Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce
ANNUAL MEETING AGENDA
January 23 rd
Ramada Conference Center
5:00 PM
5:55
6:00
6:10
6:25
7:30
9:00 PM
Reception begins
Call to Order – Chip – National Anthem sung by Ginger Leigh Smith -- then introduce reps from Androscoggin Bank & Oxford Networks – starting with
Androscoggin Bank video
Welcome – Paul Andersen
Oxford Networks Video
Chip return to podium to introduce Patti
Chair’s Remarks -- Patti
Dinner
Awards Program -- Chip, Patti , Board Members, & Sponsors
Closing and Adjourn – Patti and Chip (50/50 winner)
6:10 PM - WELCOMING REMARKS – Patti
Good evening. On behalf of the Chamber Board and staff, thank you for joining us at the chamber’s 126 th annual meeting. The Chamber’s annual meeting is the largest single celebration of excellence in our communities.
As we begin the program tonight, I want to express our deepest appreciation to Androscoggin Bank for being the major sponsor of tonight’s annual meeting. Will the dedicated team from Androscoggin Bank led by
Paul Andersen, please stand and accept our appreciation. APPLAUSE.
And we want to thank Oxford Networks for being the lead cosponsor of our annual meeting. Will the team from Oxford Networks, led by Matt
Jancovic, please stand and accept our appreciation for sponsoring the chamber’s annual meeting? APPLAUSE.
I would also like to thank our other cosponsors: First, Central Maine
Power represented by Bob Fickett. Would he please rise and accept our appreciation. APPLAUSE.

Second, Kaplan University and the team led by Dr. Christopher Quinn.
Would they please stand? APPLAUSE.
Third, Procter & Gamble. Would the team from Procter & Gamble led by
Felicia Coney please rise and accept our thanks? APPLAUSE.
Fourth, Unitil. Would the team from Unitil, led by Scott Carpenter please rise and accept our thanks. APPLAUSE.
Finally, I’d like to recognize our table sponsors for this evening.
Agren Appliance, Argo Marketing Group, Bates College, BGA Financial,
Brann & Isaacson, Camden National Bank, Center Street Dental,
Central Maine Community College, Central Maine Medical Center,
Central Maine Orthopaedics, Champoux Insurance, Community Credit
Union, Electricity Maine/Health Affiliates of Maine, L-A Harley-
Davidson, the Town of Lisbon, Mechanics Savings Bank, Norway
Savings Bank, Rinck Advertising, Skelton Taintor & Abbott, St. Mary’s
Health System, the Sun Journal, TD Bank, Turner Publishing, and the
University of Southern Maine at Lewiston Auburn College. Let’s give them a big round of applause.

There are a few people in the audience I’d like to recognize.
First, again this year we are joined by U.S. Representative Mike Michaud.
Also, from Mike’s staff is Andrea Quaid, from Senator Collin’s staff is Tim
Stretton, and from Senator King’s staff is Gail Kezar. We are also joined tonight by Representatives Peggy Rotundo and Mike Carey of Lewiston.
APPLAUSE. Also joining us is independent gubernatorial candidate,
Eliot Cutler. Would he please stand. APPLAUSE.
We are joined this evening by to Lucien Gosselin, leader of our Lewiston
Auburn Economic Growth Council, Bob Thompson of AVCOG, and
Conrad Welzel of the Maine Turnpike Authority. APPLAUSE.
With us tonight is a delegation from the Town of Lisbon led by Town
Council Chair Lisa Ward and vice-chair Dillon Pesce. Would they stand and be recognized? APPLAUSE.
Also joining us tonight are Lewiston Mayor Bob MacDonald, Council
President Mark Cayer, and councilor Leslie Dubois and City
Administrator Ed Barrett and from Auburn Mayor Jonathan LaBonte,
City Councilors Adam Lee, David Young, and Mary LaFontaine, and City
Manager Clint Deschene. Would they all stand and accept our appreciation for their leadership of our communities? APPLAUSE.

