Mainebiz

V O L . X X I I N O. X M AY 1 6 , 2 0 1 6 16 "R etire" is the word that shall not be used in describing what Coastal Enterprises Inc. founder Ron Phillips plans to do after he turns over the leadership reins this week to his successor as CEO, Betsy Biemann, and as presi- dent, Keith Bisson. In fact, when asked if there's a bet- ter word to use, uncharacteristically he's momentarily at a loss for words. "I'm going home," Phillips says after giving it some thought. "It's been a 24/7 job. It's slowed down a bit in the past year. We did an awful lot of stuff to make this transition be as smooth as possible. We had everything in place for that to happen and while that's been going on, more and more you shift your attention to your home." For CEI, Phillips' exit from the community development corpora- tion he founded in 1977 isn't so much the end of an era as it is a thoughtful pause — an opportunity to refl ect on CEI's achievements as a CDC over nearly four decades of his leadership, which include providing $1.19 billion in fi nancing to 2,555 businesses, creat- ing or retaining 33,103 full-time jobs, building or preserving 1,882 aff ordable housing units and creating 5,806 child care slots for working families. New leadership e leadership change also comes at a time when the organization is settling into its new headquarters at 30 Federal St. in Brunswick, a $5 million environ- mentally friendly building designed by CWS Architects and built by Allied Cook. CEI consolidated its offi ces in Wiscasset and Portland into the Brunswick site. ere's a palpable feel- ing of renewal as you step inside the building, and that's something both Biemann and Bisson say they're ready to take advantage of. "Obviously, this is a really excit- ing and important moment for CEI," says Biemann. "It's an opportunity to step back and celebrate and learn from our past successes — and there are many. It's also a chance to explore the opportunities we have in front of us for the organization's growth and renewal, and to really deepen our impact doing what CEI does best, which is to help more people living in rural communities create better livelihoods for themselves and their families here in Maine, northern New England and rural communities across the country." Biemann had served in various capacities on CEI's board of directors — including being vice chairwoman since 2012 — prior to stepping down last year when she became a candidate for Phillips' job. During the last two years, she led the Maine Food Cluster Project of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard University, which issued a report last fall that among its recom- mendations advocates for a food accel- erator along the lines of other cluster initiatives such as those in technology. THERE IS THERE IS A DIFFERENCE A DIFFERENCE THERE IS Because Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Sheridan Sheridan Construction Construction www.sheridancorp.com www.sheridancorp.com Fairfield Fairfield Portland 207-453-9311 207-453-9311 207-774-6138 New era at CEI Betsy Biemann and Keith Bisson embrace leadership challenge of advancing Ron Phillips' legacy B y J a m e s M c C a r t h y P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY New CEI CEO Betsy Biemann and new CEI President Keith Bisson outside their new Brunswick offi ces. N O T E : $1 CEI fi nancing leverages $2.03 from other sources S O U R C E : CEI 2015 annual report Cumulative CEI share of financing and leverage Leverage: 67% CEI: 33%

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