Maine State Chamber honors education, business leaders

Courtesy / Maine State Chamber | Dave Dostie Photography From left, Maine State Chamber President Dana Connors, board chair Wick Johnson, UMaine System Chancellor James Page and board vice chair Clifton Greim at The Maine State Chamber of Commerce annual awards dinner Tuesday in Augusta.

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By Staff

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce honored three individuals and one organization for their contributions to the state’s economy at the group’s annual dinner Tuesday in Augusta.

James H. Page, chancellor of the University of Maine System, was presented with the Alton “Chuck” Cianchette Maine Business Hall of Fame award for his public service leadership, business success and commitment to Maine as a business owner and employer, an academic and, since 2012, as chancellor of Maine’s public universities.

In a statement emailed to Mainebiz on Wednesday, Page said: “It is an honor to be associated with the public service of previous winners of the Maine Business Hall of Fame Award and, in particular, the Cianchette family and all they have done for Maine.

“I am pleased to accept the recognition on behalf of the One University innovators who are building new collaboration to address Maine’s dire workforce and demographic challenges.”

He also commended the Maine State Chamber for being “a long-standing champion of public higher education as the surest foundation for economic prosperity” and said that “we are grateful for their support and advocacy.”

Other award recipients

Other individual awards went to James E. Rier Jr. and to Craig A. Pendleton.

Rier, former commissioner of Maine’s Department of Education, received the Chamber President’s Recognition Award for his “unparalleled commitment to education in Maine, and his efforts to promote the mission, priorities and initiatives of the Chamber.”

Pendleton, executive director of the Biddeford+Saco Chamber of Commerce+Industry, received the Professional of the Year Award.

He is credited with elevating his organization’s role and position in the communities it serves, significantly growing the number of members, adding the Town of Waterboro and opening a welcome center for visitors, tourism and member promotion.

Besides the awards to individuals, the Maine State Chamber presented its inaugural E.N.V.Y. award to the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority for its success and innovation in developing Brunswick Landing.

The new annual award is given to an organization whose regional success is ‘enviable’ in terms of Economic contribution to a region, ability to recognize and address a Need, and the required Vision to attain success; it is presented to champions of Yankee ingenuity (hence, the acronym E.N.V.Y.)

Tuesday’s event, attended by nearly 450 people at the Augusta Civic Center, began with an annual Taste of Maine reception and finished with a performance by the Washington, D.C.-based political satire ensemble The Capitol Steps.