Now I would like to take a few moments to review with you some of the chamber highlights of 2013.
It is an irrefutable fact – none of our achievements would be possible without the dedication of thousands of volunteer hours that our chamber members devote to developing and implementing our chamber programs and services. Many of the key committee volunteers and other supporters are identified in the 2013 annual report. There is one at each place setting.
If you are a volunteer for one of the chamber programs or are on one of the chamber or YPLAA committees, please stand and be recognized.
APPLAUSE
THIS IS WHY WE CAN ACCOMPLISH AS MUCH AS WE DO!
help The Chamber at different times throughout the
year!! 2013 was a highly successful year.
According to MaineBiz, we maintained our lead on Portland as the largest local chamber in Maine. At the present time, our Chamber has 1382 members. The back of your program highlights the 128 new members who joined in the past 12 months.

Last February, over 100 volunteers delivered new business resource guides to members throughout central and southern Maine. This year we are again looking for volunteers to deliver the new 2014 resource guide on
Thank You Day on February 20 th . (This is a sneak preview of how it
will look.) Applause
YPLAA, our young professionals’ organization chaired by Kelly David, continued to grow to more than 500 members. This major initiative was supported by a generous grant from major sponsor, Center Street Dental and was cosponsored by Bangor Savings Bank – the founding sponsor.
In the spring, YPLAA unveiled the Y-Not program with generous support from Thayer Corporation – which involved over 60 YP’s in a month long community involvement competition. In October, The Chamber joined the
YPLAA Betterment Committee to host a very successful “Candid
Candidates” program at the Hilton Garden Inn.
Would YPLAA members here this evening please stand? These are the future leaders of our communities. APPLAUSE.
In all program areas, The Chamber continued and expanded our ongoing programs and added several new ones.

The Business Advocacy Committee, chaired by Clif Greim of Harriman
Associates and Paul Landry of Fish Bones worked to put together our signature policy statements -- ‘What We Stand For’. It is a plan for how our governor, the legislature, and local officials can create a business climate conducive to job growth in our state.
Our Education Committee, led by chair Jen Hogan, championed several successful initiatives including: 2 career fairs, a job fair, over 60 junior achievement classes reaching more than 1000 students, and our 14 th annual scholarship scramble golf tournament which surpassed the ½
Million dollar mark in terms of funds raised for scholarships for local students over its 14 years. It is the single largest fund raiser for scholarships in our area. Jennifer Willey chaired that very successful effort. The Education Committee’s big new initiative of 2012-2013 was the creation of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy with the founding sponsorships by Mechanics Savings Bank, Procter & Gamble, and Maine
Education Services and several other Chamber members. Seven high school students completed the intensive 33-week program to create their own businesses. And three of those businesses are still going strong. This year the program has even more sponsors and students and is part of the regular curriculum of the Lewiston Regional Technical Center. Applause.
Under the leadership of Hillary Dow and JoAnne Campbell, our Regional
Image Committee is now setting the stage for a whole new branding and marketing campaign for our communities. They are also working with the
Maine Sports Commission to welcome the NCAA Division III final four hockey tournament to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee this
March 21 st & 22 nd .

The Membership Services Committee, under co-chairs Stephanie
Gelinas and Kurk Lalemand rejuvenated the ambassador efforts to welcome and reach out to members. Our yellow lanyard wearing ambassadors work to help members feel more comfortable attending large
Chamber events and encourage them to utilize the wide range of Chamber programs. This year the committee has developed a whole new program for small business members called Chamber Mastermind.
Throughout the year, our regular chamber events, breakfasts, business after hours, seminars, and brown bags have experienced great attendance. More and more members are using chamber services and we
deeply appreciate that.
It was a great year!!! My thanks to each and every one of you. Without your help it would not have been possible. (applause).
I would like to recognize and thank our hardworking staff team. That team is, by the way, the smallest staff of any major chamber in Maine – which allows us to keep member dues at a rate lower than most others.
Please stand up as I call your name.
Maureen Aube – Operations Manager and staff for the Business
Advocacy Committee
Deborah Carroll – Events and program coordinator extraordinaire and staff for the Regional Image Committee
Jenny Ziebart – Communications Manager and staff for Education
Committee and YPLAA
Ramprit Singh, our intern
Chip Morrison – our President (Who’s he?)
LET’S SHOW THEM OUR APPRECIATION! Applause

