 25-plus years. I started in the airline industry, in the customer service area for Eastern Express Air-lines and worked my way into the personnel office. I actually worked with them until 1988, when the machinists went on strike and Eastern Airlines declared bankruptcy and we all lost our jobs.

Is that when you moved to Maine?

Yes. I grew up in Easton, Massachusetts, and would come to Maine every summer for vacation, camping in Bridgton at Long Lake, so coming to Maine was full circle for me.

After a short time in Bangor, I was hired here at FISC, working as the director of training from 1988 to 1990. I would travel to different banks and

credit unions to do customer service training, su-pervisory skills training, and product knowledge training. I traveled statewide and loved it.

Then I was recruited away by a credit union in PortlandTelco of New England Credit Union, now Infinity. Its the oldest credit union in the state of Maine. They were originally the credit union for the telephone workers.

It was a unionized environment, so when I first went there as the operations manager, there was definitely a them and us mentality, not a we mentality. After two years, the employees went through a union decertification process. When the vote came through, the employees who were looking to decertify won by one vote. That is when the HR office was created and I was appointed the human resource officer of the company.

Explain a little bit about the difference before and

after the union.

Before, when we would hire a teller, they would be all at the same rate of pay, whether they were there for two months, two years, or twelve years. Every-thing was by the contract.

So when the HR office was created, we were able to focus on employee development, pay for performance plans, rewards and recognition, tu-


ition assistance, etc. After the decertification process, employees were very skeptical at firstwould it really be different?and there was a lot of resistance from those who were still pro-union. But over the course of time that all changed, and you could see the level of engagement of the employees increase. I was with that company for 10 years; the decertification happened two years into it, so the last eight years were really focused on employees and people processes, all through the 90s. It was really a great experience for me.

Ten years ago, you came back to FISC as VP of human

resources, and also were involved in the Society for

Human Resource Management (SHRM). Youre now its

state director. What are the biggest issues you and fellow

members are dealing with in this tough economy?

With the current job market and high unemployment rate, we are receiving a high volume of resumes and applica-tions that come in for jobs where folks really are not quali-fied. So just weeding through the high volume of resumes and applications that come in is an issue. Recruiting top talent is also more difficult, because people are reluctant to leave their current position, where they have a num-ber of years of service and have a feeling of job security. Theyre more reluctant about making a change and being on the bottom of the totem pole with a new employer.

If you look at the economy overall, real estate has also impacted job transfers because of the length of time that it takes to sell a home, due to the number of homes on the market. People are resistant to make that move to a new employer if theres a relocation thats involved. Getting around that takes branding, so you become a place where people want to go to.

Much of SHRMs work in Maine is keeping on top of bills

being considered by the legislature. What major issues did

the organization watch in the last legislative session?

The big one was weapons in the workplace. That was some-thing that we advocated against at the state council level, but the bill was passed. Now employers can no longer have the requirement that an employee not have a weapon in their vehicle on company property; they can have a weap-on in their vehicle as long as its not visible and as long as they have a permit to carry it. In the long run, thats okay, because its still not within the building of the employer.

Can you describe the work SHRM is doing to encourage

workforce flexibility?

Workforce flexibility is one that we advocate for so that employers will be more open-minded to things that will ac-commodate the high demands on employees at a personal levelprograms such as flex time, job sharing, and having telecommuting options so employees can work remotely.

When you think about the number of single parents, the number of employees dealing with young children or ag-ing parents or serious illnesses among family members, and the demands of that, having these types of flexible work options will definitely increase these employees lev-el of engagement. Were working so the focus moves from how much time someone is in their chair at work to their output, to the end result.

This is something that the HR profession is advocat-ing for through increased awareness, but ultimately, those of us in the HR function need to be the change champions, the ones who bring this kind of flexibility into our own workplaces.

How should an HR director, in your opinion, be spending his

or her day on a percentage basis?

I would say 30% on the tactical HR operations such as pay-roll, safety, compensation and benefits administration, and recruiting, and 70% or more on strategic functionsWhat are we doing to advance this company? What are we doing to impact the bottom line? In HR, we do that through employee programs. So increasing employee en-gagement levels, staff development, coaching, wellness programs, and mentoring would all be part of that 70%.

Communications is a big focus strategically for HR professionals. This is both keeping people informed and linking the employees job to the companys stra-tegic objectives. That alignment is really a critical part of the strategic function of HR, and it requires ongoing frequent and honest communication. Employees want to know whats going on and they want to know how their job impacts the end result. You still need to make sure people get paid, you still need to provide competi-tive benefits. At the same time, to move your company forward through the people process, you really need to think big picture.

