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V I E W P O I N T S W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 3 A U G U S T 1 0 , 2 0 1 5 For a daily digest of Maine's top busi- ness news, sign up for the Mainebiz Daily Report at mainebiz.biz/enews Get Maine's business news daily at mainebiz.biz and on Twitter (@Mainebiz). Below is some of the best from our online-only offerings: Featured @ Mainebiz.biz From the Editor I n this issue, whose cover is devoted to the 2015 Women to Watch, there's a quote that I think says a lot about success in business. Jean Hoff man, CEO of Putney Inc., was part of the fi rst Women to Watch class, from 2009. (See the profi le of the inaugural honorees by Senior Writer Lori Valigra.) "Consider making your own rules and building the work place you believe in as an entrepreneur rather than thinking about joining a large company," Hoff man said. at quote says a lot about this day and age, when we see so many entrepreneurs fi nding their own ways, their own methods and their own defi nitions of success. at theme carries over to this year's Women to Watch honorees. We started Women to Watch in 2009 because we noticed many of our covers featured, um, men. We had many, many strong nominations this year, and the staff had its own list of people it felt were worthy. Back to Jean Hoff man's quote. I think this class demonstrates how career paths, and life paths, do not always follow a straight line. Entrepreneurs sometimes have a string of successes and sometimes have a string of failures; either way, they keep inventing and reinventing. With that spirit, they serve as role models for younger employees, both men and women. e 2015 class shows many of those entrepreneurial traits. Heather Sanborn, director of business operations at Rising Tide Brewing Co., has a master's degree in educa- tion, a law degree and a background as a lawyer. With Gena Canning, a managing partner at the Pine State Trading Co., when her father fi nally persuaded her to join the family business, he gave her few directions, just the assurance, "you'll fi gure it out." Lois Skillings, director of Mid Coast Health Services, has stayed ahead changes in the industry and is well into carrying out the system's "2020 Vision." Kristen Maile, director of Good Shepherd Food-Bank, worked for a pri- vate equity fi rm, yet seems to have a knack for building a successful food bank. And, yes, a nonprofi t food bank can be successful. We've honored women as successful managers, and this year is no diff erent. Yet the leaders in this year's class of Women to Watch honorees have a good deal of entre- preneur in them as well. The Wright Brothers (and sister, too) I have been reading David McCullough's fascinating biography, " e Wright Brothers." It turns out the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, had a sister Katharine who had a strong role in their lives and their success. Neither Wilbur nor Orville went to college, but Wilbur had a knack for science and Orville was mechanically inclined. Both had an entrepreneur's stubborn nature — an ability to fail time and again and not be discouraged. Failure was just a starting point for invention, a theme McCullough hammers home in the book. e brothers had a successful bicycle company in Dayton that helped fi nance their eff orts to build a fl ying machine. But back to Katharine. While the brothers were taking annual fall treks to Kitty Hawk, N.C., to conduct their fl ight tests, it was Katharine who stayed behind to work, care for the rest of the family and, on top of all that, make sure the bicycle shop remained profi table. Katharine Wright, McCullough writes, was an Oberlin College graduate and a Latin teacher at Steele High School, where, "as Orville later noted, she would fl unk many of Dayton's future leaders." Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz Role models and entrepreneurs A Portland nonprofit seeks to protect affordable artist spaces Portland arts nonprofit SPACE Gallery has purchased the downtown building where it has been a tenant for 13 years. Find out why the move helps preserve affordable artist spaces and how the nonprofit was able to afford the building's $1.45 million price tag at mainebiz.biz/SPACE538 Joe Bornstein says raise the wage The Maine Small Business Coalition recently revealed a list of more than 150 busi- ness leaders that sup- port raising the state's minimum wage. Among them are Joe Bornstein and Adam Lee of Lee Auto Malls. View an interactive chart of the supporting businesses at mainebiz.biz/MSBCwage An inside look Get a digest of the state's largest commercial real estate transactions, industry movers and more in our weekly Real Estate Insider newsletter. Sign up at mainebiz.biz/enews.

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