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V O L . X X V I I I N O. X X X 10 BO O K O F L I S T S 2 0 2 3 C O R P O R AT E | P R I VAT E Maine's largest ESOPs Ranked by number of Maine employees Maine's largest ESOPs Ranked by number of Maine employees No. of Maine employees % ESOP-owned Top executive Year founded ESOP founded 1 Cianbro 101 Cianbro Square, Pittsfield 04967 487-3311 • cianbro.com 900 100% Peter "Andi" Vigue 1949 1979 1 2 Johnny's Selected Seeds 955 Benton Ave., Winslow 04901 861-3900 • johnnyseeds.com 360 100% David Mehlhorn 1974 2006 3 Sargent 378 Bennoch Road, Stillwater 04489 827-4435 • sargent.us 315 100% Herbert R. Sargent 2 1926 2013 4 Johnson & Jordan Inc. 18 Mussey Road, Scarborough 04074 883-8345 • johnsonandjordan.com 284 100% Christopher Jordan 1991 2016 5 Moody's Coworker Owned Inc. 200 Narragansett St., Gorham 04038 839-2500 • moodyscollision.com 238 54% Shawn Moody 1977 2003 6 Food City Holdings Inc. 65 East Ave., Lewiston 04240 784-7020 • foodcitymkt.com 205 100% Zak Sclar 1985 2019 7 Reed & Reed Inc. 275 River Road, Woolwich 04579 443-9747 • reed-reed.com 200 100% Jackson A. Parker 1928 2016 8 Dennis Paper & Food Service 101 Mecaw Road, Hampden 04444 947-0321 • dennisexpress.com 187 100% Rick Robertson 1908 2015 9 ProSearch 70 Center St., Portland 04112 775-7600 • prosearchmaine.com 185 100% Ed McKersie 1994 2017 10 Lanco Integrated 12 Thomas Drive, Westbrook 04092 773-2060 • lancointegrated.com 183 100% Bob Kuniega 3 1984 2008 11 Systems Engineering, Inc. 120 Exchange St., Portland 04101 888-624-6737 • systemsengineering.com 173 100% Matt McGrath 1988 2007 12 ReVision Energy 758 Westbrook St., South Portland 04106 221-6342 • revisionenergy.com 167 100% Fortunat Mueller 2003 2017 13 J.S. McCarthy Printers 15 Darin Drive, Augusta 04330 622-6241 • jsmccarthy.com 160 100% Jon Tardiff 1947 2019 14 Daigle Oil Co. P.O. Box 328, Fort Kent 04743 834-5027 • daigleoil.com 150 100% Carter Vaillancourt Doug Taggett 1955 2015 15 Day's Jewelers 88 Main St., Waterville 04901 800-439-3297 • daysjewelers.com 115 100% Joseph Corey 4 1914 2021 16 Sebago Technics 75 John Roberts Road, Suite 4A, South Portland 04106 200-2100 • sebagotechnics.com 102 100% Mark Adams 1981 1998 5 17 Clark Insurance 1945 Congress St., Building A, Portland 04102 774-6257 • clarkinsurance.com 100 100% Jeff Shaw 6 1931 1992 7 17 PAF Transportation 75 Postal Service Way, Scarborough 04074 800-775-4091 • paftrans.com 100 100% Alan Reed 1950 2011 19 Allen Insurance and Financial 34 Elm St., Camden 04843 800-439-4311 • AllenIF.com 96 100% J. Michael Pierce 1866 1989 7 20 Haley Ward Inc. One Merchants Plaza, Suite 701, Bangor 04401 989-4824 • haleyward.com 90 100% Denis St. Peter 1978 2020 20 Knowles Industrial Services Corp. 295 New Portland Road, Gorham 04038 854-1900 • knowlesindustrial.com 90 100% Tim Rich Dan Maloney Travis Whitehead 1924 2017 20 Mainely Tubs 415 Payne Road, Scarborough 04074 883-6357 • mainelytubs.com 90 100% Jared Levin 8 1978 2016 23 Alternative Manufacturing Inc 30B Summer St., Winthrop 04364 603-553-5546 • amiems.com 88 100% Jim Barry Kim Vandermeulen 1989 2009 24 Knickerbocker Group 9 3 Builders Square, Boothbay 04537 633-3818 • knickerbockergroup.com 86 100% Danielle Betts 1978 2017 25 Ethos | VONT 17 Ash St., Westbrook 04092 856-2610 • ethos-marketing.com 60 100% Tom Gale 1999 2017 25 Landry/French Construction 160 Pleasant Hill Road, Scarborough 04074 730-5566 • landryfrench.com 60 100% Kevin French 2010 2016 27 Steel-Pro Inc. C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 1 2 » ESOPs offer an exit strategy for owners of closely held companies B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n M aine companies with employee stock owner- ship plans include some of the largest and most prominent establishments in the state. Cianbro, which is No. 1 on the list, also tops the list of largest Maine-based construction companies. The Pittsfield-based contractor has 900 Maine employees and 3,000 nationwide. It is known for infrastructure projects but has also been involved in commercial construction projects of note. Two such examples: Cianbro managed the innova- tive construction of a bridge that makes up part of I-295 in Portland. The bridge was built over the course of a year then Cianbro demolished the existing bridge and the new one was literally rolled into place — the demolition and "rolling in" process was completed during a 72-hour span when the highway was closed. A sample commercial project completed by Cianbro would be Portland's Canopy By Hilton Hotel, which opened in 2021. Cianbro was founded in 1949 by the Cianchette brothers and today is run by Peter "Andi" Vigue. Cianbro is in good company on the ESOPs list. About a dozen of the firms on the list are involved in the construction industry, either as a general contrac- tor, engineering firm or related business. At last count, there were 42 total ESOPs in Maine. Most have at least three dozen employees or more. ESOPs allow the owner of a closely held company to sell at a fair-market price, to an employee trust. PH OTO / C OU R TES Y OF C I ANBRO Peter "Andi" Vigue, CEO of Cianbro