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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 A U G U S T 1 0 , 2 0 1 5 In January of this year, Leonard was chosen to accompany U.S. Sen. Angus King to President Obama's State of the Union Address. "It was a huge honor to attend and to represent small Maine manufactur- ers — not to mention woman-owned [ones]," she says. Leonard says the work environment for women has been changing gradu- ally, but sustainably. "Women are good at running things and everybody knows it," she says, advis- ing young women now entering the work force to stay open to opportunity, even when it seems like an unlikely fit. "Manufacturing has been very, very good to me, but it wasn't my career plan," she says. Ruth Libby Ruth's Reusable Resources, also known as 3R's, has placed more than 21,000 computers in Maine and New Hampshire schools, filled more than 30,000 backpacks and given them to needy students, as well as given more than $5 million in new furniture to schools in those two states, says Executive Director Ruth Libby. Over its 21 years in operation, 3Rs has placed more than $56 million worth of new and slightly used supplies, comput- ers, furniture, books and other surplus items businesses have donated into needy schools, she says. Based in Portland, 3R's is part of a Nation Network of Free stores under the Kids In Need Foundation. "It's been a big challenge for me to get the general public, foundations and businesses to fully understand the magnitude of what 3R's does without coming to the store," she says. In addition to its store for teachers, she says the nonprofit has opened a store for the general public that is stocked with all types of items. It also recently started an online book-selling section on Amazon. It regularly gives away more than 36,000 books a year to teach- ers and still has 100,000 to recycle. Libby is currently searching for the sponsorships and building so 3R's can open a satellite store in Bangor and possibly New Hampshire. "ere is [so] much stuff out there. No child should have to go to school without the basic supplies," she says. Libby continues to speak around the state to spread the word about the teacher store and how important it is for businesses and others who donate to not through away supplies. In 2011 she and her nonprofit won the Maine Children's Alliance Giraffe Award and in 2015 the eCheivment Award from etown Radio. Wendy Newmeyer When we profiled Wendy Newmeyer, president of West Paris-based Maine Balsam Fir Products, in 2009, her com- pany had, over 26 years for 5,200 clients, made more than 2 million balsam pil- lows, draft stoppers and neck rolls. One major change since then is that she's gotten on the "motor coach" trail, opening her business to 40 to 50 people at a time from various places around the country. "We give them a tour and have a 'make a bag' deal which gets them hands- on," she says. "is is an authentic, expe- riential way to market ourselves. It has been good extra revenue as well as fun." e company was recognized by the Maine Troop Greeters at Bangor International Airport for its donations of thousands of balsam pillows to be given to troops going overseas. "We know giving the scent of Maine to them has helped them," she says, noting that her father, Louis Horvath, is a veteran who is dedicated to that work. She says the biggest challenge over the next five years is the prospect of retirement. She is 60 and would like to keep working, but her husband, 66, wants to retire. ey have no children. "us, the eventual sale of my very unique company may be challenging," she adds. "I am on a five-year plan at this point. After that, we'll see." Beth Sturtevant Beth Sturtevant, president of Westbrook- based commercial contractor CCB Inc., says she has focused on growing the company's profit line. "Employees and revenues have mostly gone up throughout the past six years, however we still haven't quite reached our employee levels of pre-2009-10," she says. However, she adds, "Our growth out of the state of Maine has risen over the past six years." She is seeing more and more women in the construction industry. "I think it's finally dawned on the industry that women are half the population and need to be viewed as viable employees and not just as man- agement and accounting, but hands-on crafts people, she says. "Construction is still a great career and pays very well." She advises young women entering the work force to "work hard, have a great attitude and align yourself with someone you can learn/mentor from." L o r i Va l i g r a , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t lva l i g r a @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ L Va l i g r a What was your biggest milestone in the past six years? One of the things I am most proud of has been our growth in revenue … [which] jumped from $100 million in 2009 to $130 million currently. Another highlight has been my appointment to the American Hospital Association Board of Directors. I am only one of two hospital CEOs from Maine to serve at this national level. And finally, the work I have done with our veterans here in Aroostook County is a very personal achievement for me. — Kris Doody, CEO, Cary Medical Center In 2013, Putney launched the first drugs from our own pipeline after getting approvals by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Medicine. Each generic drug approval, or ANADA, is a milestone, and so far we have received 45% of the FDA generic drug approvals for pets since 2012. Five of these products were first-to-market generics, an unprecedented record of achievement in the pet pharmaceutical industry. — Jean Hoffman, president and CEO, Putney Inc. We implemented our first formal strategic plan in 2012. For a company our size (50 people), this represents a turning point. Now we're all on the same page — focused on our people, plant, products and market opportunities. — Kathie Leonard, president and CEO, Auburn Manufacturing Inc. We regularly give away more than 36,000 books a year [to] teachers and still have 100,000 we normally recycle. — Ruth Libby, executive director, Ruth's Reusable Resources I grew our sales at Maine Balsam by 30% during the past six years. We had a very challenging decade throughout the 2000-09 years, with declin- ing sales due to many factors completely out of our control. But I perse- vered and kept to our core strengths, created a new custom product line and have experimented with some other new channels. — Wendy Newmeyer, president, Maine Balsam Fir Products "I had the privilege of being elected as president of the board for the Associated General Contractors of Maine in 2013, the first woman to hold that position." — Beth Sturtevant, president, CCB Inc. 2 0 0 9 F I L E P H O T O / DAV I D A . RO D G E R S 2 0 0 9 F I L E P H O T O / DAV I D A . RO D G E R S 2 0 0 9 F I L E P H O T O / DAV I D A . RO D G E R S

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