John and Ingrid Wilbur Kachmar, owners of Wilbur Yachts in Southwest Harbor, will speak to students and faculty on Wednesday, Nov. 29, as part of the entrepreneurship program at Hebron Academy.

Wilbur Yachts owners will address students

HEBRON – John and Ingrid Wilbur Kachmar, owners of Wilbur Yachts in Southwest Harbor, will speak to Hebron Academy students and faculty on Wednesday, Nov. 29, as part of the entrepreneurship program.

The Kachmars’ presentation, “Balancing Act,” will be offered during the community meeting from 10:15 to 11 a.m. in the Lepage Lecture Hall, Treat Science Building. The public is welcome.

A 1985 graduate of the academy, Ingrid and her husband, John, took over the Wilbur Yachts helm from Lee Wilbur and Heidi Crock, Ingrid’s parents, in 2001. Wilbur and Crock started the company in 1973 and established a demand for Wilbur Yachts.

Wilbur Yachts specializes in Downeast, or lobster-style, hulls, a trademark among Maine boat builders. The company’s boats range from 28 to 70 feet in length, and almost all of the boats Wilbur constructs are built to order.

Wilbur Yachts, which employs 15 people, handles four to six new builds annually in addition to its upgrade projects. The company has also constructed research vessels for the Smithsonian and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and recently received the Maine Clean Boatyards and Marinas Award from the Maine Marine Trade Association.

The Hebron Academy Entrepreneurship Program focuses on entrepreneurial learning, teaching and practice. Students learn entrepreneurial skills while interacting with successful entrepreneurs, launching for-profit and nonprofit ventures, and participating in business competitions.

The entrepreneurship program was created in 2005 through a gift from R. Eugene Whitman, a Wellesley, Mass., businessman and member of the Hebron Academy class of 1954. For more information about the program and future speakers, contact Susan Stephenson at sstephenson@hebronacademy.org or call 966-5251.