PORTLAND – Two of Lewiston-Auburn’s most prominent players in the world of business were honored Monday, selected as the state’s top business leaders by Mainebiz.

Ford Reiche, CEO of Safe Handling in Auburn, and Chip Morrison, president of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce, were selected by the statewide business journal as leaders who stand “heads and shoulders above his or her peers.”

Reiche, who won the recognition in the large company category, said many people had called or e-mailed to congratulate him. He was pleased to see that two of the journal’s three awards went to L-A people.

“A large part of our success at Safe Handling has to do with the community we’re in,” said Reiche, who also received the Small Business Administration’s business leader of the year award earlier this month. “This wouldn’t happen elsewhere.

“We have employees from 100 hard-working families, within a community that is sophisticated, yet welcoming, to business for the 20 years I’ve been here.”

Reiche had hoped to have a celebratory lunch this week with Morrison and colleague Kent Peterson, CEO of Fluid Imaging Technologies, who won in the small business category, but Morrison was golfing in Florida.

“It’s very well deserved … Chip is Chip,” said Reiche of the chamber’s irrepressible chieftain.

Sara Donnelly, managing editor of Mainebiz, said the two were picked by staffers after an aggressive selection process. Editorial staff researched each nominee submitted by readers, then met to debate their relative merits.

“We wanted to choose someone who is not only an intellectual leader, but who we know in our gut is a real stand-out,” Donnelly said. The publication has been picking its leaders of the year since 2001. She said this is the first year the honor has been awarded in separate categories to better reflect the diversity of Maine’s businesses and the issues they confront.

Donnelly said Reiche stood out because of Safe Handling’s dual trajectories. The bulk transporter has always looked at its markets – both supply and demand – in global terms; and has committed to a business model dedicated to reducing global warming.

“Addressing those two challenges has jettisoned his company forward,” said Donnelly, who wrote the profile on Reiche.

Morrison stood out for his renown energy that led has to the chamber’s growth, but it was his leadership during a crisis within the organization that really capped his selection, said Donnelly. Last summer Morrison fired an employee suspected of embezzlement, then went public with the situation, shining a light on a problem that many companies and nonprofits prefer to sweep under the rug.

“It was just a perfect combination,” said Donnelly of Morrison’s actions, “his excellence in leadership and responsiveness to that challenge.”

Mainebiz publishes biweekly with a circulation of 10,500; last month it won a general excellence award from the New England Press Association. The profiles on Morrison and Reiche are available at www.mainebiz.biz