Business leaders with moxie
We've seen in Maine that leaders come from all kinds of backgrounds.
The three people we have named as our 2016 Business Leaders of the Year seem to defy stereotypes.
Yes, Maine is known for having an older population. But that doesn't necessarily mean they ditch their ambitions, vision, business knowledge, entrepreneurial spirit and bootstrapping moxie at an over-55 housing community. (Full disclosure: I'm squarely in that demographic.)
Yet we also have a business leader of a younger generation. He is a Maine native, went away to Boston for college and came back, raring to start a business. And, surprise, we find that to really grow his business, he was sage enough to seek out leaders who had dealt with the same challenges.
Among some stellar nominations, Mainebiz looked closely at what each leader had done, not just over a career, but within the past year.
Rodney McCrum, president and COO of Pineland Farms Potato Co. Inc. in Mars Hill, was born and raised in Aroostook County and saw that selling potatoes in a 10-pound bag was no way to keep The County's potato industry alive. He staked his future and a lot of his own money and other people's to a new way of production — creating a product that can go directly to the table at Applebee's. Along the way, the company has invested millions of dollars in operations and become a leading employer in The County.
Danielle Ripich, president of the University of New England, leads a university that has blazed a trail even as Maine's high school population continues to decline. She's started colleges, expanded programs to prepare students for the workplace and, most recently, gotten significant funding from the Gates Foundation for new programs.
Joshua Davis, CEO and co-founder of Gelato Fiasco, is the young gun here, but he's taking an old-fashioned approach to business, finding and expanding a market for an “emotional” product, while creating jobs in the process.
We think you'll enjoy their stories.
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