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March 23, 2015 Edition
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2015 Business Leaders of the Year

Leadership comes in many forms. This year, Mainebiz has selected three leaders who know how to get things done. They've led organizations through tough times, they've grown revenues, they've kept the books balanced, they've watched out for their employees, stakeholders and the public. And they've done it with a grace, enthusiasm and humility we feel is worth noting.

  • Focus on Wealth Management
    Focus on Wealth Management

    When it comes to retirement investing, Gen Ys and boomers may be more alike than not

    Lori Valigra

    Millennials are hopeful, want meaningful work, value diversity and are tech savvy. Baby boomers are optimistic, work in teams, are ambitious and tend to be workaholics. So says the American Psychological Association.

  • Focus on Wealth Management
    Focus on Wealth Management

    Real estate emerging as alternative to stocks, bonds and mutual funds for IRA investors

    James McCarthy

    Autumn Poulin, a realtor who works out of the Maine Real Estate Network's Saco office, first heard about investing a self-directed Individual Retirement Account into real estate about eight years ago.

  • Gelato Fiasco, CashStar attract new investment

    Lori Valigra

    Gelato and sorbetto company Gelato Fiasco Inc. of Brunswick has sold $782,660 of an indefinite debt offering, according to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The first date of sale was Jan. 28.

  • Opinion
    Opinion

    Maine's business leaders are about more than the bottom line

    Peter Van Allen

    It's always good when a reporter comes back from an assignment and says, “Oh man, we talked for three hours!”That was the case with all three of the interviews with this year's Business Leaders of the Year.

  • How To's
    How To's

    How to understand Maine’s system for real estate assessment

    N. Joel Moser

    When in receipt of a tax assessor's request for additional information, also known as a Section 706 request, it is hard to find any redeeming value, especially when commercially sensitive information is perceived to be at risk.

  • How To's
    How To's

    How to establish trust in your business relationships

    Nancy Marshall

    Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar once said that if people like you, they will listen to you, but if they trust you, they will do business with you. In my 30 years as a businesswoman in Maine, I have always found this to be true.

  • In Short
    In Short

    Newsworthy people and performances

    New hiresSebago Technics, an engineering consulting firm in South Portland, hired Joshua Eon and Andrew Piccirillo as survey technicians.

Today's Poll

Is it time for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates?
Poll Description

Over the past several months, banks and other businesses have been looking for the Federal Reserve Board to cut interest rates, but the waiting game continues.

Basing its decision on new economic reports, the Fed on May 1 said it doesn’t plan to cut rates until it has “greater confidence” that inflation is slowing toward the central bank's 2% target. Three rate reductions have been projected for 2024, likely starting in June.

But for now, it appears the key borrowing rate in the U.S. will stay at a two-decade high of roughly 5.3%.

Keeping the rate so high for so long may tame inflation, but can also discourage new investment and business growth.

“The Fed is really stressing the banking industry,” said Andrew Silsby, president and CEO of Augusta-based Kennebec Savings Bank, in a Mainebiz story last month. “The economic environment is really quite difficult, but I haven’t quite figured out whether we’re through the storm or in the eye of the storm.”

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