One of the favorite parts of my job

is focusing on our high-performing,

high-potential employees.

podium


podium

>> The Avery FileBorn:

May 14, 1962, brockton, Massachusetts

Education:

southeastern academy, diploma in travel

and tourism, 1980; husson university,

human resource management studies,

1993; university of southern Maine, certifi-

cate in human resource management, 1999;

sphr certified, hr certification institute,

2007.

Career:

several positions, including manager of

training at eastern express airlines (1980

1988); director of training and marketing,

fisc solutions (19881990); vice president of

human resources/administration, infinity

federal credit union (19902000); senior

vice president of human resources, fisc

solutions (2000present).

Awards:

Maine hr leader of the year, 2010; inducted

into the Maine hr hall of fame in 2011.

Affiliations:

human resource association of southern

Maine (1992present; president 20092010);

american Management association (2002

present); society for human resource

Management (2002present); shrM Maine

state council (2008present), director, 2011;

casco federal credit union board member

(2007present); Windham first church of

the nazarene board member (20072011).

Personal:

avery and her husband, Danny, live in

Windham on sebago lake. They are parents

to three adult children, amanda charette,

candice avery, and shaun avery, and have

two grandbabies, Julia and Olivia.

And you do that in association with other leaders within

the organization?

Absolutely. At FISC, we have the ACE Team; this is a lead-ership development focus for me. The ACE stands for Aligned, Competent, and Engaged; so theyre the best of our best, theyre the folks that were looking at for succes-sion planning. Again, that would fall into the 70% catego-ry: performance management, doing talent reviews, and monitoring changes as new people join the organization. One of the favorite parts of my job is focusing on our high-performing, high-potential employees.

Do the ACE Team members know who they are?

They know who they are, and other employees know who they are. We meet every other week.

You developed something called SHARP, which was

featured in HR Times magazine. Can you describe it?

The acronym stands for Smart Hiring and Retaining Per-formers. When I first arrived at FISC, our turnover rate was 64%, we had 22 open jobs, and we had over 60 inju-ries that yearrepetitive motion type injuries based on the nature of the work we do. Because we had a number of open jobs, people were under pressure, and when youre working under tight deadlines, youre tense, which can also create a higher risk of injury and mistakes.

We had a working environment where people did not want to and were afraid to report their injuries; the con-sequence of that was they would be working longer in discomfort or in pain. When they did report the injury,

it had progressed to the point where the treatment would be a longer process and more costly. As you can see, we needed to address both our recruitment efforts and our injury rate.

At that time, we also did not focus on our high perform-ers, and had limited rewards and recognitions in place. The people who were producing the highest quality re-sults, and who were the most dedicated and dependable employees, were being taken for granted.

The Retaining Performers piece of the SHARP strategy required putting rewards and recognition in place. We cre-ated pay for performance plans to really reward the top per-formers. We now have what we call the Players of the Year. We recognize our MVP, Coach (manager) of the Year, Team of the Year, Most Improved Player, and Rookie of the Year. We give gold star service awards that are engraved whenev-er we have employees who receive positive unsolicited feed-back from a customer, and we celebrate milestone achieve-ments when we break a new record. We have a unique award given on the employees first day at FISC; its a plant, with a message about growing where youre planted. It was my pleasure to deliver this plant to our new CEO last week.

Over time, the results have been dramatic. This past year, our annual turnover rate was 4.71%. Our injuries were down to four last year, and weve seen significant savings in workers compensation insurance premiums.

People who were producing the highest quality

results, and who were the most dedicated and

dependable employees, were being taken for granted.

At Tucker L aw Group , we belie ve effec tive representAtion begins by being there.

Presence makes the heart grow fonder.

1-800-585-4720 | 207-945-4720tuckerlawmaine.com

Bangor: One Cumberland Place, Suite 308Portland: 75 Pearl StreetcariBou: 43 Hatch Drive

your workers compensation or insurance defense claims wont get settled by themselves. it requires effort and expertise. At tucker law group, were ready to jump in to protect your interests and get your case successfully closed as fast as possible, in court or out.

with offices in portland, bangor, and caribou, were able to be anywhere in Maine quickly and cost-effectively.

the presence of the right legal team can save you a lot of money, and many sleepless nights. for vigorous, effective, and present representation, call tucker law group at 1-800-585-4720.

early consults bring better results

workers comp defense | insurance defense | civil & commercial litigation | administrative law and regulatory compliance | employment law

richard d. tucker, esq.

podium


podium

phO

TO: c

Ou

rTe

sy O

f k

ris

Tin

e av

ery

What tools and tactics are SHRM members using these

days to make them better at attracting and hiring the

right people?