Tonight, I would also like to recognize previous leaders of the chamber who have joined us for this special evening. The following individuals have led the chamber board of directors in years past and continue very strong
support for us.
I would ask that they stand as I call their names and remain standing until
I have completed the entire introductions. Please hold applause
PAST CHAIRS - CHAMBER BOARD OF DIRECTORS (who are with us
tonight):
Larry Raymond
Ralph Tuttle
Terry Samson
Ray Martel
Isaacson & Raymond
Sun Journal Steve Costello
Donna Steckino
Dick Albert
Bud Willey
Peter Murphy
Art Boulay
Susan Stacey
Kurk Lalemand
Mary LaFontaine
Applause
Champoux Insurance
Canteen Services
Neokraft Signs
Strategic Talent Management
Manpower
Next Level Business Coaching
Lewiston Career Center
Mary – would you please come forward to be recognized for your great
leadership in 2013! (give her the plaque)

No summary of the year’s highlights would be complete without recognizing the chamber’s officers and directors with whom I have had the pleasure of working. Their leadership and commitment continues to provide a solid foundation for our organization.
SERVING ON THE CURRENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS WITH ME ARE:
(Please stand as I call your name and remain standing.)
Austin Albert
Bob Bernier
Salvatore Bonetti
JoAnne Campbell
Michael Cox
Kelly David
Stephanie Gelinas
Joyce Gibson
Clif Greim
Jennifer Hogan
Michael Huppe
Susan Keiler
Mary LaFontaine
Kurk Lalemand
Paul Landry
Kevin LaPointe
Sherry Lavoie
Mike Malloy
Scott Riccio
Jamison Leavitt
Betsy Libby
Robin Robbins
Julie Shackley
Carl Sheline
Sherry Spencer
Mark Stasium
Amanda Theberge
Jennifer Willey
Shane Wright
Twin City Financial Group
Matheson Valley Gas
The Bonetti Group at Morgan Stanley
Mechanics Savings Bank
(Regional Image co-chair)
Central Maine Orthopaedics
Central Maine Orthopaedics
(YPLAA chair)
Sandcastle Clinical and Educational Services
(Membership Services co-Chair)
USM at Lewiston Auburn College
Harriman Associates
(Business Advocacy co-Chair)
Community Credit Union (
Education chair)
Central Maine Medical Center
St. Mary’s Health Systems
Lewiston Career Center
(past-chair)
Next Level Business Coaching
(Member services co-chair)
Fish Bones American Grill
(Business Advocacy co-Chair)
Carbonite
Moody’s Collision Centers
Agren Appliance
Central Maine Community College
Brann & Isaacson
Northeast Charter and Tour Company
Androscoggin Bank (
Treasurer
)
Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice
Center Street Dental
Procter & Gamble
TD Bank
Hilton Garden Inn
Canteen Services (
Golf Tournament chair
)
Isaacson & Raymond

Ex-officio members of The Chamber Board
(who actively participate each month) are:
Joleen Bedard
Ed Barrett
Clint Deschene
United Way of Androscoggin County
City of Lewiston
City of Auburn
LAEGC
AVCOG
Lucien Gosselin
Bob Thompson
Last year eight individuals completed service on the board. They were:
Jason Agren
Art Boulay
Adam Dunbar
Matt Jancovic
Andrea Leblanc
Scott McKenney
Iman Poeraatmadja
Agren Appliance
Strategic Talent Management
Wells Fargo Advisors
Oxford Networks
Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice
Hilton Garden Inn Auburn
Neokraft Signs
Nason Mechanical Systems Peter Traill
Would Art, Adam (who had almost perfect board attendance over six years),
Matt, and Scott come forward to accept a token of our appreciation?
PLEASE GIVE ALL THESE CHAMBER LEADERS A ROUND OF
APPLAUSE.
Our hosts from the Ramada Inn Conference Center have prepared a great dinner for us this evening. Enjoy it. We will rejoin you after dinner for the annual awards program.
DINNER

