2010 Chamber awards and winners:
Celebrating excellence: Chamber awards honor community leaders

Annually, the Chamber honors a number of organizations and individuals for their significant contributions to our communities. This year’s awards will be presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting at the Ramada Conference Center on Thursday, January 28. The Chamber is pleased to recognize the following individuals and businesses.

Two Business Leadership Awards for larger companies will be presented. The first will go to Nason Mechanical Systems and CEO Peter Traill. Nason has been a stalwart in the local economy for more than 75 years providing construction and maintenance of HVAC systems. The second will go to Auburn Manufacturing and CEO Kathie Leonard. Auburn Manufacturing is the industry leader in the manufacture of high performance coated textiles and composite fabrics for extreme temperature applications. The company recently invented a pipe insulation product to help reduce energy usage.

The Business Leadership Award for a smaller company will be presented to Encompass Marketing and Design. Encompass Marketing & Design is a comprehensive services firm of talented professionals, integrating marketing, graphic design, public relations, fundraising and internal management under one umbrella, to support the branding and financial goals of business and non-profit organizations.

The prestigious Ray Geiger Award will be presented to Sue Donovan of Donovan’s Auto Sales in Greene for her tireless work as chair of The Chamber Ambassador Committee. For over eight years Sue was the organizer of Chamber ambassadors, scheduling them for events and organizing special training seminars for ambassadors. Chamber President Chip Morrison noted that “Sue has always been there, helping us organize events, getting volunteer ambassadors, and supporting our Chamber. No matter what you ask, Sue is always willing to lend a helping hand.”

Two Community Service Leadership Awards will be presented. The first will go to Kim Wettlaufer for his leadership of the Trinity Jubilee Center. Trinity Jubilee Center is a major provider of services to a large segment of the homeless population in Lewiston. The second Community Service Leadership award will be presented to Museum L/A and Rachel Desgrosseilliers. The museum documents and celebrates the economic, social and technological legacy of Lewiston-Auburn and its people. In a little over a decade, Museum L/A has grown from an idea to a first class destination for students of history.

Advertisement

The Lisbon Business Award will be presented to Downeast Energy and Building Supply. While headquartered in Brunswick, Downeast has long been a tremendous part of the town of Lisbon, providing services to that community from their offices on Main Street and supporting the community.

The first Poland Business Award will be presented to Poland Spring Bottling, one of the major employers in Androscoggin County. Not only does Poland Spring Bottling provide hundreds of good-paying jobs, but they are an incredible corporate citizen and a leader in showing how a business can be a first class environmental steward.

Two Public Service Leadership Awards will be presented. The first will go to Rick Whiting for his long-term leadership of the Auburn Housing Authority and for his voluntary leadership over the years of the Auburn Public Library, United Way, and other community organizations. The second will go to Norm Lamie of the Auburn Water and Sewer Districts for his visionary leadership and leading cooperative efforts between the cities of Lewiston and Auburn.

The Education Award will be presented to Lewiston School Superintendent, Leon Levesque for his leadership of the Lewiston schools over the past decade. During that time he worked to dramatically improve Lewiston schools both renovating aging facilities and building two new schools. He also established the Lewiston Education Fund to support academic excellence and creativity and supported aspirations work throughout the Lewiston schools.

Last year The Chamber introduced a new award, “The Cool Chamber Award,” which is presented to an organization or business which has made a significant difference in reducing energy usage and preserving resources. The 2010 award will be presented to Heutz Oil, which in the past year began selling wood pellets as an alternative to traditional fuel oil.

There will be three winners of the prestigious President’s Award. The first will be awarded to the Dempsey Challenge and Central Maine Medical Center for the incredible new event which has brought positive recognition to our communities. The second President’s award will go to Dan Smiley of Turner Publishing for his tireless advocacy for small businesses in the community and for his work on behalf of community organizations like the Moxie Festival and Healthy Androscoggin. The final President’s Award will be presented to The Public Theatre which has been bringing high quality professional theater to our area since 1991.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.