Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 11 M AY 5 , 2 0 2 5 B U S I N E S S S U C C E S S I O N A N D T R A N S I T I O N Long-term holds Chenmark started about a dozen years ago as a partnership between James Higgins, his wife Trish and his brother Palmer. Coming from corporate careers, they pivoted to creating an employee- owned company that would work with small to medium-size businesses to preserve legacies and position them for long-term success as part of a permanent holding company. eir criteria include durable demand for the product or service, strong local or regional market position, a track record of consistent profitability, cash flow between $1 million and $5-plus million and a committed team with aspirations for the future. eir first acquisition was a landscaping company in Portland. e portfolio grew to include a lawn care company and boat tour operators in Maine, and oth- ers across the U.S. and Canada. os. Moser came on the radar thanks to a Chenmark vice president, Philip Hussey, who grew up in southern Maine and is part of the family that owns Hussey Seating Co. in North Berwick. Hussey made a point of being active in the business community, connecting with potential sellers. Working with leadership roughout 2024, he worked with omas Moser (who recently passed away), his son Aaron, who was running the company, and their advisors. After many conversations between the Moser Family and Chenmark, which became more and more formal as the months went on, the Moser clan decided that Chenmark was the right home for the company they had built over the past five decades. Hussey was named CEO and works closely alongside Moser's existing leadership team, whom he credits for a smooth transition from the day-to-day perspective. Aaron is staying on in an ambassador role. "Today he was helping me talk with customers about different projects," says Hussey. With the third Moser generation invested in their own careers, it was clear that a sale was the right path forward for the business. Operations continue to be based in Auburn, where the company, operating in an 80,000-square- foot workshop on Wrights Landing Road, has 110 employees — half craftspeople and half administra- tive, sales and support staff. Learn and understand Chenmark doesn't come into an acquisition with a wholesale suite of changes, says Hussey. Its approach is to learn about the business and figure out how to both protect and amplify the brand and the company going forward. Key to the mission? e long-term hold. "ere's no secret recipe beyond a commit- ment to understanding and learning and working with the team," Hussey says. "Preserving the brand ends up being the easy part, because the team is still here — building furniture, selling, designing, invoicing — speaking the language of the brand and understanding the customer. My job is to sup- port the team." Similarly, there's no secret sauce for moving forward. "Everyone asked, 'Hey, what's the plan?'" he recalls. "It's, 'Let's keep doing the really good stuff we're doing.'" With no outside investors, Chenmark operates on its own timeline and cultivates decentralized leadership. "ere's a big push on learning and rolling up your sleeves," Hussey says. While eventual growth might include opening more showrooms, having a bigger digital footprint and hiring, the main goal is to ensure that building craft furniture in Maine endures. "As you get into the world of AI and all these white-collar jobs that can be automated, some- thing that will never be automated is handcrafted furniture," he says. He adds, "For the majority of folks who work here, it's not just a job — it's a way of life." New product line In 2014, Chilton, a furniture retailer that works with independent contractors to design and make its products, was acquired by Jennifer and Jared Levin, a New York couple previously working jobs in cor- porate law and finance. As a Bates College graduate who spent childhood summers in Maine, Jennifer was ready to start a new F O C U S We basically try to see who is interested in what and give them that role. — Jennifer Levin Chilton Furniture F I L E P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Jen Levin, president and owner of Chilton Furniture C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E »

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