INTRODUCTION TO AWARDS PRESENTATION – Patti
My favorite program of the year is the Chamber Annual Awards. It is our opportunity to thank and congratulate many business and community leaders for all the great things they’ve done for our communities.
This year the selection was incredibly difficult because we had over 50 nominations. And each one of those nominees is deserving of recognition!
So let’s begin our presentations with the YPLAA annual awards – again this year being recognized at The Chamber annual meeting.
All the verbal part of the award presentations will be incorporated in the video. The role of the award presenter(s) is to hand the plaque to the winner(s) and be part of a photo. Patti will introduce first award and Chip will continue after that with the following (in order):
1. Presenting the first YPLAA award to Sandra Jones will be Dr. Rose
Sheline of YPLAA sponsor Center Street Dental and Kelly David,
Chair of the YPLAA Steering Committee.
2.
Presenting the 2 nd YPLAA award to Shanna Rogers of Community
Concepts are Christine Bosse and Michelle Ritcheson of Bangor
Savings Bank and past YPLAA chair, Jennifer Gaylord of the United valley Chapter of the American Red Cross.

YPLAA VIDEO
3.
Presenting a special YPLAA award to Michael Malloy will be
Dan Thayer of Thayer Corporation and Kelly David.
4. Presenting the New Member of the Year Award to Morningstar Stone
and Tile is our sponsor, Paul Andersen of our sponsor Androscoggin
Bank and Regional Image co-chair, Hillary Dow of Austin Associates.
5. Presenting the Greene Award to Huricane’s Café & Deli are Board members, Sherry Lavoie of Moody’s Collision Centers and Sal Bonetti of
Morgan Stanley.
6. Presenting the Lisbon Business Award to Positive Change Lisbon is
Workforce Development and Education chair, Jen Hogan of Community
Credit Union and board member Shane Wright of Isaacson and
Raymond.
7. Presenting the Poland Business Award to Poland Spring
Preservation Society is board member Betsy Libby of Central Maine
Community College.
8. Presenting the Turner Business Award to Turner Publishing and
Jodi Cornelio are Membership Services co-chair Kurk Lalemand of Next
Level Business Coaching and Business Advocacy co-chair Paul Landry of
Fish Bones American Grill.

9. Presenting the first Business Leadership Award to Argo Marketing
Group will be Scott Carpenter of co-sponsor UNITIL, past chair Mary
LaFontaine of the Lewiston Career Center, and board member Lucien
Gosselin of LAEGC.
10. Presenting the second Business Leadership Award to Rainbow
Bicycle is board treasurer, Robin Robbins of Androscoggin Bank and regional image co-chair JoAnne Campbell of Mechanics Savings Bank.
11. Presenting the Education/Business partnership Award to
Community Credit Union will be Membership Services co-chair
Stephanie Gelinas of Sandcastle Clinical and Educational Services and board member Carl Sheline of Center Street Dental.
12. Presenting the Community Service Leadership Award to
the YWCA and Kathy Durgin-Leighton will be Dr. Christopher
Quinn of co-sponsor Kaplan University and board member Jennifer
Willey.
13. Presenting the Cool Chamber Award to Pettengill Academy are board member Sherry Spencer representing co-sponsor Procter &
Gamble and business advocacy co-chair, Clif Greim of Harriman
Architects and Engineers.
14. Presenting the Public Service Leadership Award to Craig
Saddlemire will be board member Ed Barrett of the City of Lewiston and
Lewiston Mayor Bob Macdonald.

15. Presenting the first President’s Award to L-A Harley Davidson and
John Story will be Bob Fickett representing co-sponsor Central Maine
Power, board member Amanda Theberge of the Hilton Garden Inn, and me.
16. Presenting the second President’s Award to Rinck Advertising will be board member Susan Keiler of St. Mary’s Health System and me.
17. Presenting the Ray Geiger Award to Art Boulay is former Board member Matt Jancovic, representing lead co-sponsor, Oxford Networks and Board Chair, Patti Gagne.
After the presentation of the Ray Geiger award, Patti & Chip return to the podium to thank everyone.
Before our super 50/50 drawing, I would like to once again thank our sponsors -- major sponsor Androscoggin Bank, our lead co-sponsor
Oxford Networks and our cosponsors Central Maine Power, Kaplan
University, Procter & Gamble Tambrands, and Unitil.
50/50 Drawing- Patti picks – Chip reads winning number.