Lessons from a Maine composites pioneer
Thirty-two years ago, as I was just getting started as a journalist, there's no way I could have imagined the value of staking my life and career to one place.
It never crossed my mind that by staying rooted in Maine I'd have numerous opportunities to follow some stories over years and sometimes over decades. Whether it's the hopes and aspirations someone might have expressed to me years ago — or my awareness of a defining moment of change or crisis that was successfully weathered — knowing so many back-stories has certainly deepened my appreciation of just how important resilience and tenacity are to achieving one's hopes and dreams.
That's especially true in the business world, as I was reminded in reporting my June 29 cover story “Building bridges,” which highlights Brunswick-based composites manufacturer Harbor Technologies' efforts to gain a greater share of the huge transportation infrastructure market. A primary source for the story was Martin Grimnes, founder and president of the 12-year-old company that happens to be located in the Brunswick Industrial Park right across the street from The Times Record, the daily newspaper that I worked at for more than 26 years, including 10 years as its managing editor.
I've known Grimnes since the mid-1980s, when he was an early pioneer in Maine's emerging composites industry. He was a founding member of Maine Composites Alliance, an industry group that today counts more than 60 members among its ranks. The company he created, Brunswick Technologies Inc., quickly became an industry leader in developing and manufacturing composite reinforcement fabrics made from glass, carbon and other fibers. His company's proprietary manufacturing processes propelled BTI into an enviable growth trajectory that had climbed to $44 million in sales by the 1990s.
With rapid growth came the need for additional capital, and that's where Grimnes' life story encountered what's known in the storytelling profession as the “climax,” a turning point often precipitated by an unexpected crisis. It seems fair to call the hostile takeover of the company in 2000 by a subsidiary of the French multinational Saint-Gobain exactly that.
We all know it's not a given that our personal narratives will end in triumph. The outcome often depends a bit on luck, getting help from others and, probably the most important element, drawing upon one's inner strength and resolve.
Grimnes regrouped and formed a new composites company in 2003 called Harbor Technologies Inc. He staked out piers, pilings, sea walls, bridge beams and marine camels as infrastructure markets that composites could compete in effectively against conventional construction materials such as pressure-treated lumber, concrete and steel. He's racked up a number of “firsts” — including the Knickerbocker Bridge in Boothbay, at 540 feet the longest composite bridge installation in the world. ”
It's always a tall task coming into a very established industry with new technology, Grimnes told me when I interviewed him this spring at his Brunswick manufacturing site — in his words, “They are not going to roll over and play dead for us.”
Not surprisingly, given that he's 67, some of his time and attention is focused on succession-planning, both for himself as CEO and the company in general.
On both fronts I left feeling confident that when the time comes to pass the baton, he's got a solid executive team in his son Erik, who's worked at Harbor Technologies since 2003 and is the company's general manager, and Bob Yurglich, the company's new CFO, a Colorado native with strong financial and marketing skills. They were bright, articulate and enthusiastic about grabbing a bigger share of the infrastructure market away from concrete and steel.
I left Harbor Technologies thinking how lucky they are to have a visionary pioneer like Martin Grimnes as a role model, and how lucky he is to have bright, capable young people like them who are willing and able to bring fresh energy to his life's work.
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