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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 M A R C H 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 For a daily digest of Maine's top business 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 A s is often the case when Mainebiz honors business leaders, these companies and names should be familiar to our regular readers. In each case, the leaders we honor this year with our Mainebiz Business Leaders of the Year awards have already been regularly featured on these pages. But it should be noted that we are honoring them for the impact they have had on the business community and on Maine itself, creating jobs, gen- erating significant revenue and taking steps to be good citizens in the communities they serve. We are proud to honor the following: Melissa Smith, president and CEO of WEX Inc. (large company leader): In the profile by Digital Editor James McCarthy, Smith talks about how there "is more energy and innovation that comes with being a global company." She has overseen the growth of WEX to $1 billion in revenue, up from $854 million the year before and $817 million her first year as CEO. Last year, the company made an acquisition worth roughly $1.5 billion, including cash and stock. She believes in giving back, as dem- onstrated by WEX's $800,000 in corporate contri- butions. And, interestingly, Smith comes from the northern Maine town of Winn, pop. 401, and now runs a company with 2,700 employees, including 750 in Maine. She's demonstrated that a Mainer's grit can be put to good use at an NYSE company. Bob and Carmen Garver, owners of Wicked Joe Coffee and Bard Coffee (small company leaders): e Garvers moved from a city that a lot of people think is pretty nice, Santa Cruz, Calif., because they wanted a better way of life in Maine. ey started Wicked Joe Coffee in 2004 and have helped create a better way of life here by getting certification as a B Corp and from the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. ey've established Wicked Joe and Bard as socially responsible, while selling 100% organic products. At the same time, the companies have grown, hitting $6 million in sales, ensuring that the Garvers' good deeds don't go unnoticed. David A. Greene, president of Colby College (nonprofit leader): As mentioned, if you're a dedicated reader of Mainebiz, you'll recog- nize this name. Greene has taken bold steps not only to improve the Colby cam- pus and make it more attractive to prospective students, but has led the effort to energize Waterville's long-dormant downtown. Greene has taken a visionary approach to building not only the school, but the surrounding area, mending a town-gown divide. Heard on Main Street Burgess Advertising & Marketing is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a move to more modern offices at 6 Fundy Road, Suite 300, in Falmouth. e agency spent 28 years at 1290 Congress St. in Portland. President and CEO Meredith Strang Burgess says the firm had its origins in a breakfast meeting in December 1986 with Oliver Payne, Alan Brewer, and Jack Stanyon. e meeting "flowed into lunch, drinks and dinner, by the end of which the four had decided to become an ad agency, Brewer Stanyon & Payne Inc.," Strang Burgess said in a release. e agency set up shop at 100 Commercial St. with two clients: the Samoset Resort and O'Loughlin Real Estate. By September 1989, it moved to 1290 Congress St., where it spent 28 years. (e Mainebiz Real Estate Insider recently reported it will become a dental office.) Strang Burgess eventually became the sole owner and the agency has gone through two name changes. Today, the agency has 10 employees and clients include Maine Housing; New England Cancer Specialists; Efficiency Maine; Chalmers Insurance; Dielectric; Educate Maine; ITS; Greater Portland Health and more. Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz Business leaders demonstrate vision and grit Be ready. BE SHUR. bernsteinshur.com When you need outside legal counsel that feels like par t of your team. HUBZone opportunity for Topsham firm A telecommunications tower-service firm based in Topsham with 20 employees is the first company in the midcoast region to qualify under new eligibility rules for HUBZone, a U.S. Small Business Administration program designed to give small companies greater opportunities to land federal contracts. Find out more at mainebiz.biz/HUBZone Shaw's ruling could have wider impact AARP says a March 7 Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruling involving five older Maine employees of Shaw's Supermarkets who lost their jobs in a 2012 workforce reduction serves notice to all Maine employers that Maine human rights law extends to neutral employment policies or practic- es that happen to have a significant adverse "dis- parate impact" on older workers. Find out about this important ruling at mainebiz.biz/olderworkers Bill seeks to spur growth of new timber technologies U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King are co-sponsors of bipartisan legislation that would accelerate research and development of new wood technologies, such as cross-laminated timber, in the construction of buildings over 85 feet high. Find out why the Maine Forest Products Council, Weyerhaeuser and the University of Maine School of Forest Resources are backing the Timber Innovation Act at mainebiz.biz/timber

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