The best thing to do from a recruiting standpoint is the branding piece. If you can brand yourself as a place where employees want to work, and you can ultimately receive the title of Best Places to Work in Maine, people will want to come to work for you.

There are also many technology tools an HR profession-al can use. For example, there are systems to automate the inbound resume process so you can do searches if youre looking for a particular skill set.

For background screening, there are tools to make sure you are hiring for fitdoing behavioral assessments, per-sonality profiling, criminal background checks, credit background checks, education verification, and employer references. At FISC, we have just converted to one system that does all that for us, and its highly efficient. Taking advantage of those technology tools enables HR folks to spend less time on the tactical function and focus more on the strategic aspects of HR.

What innovative HR practices have you observed in Maine

companies recently?

One of our partners from a staffing service has a new fea-ture using an iPad. They actually do a one- to two-minute video clip of their candidates and send that out with a re-sume to the employer. So you can click and can see the re-sume and theres also a short video clip where you can see the individual. The candidates are basically asked three questions: Who are you, whats your specialty? Why are you seeking a job? and What can you offer to a new em-ployer? I was really impressed with that whole process. Now, receiving the resumes and video clips, you sort of get to know the person before you even meet them.

SHRM Maine State Council endorses the Best Places to

Work program, and your workplace was selected this year.

What in your opinion are the essential qualities of a great

place to work?

Its having frequent, ongoing, and honest communications with the employees so that employees feel informed; they know whats going on and they have an understanding of how their job impacts the strategic direction of the organi-zation. This cant be an annual employee meeting, it needs to be frequent. Here, we do monthly meetings, strategic lunch and learn sessions, where we provide lunch and talk to employees about strategic initiatives. We have an intra-net service; on a daily basis employees can sign on and see what the latest is in terms of news, FISC performance, and employee performance. So the communications aspect is definitely a best places component.

The other is, in my opinion, rewarding your top perform-ers and having recognition programs in place so that people feel that sense of belonging and realize that the company values high performance and a high level of dedication.

Another best places characteristic is embracing the continuous improvement process, not accepting the sta-tus quo. There should always be room to improve. Thats why people want to come to work every daythey want to feel like theyre making a difference.

Is there a quote or phrase that sums up your philosophy of

how to bring out the best in people?

My personal affirmation, something that Ive adopted over the course of time, is, Today I will make a differ-ence. That means that Ill make a difference to the people I encounter: to support them, give advice to them, men-tor them, coach them, listen to them, high five them for a job well done. Whatever I can do to contribute positively, whether its how theyre feeling, or talking about the direc-tion theyre going or a problem theyre dealing with, I will make a difference.

Im an instructor of the SPHR/PHR certification prepa-ratory class at USM and Ive made a difference in several HR professionals careers by helping them through that tedious exam process. The first time I took it I failed, so I know the feeling of failure. Its a tough exam; I took it for granted when I went to take it based on my years in HR; I read through the books and thought, Ive got this.

Now I instruct the course; Ive been doing that for four years, and there are over 50 newly-SPHR/PHR-certified individuals in the state, so in that regard, Ive definitely made a difference.

Avery practices her people skills with her granddaughter Julia.


choosingmemic.

www.memic.com

What about the fact that weve returned more than $121 million in dividends to policyholders since 1998. Or, how about our relentless dedication to safetywhich has helped lead to a 30% reduction in lost-time injuries in Maine since our inceptionand our responsive claims experts, with which MEMIC has helped thousands of Maine employers manage the cost of their workers compensation. With all of these reasons, why wouldnt MEMIC be your choice? Discover more reasons to choose MEMIC by visiting us at memic.com/themainechoice.

Need a reason to choose MEMIC?

www.memic.com

private tour

PHo

to: A

sHle

y R

Ay

DESSERT in a BOTTLE

People have been enjoying liquor like vodka for hundreds of years. But flavored libations like

whipped cream and cotton candy vodka are new to the spirits scene, thanks to the tasteful

innovators at White Rock Distilleries.by HenRy GARfield PHotos by mARk wellmAn & melAnie bRooks

october 2011 Maine Ahead >> 27

28 >> Maine Ahead october 2011

ut behind the bottling line at White Rock Distilleries in Lewiston, five silver stor-age tanks, completed in September, gleam against the azure autumn sky. Four of them hold 25,000 gallons each, but they are like the moons of Jupiter in

orbit around the centerpiece of the expan-sion: a 100,000-gallon tank filled to the top with high-proof French vodka.

Adding that much storage capacity costs money. But its cheaper than laying a pipeline across the Atlantic. And considering the phe-nomenal success of White Rocks line of Pinna-cle flavored vodkas, a pipeline might have been the only alternative.

