At center of hard-hit industry, HospitalityMaine CEO will step down in December

File Photo / Tim Greenway Steve Hewins, president and CEO of HospitalityMaine.

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By William Hall

Steve Hewins, president and CEO of the trade association HospitalityMaine, will leave his post at the end of the year.

Hewins has led Maine’s largest restaurant and lodging industry group since its founding in 2018, and is stepping down to focus on its educational foundation, he said in a letter to the group’s members Thursday.

The HospitalityMaine board expects to name a successor before Hewins’ departure, and he will participate in the search process, he said.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve [members] in my role as leader of the association. We have certainly traveled a long way these past four and a half years,” he wrote.

Hewins will transition to working with the HM Foundation, which he helped form earlier this year.

“The foundation has a large role to play in the restart and rebuild of our industry, and I am especially passionate about the need for a sustainable education and career pathway to develop the new generation of hospitality professionals needed in the post-COVID economy,” Hewins said in his letter.

His work with what is now HospitalityMaine dates to 2016, when he was named to head the Maine Restaurant Association and the Maine Innkeepers Association, succeeding Greg Dugal, who left the roles to direct government affairs for the two nonprofits. They merged in 2018.

More recently, Hewins has helped navigate HospitalityMaine and its 1,000 members through the COVID-19 crisis, and served as a voice for one of Maine’s economic sectors hardest hit by the pandemic.

In June, the Augusta-based organization joined with the Maine Tourism Association, the Retail Association of Maine and other groups to propose an $800 million plan to help the state's tourist industry recover from coronavirus-related shutdowns.

At that time, they had already cost Maine more than 105,000 lost jobs, according to the state Department of Labor, including 12,000 in retail and 42,600 in hospitality.

On Thursday, Dana Connors, president of the Maine Chamber of Commerce, called Hewins a “first-class guy” and praised the way he has responded to the crisis.

“His leadership has been noted and appreciated by all of us,” Connors told Mainebiz. “The [hospitality] industry is such a vital part of our economy, and Steve has been able to make people aware of that, and to bring together the cooperation of others.”

The pandemic has “magnified” the role of HospitalityMaine and of Hewins, but he stepped into it with “a consistent message, with dignity and with respect,” Connors said.

“You never felt for a moment that [HospitalityMaine] was being cavalier. The message has been, we’re responsible and respectful of public health.”

Steve DiMillo, HospitlalityMaine chairman and manager of DiMillo’s On the Waterfront in Portland, said in a news release, "Steve Hewins has done a great job leading our ever-changing industry during these challenging times. We will miss his vision and leadership, but are confident that we will have a successor to build on all that’s been accomplished during Steve’s tenure."

Hewins, a graduate of the University of Maine, founded Hewins Travel Consultants, which he headed until 2007, when he sold the firm to AAA Northern New England. For six years he then served as that organization’s vice president of travel and branch operations.

He later was executive director of Portland Downtown, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to build and promote the city’s center as a vibrant business, residential and tourism destination. During his time there, Portland Downtown implemented a new strategic plan, contemporized its branding and websites and expanded city-wide events, including the Old Port Festival.

Hewins is a trustee of the Maine Historical Society, and serves on the boards of the University of Maine Alumni Association, Visit Portland, the Maine Tourism Association, USM Hospitality and Tourism Advisory Program, SMCC Culinary and Hospitality Program, and Husson University's College of Business Advisory Board.