Mainebiz Special Editions

VO L . X X V I N O. V I § 2 M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 2 0 4 O ver 20 years, Mainebiz has honored a range of CEOs, entrepreneurs and non- profit leaders. All had made great accomplishments up to that point. Many continued to make their mark, even at different companies. A handful had been cited by Mainebiz before, either as Women to Watch or as Nexters. Including this year's honorees, some four dozen people have received the Business Leader of the Year award. A majority were or are CEOs. Many are or were owners of the business. Others were nonprofit directors who had a knack for raising money and getting people to understand the importance of their mission. Some led colleges or universities in great expansion and fundraising. Two people we've honored are no longer with us. In the first year of the Business Leader of the Year awards, we honored Alan Baker, owner and publisher of the Ellsworth American and Mount Desert Islander. He was running a profitable business, one that had quadrupled its revenue under his watch. But Baker was also part of a community, which he addressed in the profile: "We preach to our reporters that the people we're writing about will be standing behind them in the checkout at the grocery store," he said. "is is a small town, and you better be able to look them in the eye." In these pages, we present all 20 classes of the Business Leaders of the Year. We let you know what they're doing today. We also asked them to provide some management lessons they've learned and what advice they'd pass along to up-and-coming business leaders. Some examples: • "Be humble; you can always learn from others. And be a lifelong learner!" — Michelle Hood, Northern Light Health • "Learn how to be a great leader: to be tough, to set clear goals, to hold your team accountable for achieving the goals." — Jean Hoffman, founder of Putney Inc. • "Be present with your staff, face to face opportunities are critical. Don't hide behind emails and social media to com- municate with your staff." — Michael Tarpinian, retired nonprofit leader Special thanks to staff writer Renee Cordes for surveying alums and keeping the pressure on to have them return the sur- veys. Thank you for being there alongside Mainebiz all these years. Donna Brassard Peter Van Allen Publisher Editor Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. Mainebiz® (ISSN# 1530-0749) is published bi-weekly 29 times a year, including special issues published in July, September, October and December by New England Business Media LLC. Periodicals postage paid (USPS# 018-715) at Port land, ME and at additional entry points. Postmaster: Please send changes to: Mainebiz, PO Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-0330. Annual subscriptions are available for $47.95 and include Fact Book and Book of Lists. To subscribe, please visit our website at www.mainebiz.biz, email mainebiz@cambeywest.com or call our circulation department at 845-267-3008. Mainebiz® accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and in general does not return them to the sender. Subscriber list: We make a portion of our subscriber list available to reputable firms for one-time use. If you would prefer that we not include your name, please call Donna Brassard at 207-761- 8379 x327 or email her at donnab@mainebiz.biz. PUBLISHER Donna Brassard EDITOR Peter Van Allen DIGITAL EDITOR William Hall SENIOR WRITER Renee Cordes SENIOR WRITER Maureen Milliken SENIOR WRITER Laurie Schreiber SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Ken Hanson SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Betsy VanderPloeg ACCOUNTS MANAGER Matthew Carey ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Andrea Tetzlaff MARKETING/OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Alison Nason CONTRIBUTING WRITER Mark Jeanneret, Jim Milliken RESEARCH DIRECTOR Timothy Doyle RESEARCH ASSISTANT Heide Martin ART DIRECTOR Matt Selva HOSPITALITY EMERITUS Zoey A division of New England Business Media LLC C E O Peter Stanton PRESIDENT Joe Zwiebel C F O / C O O Mary Rogers GROUP PUBLISHER Donna Brassard DIGITAL DIRECTOR Jan Holder From the Publisher 20 years of leaders — and examples of great leadership In these pages, we present all 20 classes of the Business Leaders of the Year.

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