Our goal is to have up to about two months of raw spirits on hand to meet our demand, says chief operating officer and chief financial officer John Suczynski. With a high-growth product like Pinnacle, its hard to predict where that demands going to come from. When the demand spikes, one thing we cant do is turn the spigot and say we need some more vodka. Its a four-week process to call our suppliers in France, have them produce it, get it on the ships

and get it here. We need supply in-house.Although White Rock has been in the same

Lewiston location since 1937, and under the same ownership since 1971, it was, until recently, one of the least-known business success stories in Maine. That changed, however, with the breakout of Three Olives vodka in the mid-2000s. The company sold it for a large sum in 2007 and turned its attention to creating brands under its Pinnacle label, which now offers vodkas in 31 flavors. Pinnacle is about two-thirds of our business today, Suczynski says.

One of the latest and most successful brands is a vodka called Pinnacle Whipped that tastes like whipped cream. We introduced the whipped cream flavor last year, and it has truly taken the industry by storm, Suczynski says. So much so that by the end of 2011, Pinnacle Whipped is likely to supplant Absolut Citron as the bestselling fla-vored vodka in the country.

Founded in 1937, White Rock was a small dis-tillery on the Androscoggin River and had just three employees when Ray Coulombe bought the company in 1971. His son Paul Coulombe has been chief executive officer since 1995, and splits his time between the sales office in Portland and his

private tour


We have started from zero, from the idea for a product, to putting it

on the market in 90 days. Joe Werda

White Rock Distilleries operates six bottling lines in two shifts, five days a week.


private tour private tour

Job Descriptions

Chief financial officer John Suczynski (top)

is all smiles about the recent success of

Pinnacle flavored vodkas. originally from

the midwest, hes worked for kodak, wayne

laboratories, and delorme in freeport. He

came to white Rock four years ago, and

says its the best job hes ever had.

laboratory technician Aaron Lewis (center)

runs tests on Pinnacle flavors in progress.

sometimes taste and smell enter into the

equation as well. with a background in

forensics, she can readily determine the

difference between drab and delicious.

director of operations Joe Werda (bottom)

is responsible for all aspects of production.

Hes worked in the liquor business in the

midwest, California, and maine. its a fast-

paced industry, he says. improvements

come along quickly.


winter headquarters in Florida. Pauls daughter Michelle Coulombe joined the company in 2004 and is now the com-panys vice president and director of Florida sales. White Rock employs a workforce of over 200 in its Lewiston plant, 30 to 35 sales representatives across the country, and an 8-person marketing staff in its Portland office.

Lest you think that vodka is all they do, a quick visit to White Rocks website reveals a variety of offerings includ-ing flavored and non-flavored rum, gin, whiskey, brandy, cordials and liqueurs. Shipments come not only from France, but also from the Virgin Islands (rum), Mexico (tequila), and other parts of the United States. Despite its name, White Rock Distilleries does not distill liquor.

We are a rectifier, Suczynski says. If vodka were milk, White Rock would be comparable to a dairy, receiving raw product from distant farms and turning it into drinkable packages, some with chocolate or strawberry flavoring, then shipping them off to consumer outlets.

That raw product arrives in 6,100-gallon tanks, taken right off a cargo ship and trucked to Lewiston. The alcohol inside the container is about 190 proof; it will need to be watered down as part of the rectifying process. The Pin-nacle flavored vodka on the liquor store shelf and at bars is 70 proof.

From the outside, at least from the back, it even looks a

bit like a dairy. Ones first impression is of tanksWhite Rock has 38 storage tanks in addition to the new ones coming online in September. Trucks come and go regular-ly; samples undergo a variety of tests before the cargo is unloaded. More tanks inside the building78 of themare for blending and bottling.

Joe Werda is White Rocks director of operations. Its his responsibility to see that everything runs smoothly, from the arrival of raw spirits to the bottling lines and the ware-house. Hes a mechanical engineer by training, but in mid-career he decided that he wanted to seeor tastethe results of his work. That realization led him into manufac-turing, and, eventually, liquor.

According to Werda, a smooth operation makes for a smooth product. You dont want that alcohol bite. The smoothness, the purity of the product, is what people are looking for. Thats even more important in a flavored vodka, because you want the flavor to be the thing that carries forward.

As soon as Paul tried it, he was very

excited. He said, Print the labels. Lets go.

John Suczynski

Caption needed.


sometimes suCCess stRikes when you least

expect it.

One of our hallmarks is our agility, says white

Rocks chief operating officer and chief financial

officer John suczynski. we take risks. we can bring

products to market in a matter of months. bigger

companies take much longer to do that. we put

a lot of new products out there, and Pinnacle just

took off.

In 2007, White Rock sold approximately 250,000

nine-liter cases of Pinnacle vodka. the liquor

industry describes its metric in nine-liter cases,

suczynski explains. bottles come in large and small

sizes, but everything gets boiled down to a nine-liter

equivalent. we finished last year at 1.4 million, and

we believe were on track this year for 2.4 million

cases of Pinnacle vodka.

Much of the buzz has been generated by word-

of-mouth and social media such as facebook

and youtube. Pinnacle flavored vodkas tend to be

favored by college students and young drinkers,

especially young women. occasionally, director of

operations Joe werda conducts his own informal

market research.

i try to frequent places that are strong supporters

of our brand, he says. Certainly, the ladies are a

driving force. the guys sort of get dragged in, but

once they taste it, they like it.

In 2007, White Rock sold its high-end Three

Olives vodka brand to the Jose Cuervo family in

mexico, known for its tequilas. suczynski character-

izes the sale as a very good liquidity event for the

business that enabled white Rock to pay off some

debt and focus on more moderately priced brands

like Pinnacle.

The timing couldnt have been better. the end of

2007 was when the credit market started to freeze up

and the recession really happened, he says. we sold

a high-margin, high-priced brand, and we had a value-

priced product in our stable that became very attrac-

tive to consumers. Pinnacle was really positioned

right to take advantage of the moon and the stars as

they aligned at that point.

Originally marketed mostly in liquor stores,

Pinnacle has found a following at bars frequented

by college students. typically a brand will be either

on-premise or retail, suczynski says. three olives

was mostly on-premise. Pinnacle initially was

more of a retail brand than an on-premise brand.

but consumers are asking for it at bars, and were

seeing a shift to more on-premise business, so were

devoting more time there.

This new category of dessert vodka tastes

good, and its extremely mixable, werda says.

there are literally thousands of recipes out there

on the social networks. its a lot of fun. weve hit

something at the right time with the right group,

and its just going crazy.

private tour

Pinnacle of Profitability

White Rock developed a

modestly priced line of flavored

vodkas just in time for the

recession.


Whats involved in getting Pinnacle vodka, or Calico Jack rum, or any of White Rocks other lines, out the door and into liquor stores and bars? First, you have to assemble all the pieces. That includes glass bottles and cardboard boxes, the metal tubes that will become caps, and labels. As for what goes inside the bottle, the booze itself waits in tanks to be mixed with ingredients from the sweet-smelling flavor room and the sweltering sugar room, which is kept at 105F year-round. It all comes together on six bottling lines running in two shifts, from 7 to 3:30 and 3:30 to midnight, five days a week.

That all sounds simple, but the alchemy of blending the flavors is as much magic as it is science. White Rock works with several flavor houses, companies that produce the quintessential chemical con-coctions to flavor their products.

There are two ways flavor houses come in contact with us, Werda says. Most commonly, our marketing sales group comes up with a concept and we go out to the flavor houses and ask them to develop a flavor for us and work with them to get it the way we desire. On other occasions, flavor houses will come to us with flavors theyve developed, such as the whipped cream, and well tweak.

With Pinnacles whipped cream prod-uct, a new flavor house approached the company. They knocked on our door and asked us to try it, Suczynski says. We here at the plant tried it, liked it, and took it to Paul [Coulombe]. I dont think he was ready for another flavor, but as soon as Paul tried it, he was very excited. He said, Print the labels. Lets go.

When a truck pulls into the loading bay at White Rock, its met by someone like Jason Lerch, whose job title, rectifier, encompasses several steps in the pro-cess. Rectifiers are cross-trained so that they can substitute for one another. Vod-ka from France comes to Lewiston in the same container in which it crossed the

ocean, loaded directly from ship to truck. Lerch or another rectifier will open the top of the tank and draw off a sample for a quality control team to test. The proof will be checked by a gas chromatograph, and then the entire load will be filtered through a carbon treatment process to remove any impurities.

Each outside tank has its own line com-ing into the building. They all lead to a manifold bristling with pipes, levers, and

hoses; the hoses can be removed and reat-tached to direct liquid from one tank into another. It looks like something out of a submarine, doesnt it? Werda says.

Flavors arrive at the plant in concen-trated liquid form, and White Rocks wa-ter is purified. The water actually goes through a filter for sediment, a carbon bed, and then reverse osmosis, Werda says. Reverse osmosis is nothing more than a series of membranes that have

The experienced team at Pierce Atwood can help with every aspect of an energy project: innovative project finance; regulatory and enviromental approvals; protecting intellectual property assets; and creating a favorable policy environment.

CenTrAl MAine Power CoMPAnyHelping to modernize the states energy infrastructure by guiding CMPs Maine Power Reliability Program to success.

Fox islAnds wind, llCHelping communities achieve energy independence by shepherding innovative wind energy projects, like the Fox islands wind Project.

oCeAn renewAble Power CoMPAny, llCHelping to lead the way in generating clean and predictable energy from tidal, river and ocean currents as ORPCs general counsel.

UniTil, inC.Helping update the natural gas delivery system in Maine by representing Unitil in its effort to replace the aging cast iron and bare steel pipes.

Verso PAPer CorP. Helping Verso, via biomass boiler conversion, generate sufficient green power to supply electricity to 30,000 Maine households.

MAine liqUid MeTHAne FUelHelping MLMF develop a liquid methane fuel plant that will provide clean burning boiler and transportation fuel to commercial customers.

These are just a few of the ways we are creating a brighter future in Maine. Contact us to see how we can help with your project.

On the cutting-edge of Maines energy future.

www.pierceatwood.com


pores in them that are sized to virtually let noth-ing but a water molecule through. The pure wa-ter comes through and is used; the effluent is washed away. We currently have a system that runs at about 33 gallons a minute.

Next stop is the laboratory, where technician Aaron Lewis tests the product for proof, color, density, and other characteristics. The glassed-in room is filled with scientific equipment such as a mass spectrometer and a laser diffraction particle size analyzer. Lewis and her team take readings and fill in numbers on a series of charts that fol-low each sample.

Lewis has a degree in criminology, and says the testing of liquor isnt all that different from foren-sics work. She also has experience with municipal water supplies. Working with the state at vari-ous levels gave me the experience that I needed to work here, she says. Going from water to alcohol made my job more exciting.

Three main bottling lines put the liquor into

standard-size bottles, which White Rock must order from three different sources because of de-mand on the worldwide glass market. (The bottles are designed by White Rocks marketing team and then ordered from glass manufacturers.) Lines four through six are for different-sized bottles, in-cluding the miniatures that you get on airplanes.

All six lines arent running all the time, but changeovers happen fast, usually in less than an hour. Much of the process is automated. Caps get threaded onto the bottles by one machine; the label is affixed by another. Machines unload empty bot-tles from incoming boxes and pack full ones into the cases in which theyll ship. But human beings check every step of the process along the line.

Finished cases are stacked in the warehouse, 70 cases on a wrapped pallet. They are placed on painted grids on the floor to await the truck that will take them away. The system is designed so that each truckload moves only once. Space is at a premium; pallets are moved by robots and fork-

Bottling room workers Chui Kwong, James

Coburn, and Irene Warner help package Coconut

Jack, a flavored rum.

private tour


lifts that can turn to the side, allowing for narrower aisles. With the high growth of Pinnacle, weve really been tested in our infrastructure and our plant footprint, Suczynski says.

Space conservation is a big deal with us, Werda adds. We try to think vertical-ly as well as horizontally. We dont build to an inventory; we build to the orders. What you see out here on the floor is about two weeks worth of sales.

Operating a fast-growing business in a finite amount of space presents numer-ous logistical challenges. Inventory must be meticulously tracked and used effi-ciently; the same is true of energy and its attendant costs. Over the past few years, White Rock has upgraded to more effi-cient lighting and heating systems.

Production manager Paul Arnoldy over-sees the whole operation. Along with plant

manager Gregg Snyder, hes responsible for everything that happens between the deliveries of raw ingredients and the ship-ping of product. Together, the two men have more than 40 years of experience in the liquor business.

Ive done everything, Snyder says, in an accent that betrays his southern Indi-ana roots. Ive worked in every aspect of it, from distilling to aging whiskey in bar-rels. I went into the industry right out of

college, fell in love with it, and have been in it ever since.

The crew on the floor is young; many employees are in their 20s and entered the workforce right out of high school. What we look for mostly is good math skillsthat and work ethic, of course, Werda says. Anybody with good math skills and a good attitude can be trained to do this work.

But many employees have been there 10

private tour

36 >> Maine Ahead octob er 2011

Year founded: 1937

Employees: Approximately 250, including 200

in lewiston plant.

Creation details: began as a small distillery

on the bank of the Androscoggin River.

Purchased in 1971 by Ray Coulombe;

now owned and operated by Rays son

Paul Coulombe; Pauls daughter michelle

Coulombe is vice president.

Annual revenues: $185 million in 2010;

projected 2011 sales of $215$220 million.

Products: Pinnacle flavored vodkas, Captain

Jack rum, other specialty liquors.

>> Company Brief: White Rock Distilleries Lewiston, Maine

years or more. Turnover is low; everyone seems to regard White Rock as a good place to work. Indeed, the company re-ceived a Best Places to Work in Maine award in 2009.

Its a friendly, easygoing place, Ar-noldy says. He and Snyder meet each af-ternoon around 2:30 with the leaders of the second shift to ensure smooth conti-nuity of production. Hell stick around for the first part of the second shift, usu-ally heading home in the evening with full confidence in his crew.

Liquor, of course, is highly regulated, and Werda and Suczynski spend a fair amount of time dealing with regulatory issues. Labeling can be a bottleneck. There are national regulations, and there are certain states that have unique regu-lations also, Werda says. For the most part, its the federal regulations that you have to go through to get a product to mar-ket. It starts with the formula. You submit a formula for your product to the regula-tory agency first. They review that formu-la. The book of regulations is extremely thick. There are certain things that you can and cannot use; there are things you can only use in certain proportions.

The label has to indicate ingredients

Secure Storage ... like a Safe Harborfor your Documents

When your Confidential Documents require Secure Off-Site Storage . . .

Trust Brown & Meyers as Your Local Off-Site Storage Alternative.

Call Us for a FREE Consultation ... and Well Bring Lunch!

800-785-7505 | 207-772-6732 | www.BrownMeyers.com | [email protected]

Offsite Records Storage | Scan-on-Demand | Litigation SupportDocument Scanning | Online Document Hosting

Drafting the newblueprint.

WBRC ARCHITECTS ENGINEERS Bangor, Maine since 1895

CEO, Steve RichEmployees: 70+

"We attract outstanding talent for two reasons: quality of place and a work environment that

fosters and encourages innovation. Our headquarters are in Bangor because its in the vanguard of creativity and high speed IT global

connectivity, allowing our staff to access our offices in Portland and Sarasota, Florida, and to communicate with our clients with ease.

choosebangor.com

Join the innovators in Bangorand gain competitive advantage.Discover why Bangors cluster

of high tech businesses and

research organizations are

attracting the best and

brightest professionals to

live and work in our vibrant

city. Bangors support of

leading edge enterprise and

creativity may surprise you.

Draft your new blueprint for

business success in Bangor.

Call us at 207.992.4240.


like certified food coloring. Once the la-bels are submitted along with the formu-la, Werda says, theres another division within the federal government that checks the regulations for that, and will tell you if your labels pass the requirements or not. If they do, fine, you print them up and you go. If they dont, you make the corrections and try again.

On a state-by-state basis, Suczynski says different regulations apply in so-called control states (like Maine and New Hampshire, where the state is the buyer) and open states. And, like any other Maine business whose primary market is the continental United States, White Rock must deal with the challenge of distribution.

This is our only plant that we ship from. Its a very complex and capital-intensive business. It was started here 40 years ago, and grew to the national company that it is today, Suczynski says.

I think at some point if Pinnacle con-tinues to grow at the rate its growing at, we may have to have another manufactur-ing facility of some sort, but at present we do it all from here.

And theyre having fun while theyre at it. Im a finance guy at heart, Suczyn-

ski says. When I came here, people told me I would love working here. It isnt any one thing, but its everything. We have a great environment, a growing business; we have great benefits. It really resonates with the employees.

Its a fast-paced industry, and thats ap-pealing, Werda says. Improvements come along quickly. We have started from zero, from the idea for a product, to putting it on the market in 90 days. More than half of the

good ideas that weve come up with come from the people working right out there on the floor. And the way you get that is by having open lines of communication.

We feel blessed with the opportunity to manage this company, and were hav-ing a ball, Suczynski says. Im not shy about telling people its the best job Ive ever had, and Im hoping it will be my last. Its so much fun I dont want to go any-where else.

Open any Peoples United Bank personal checking account and get a $100 gas card* just for doing the things youd do anyway. Like getting direct deposit, paying bills online or using your Debit Card. Plus, you get these great benefits with any Peoples United Checking account.

Heres a tank full of thanks.

$100 gas card for you.

You can choose your gas card from several major gas retailers.

Visit any of our convenient branchesCall: 1-800-772-1090 Click: peoples.com/gascard or scan the QR code below

*This $100 gas card reward applies when you open a new Peoples United Bank personal checking account between 9/9/11 and 10/31/11 with a $25 minimum opening deposit. To qualify for the reward, you cannot have an existing Peoples United Bank personal checking account and must take one of the following three actions: 1)Receive a recurring direct deposit of at least $100 each into the new checking account within 60 days of account opening. Direct Deposit transactions are limited to payroll, social

security, pension and government benefits. PayPal transactions are excluded; 2) Obtain a Debit Card that is linked to the account and then use the Debit Card to make at least ten purchases of at least $25 each within 60 days of account opening; 3) Make at least five payments to third parties through the checking account of at least $25 each using Peoples United Online Banking within 60 days of account opening. In addition, a valid e-mail address must be provided at account opening. If you have satisfied the offer conditions, and your account is open and in good standing, you will receive instructions on redeeming the offer via e-mail by 1/27/12. One reward per household. Fees may reduce earnings. Reward will be subject to tax reporting. This offer may not be combined with other offers, may be withdrawn without notice. If this offer is not withdrawn sooner, it will expire on 10/31/11. Employees of Peoples United Bank and members of their household are not eligible. Other restrictions may apply.

The QR code shown is for informational purposes only, we will not ask for personal information. 2011 Peoples United Bank Member FDIC

>> Company Brief: White Rock Distilleries Lewiston, Maine

Positions: Chemists, rectifiers, bottlers, plant

supervisors, Portland-based marketing and

advertising team, sales agents distributed

nationwide.

New projects: Construction of added storage

facilities; creation of new flavors; social media

marketing efforts.

Challenges: labeling restrictions, shipping and

distribution, state alcohol regulations.

To learn more: www.whiterockdistilleries.com


Roundtable


ith Maines median age clocking in at 42.7 years these days, its safe to say that the majority of the readers of

this business magazine are over 40. That means its too late for most of us to be convinced to start saving in our

20s by a dazzling presentation of the Law of 72. No, most of us are in the world of growing or maintaining some amount

of equity. Some may soon inherit more. Others may be in the process of passing it on. Wherever we are on the net worth continuum, its clear wed be better off today if we had made better decisions along the way.

Jessamyn Larrabee Norton, Karen Elise Kilbride, Jill Checkoway, and Patricia Nelson-Reade are all in the business of helping people make bet-ter decisions. Norton is an MBA and a CFA, and works with clients of high net worth. Kilbride, a CFP and CPA, concentrates on those in or near re-tirement. Checkoway, an attorney, focuses on the legal side of preserving and transferring wealth, through estates and trusts. Nelson-Reade, also an attorney, works in a smaller subset called elder law.

While much of what Checkoway and Nelson-Reade deal with involves managing assets within the confines of the law, some of what they tackle is generating peace of mind, faciliating a higher quality of life, and pre-serving familial harmony. Norton and Kilbride would tell you that they deal in such intangibles, too.

Reading their informed comments will hopefully inspire us take an-other look at how were handling our familys nest egg. Just remember, (read fast) all information in this article is furnished as is, without war-ranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, and does not constitute financial or legal advice.

Keeping that

Nest eggMaking money is one thing. Keeping it is another.

Financial planning pros Jessamyn Larrabee Norton and Karen Elise Kilbride and attorneys Jill Checkoway and Patricia Nelson-Reade talk about how they help Maine families mind their assets.

by TORI bRITTON IllusTRaTIONs by M. scOTT RIckeTTs

Roundtable


Roundtable

hat does your firm do? When clients call, what are some of the things that prompted them to seek

your counsel?

Jessamyn Larrabee Norton: Spinnaker Trust provides investment management for high-

net worth individuals and families as well as tax planning and trust and estate administra-

tion services. We manage money for about 120 families today. The families we work with have complex situations and issues. They rely on us to work with them and the rest of their professional team on issues such as gifting and other tax re-duction strategies, transferring a family business or starting a new one and administering complex trusts and estates, or simply looking to have their money managed in a diverse, tax efficient way.

Karen Elise Kilbride: We are a boutique firm whose focus is retirement and meeting the ongoing needs of retirees. A significant number of our clients are retirees who want ongoing guidance with their financial affairs, although our client base also includes working professionals and pre-retirees. Typically clients want to gain a global perspective of their financial situation, see how all the pieces fit together, and determine whether they are on track to meet their retirement goals.

Common questions might be: When can we retire and what would it look like? How do we in-vest our money in retirement and also take with-drawals to meet our cost of living? How can I best manage my personal income tax situation? When should I take my Social Security benefits? What is a safe amount to withdraw from my portfolio each month and over time?

Jill Checkoway: Skelton, Taintor and Abbott has served as a general service law firm in central Maine for over 150 years. We represent institutions and corporations of all sizes and individuals with all sorts of legal problems, from business matters to personal injury cases. I personally concentrate in trust and estate practice. Most of my clients are individuals who either need estate planning advice or who need assistance probating a family mem-bers estate, but I also represent institutions that are either trustees or beneficiaries of trusts.

Most clients call because they either finally de-cide they must work on their estate plan or they need help with an estate. If a family member has died, they need advice on probating the estate and filing any estate tax returns. Many people are relieved to find out the process is not as com-

Maine Ahead October 2011

Documents

Transcript of Maine Ahead October 2011