|
| Local Ownership: Building Business That Stays |
10:45am - 11:45am, Presented by: Jean M. Deighan, Doug Green, Stacy Brenner, and Shep Erhart
|
What is it about locally-owned businesses that’s really so important? How are the suppliers, employees, owners and customers different than those of non-local enterprises? And how do we grow these companies, and their “economic multiplier effect”, to ensure that Maine’s business community thrives at the same time that it contributes to the unique quality and character of this place? This workshop focuses on the unique needs and contributions of place-based businesses that are committed to Maine in the long run, and how to strengthen this foundation for a sustainable Maine economy.
Reserve Your Spot Today! |
| Jean M. Deighan, President, Deighan Associates |
 |
Jean Deighan grew up in Maine graduating from local schools. She received her B.A. from Tufts University in 1973 and her J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law in 1976. She graduated from the American Bankers Association Trust Management School in 1982, and the National Graduate Trust School in 1983 where she received the Certified Financial Services Consultant designation.
|
Jean practiced law for two years in Bangor before becoming a trust banker in 1978. In 1994, following a sixteen-year career working for others in banking and investment management, Jean along with Jenifer Wilson founded Deighan Associates, Inc. an independent investment advisory firm. At Deighan Associates, Jean and two other co-professionals manage approximately $110 million serving the portfolio management and planning needs of both individual and corporate clients.
Jean has enjoyed many years of public service serving on the boards of several charitable organizations focusing on conservation, economic development, history and education. She is currently on the Maine
Community Foundation Board and Investment Committee, and is a member
of the Maine Women’s Forum.
| Doug Green, Founder, Green Design Furniture Co. |
 |
Douglas Green began woodworking as a hobby in 1978 and two years later, opened a small custom furniture making shop in Topsham, Maine. In 1982, he moved to New York to pursue a career as an industrial designer, and earned a graduate degree in Industrial Design at Pratt Institute. In 1991, he began working independently on a ‘green’ method for manufacturing furniture (for which he received a patent in 1995). Doug founded Green Design |
Furniture Co. in Portland, Maine in 1993 to design and manufacture furniture with his unique process.
Today, Green Design Furniture produces a line of artisan-made solid wood furniture that is sold directly to customers nationwide though catalog, online and a retail showroom in Portland, Maine. Being ‘Green’ is also a primary value that is at the core of his company’s design and business practices. Although his company remains small in size, his inventive designs have become very influential in the contemporary crafts scene and can be found in the homes of discerning collectors all across the U.S. and in a number of overseas collections as well.
|
| Stacy Brenner, Co-Owner, Broadturn Farm |
 |
Stacy is co-owner with John Bliss of Broadturn Farm in Scarborough, a 100 share Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm that raises organic vegetables, poultry, and turkey, as well as natural lamb and pork. A suburban Jersey girl, Stacy majored in agriculture at the University of Arizona. When daughter |
Emma came along in 1996, she became interested in midwifery and nursing, for which she studied at the University of Pennsylvania. John and Stacy met at a turning point for both of them, and throwing their lot in together, they moved to Maine. Stacy had the off-farm job as a midwife (and now as an OB nurse at Maine Medical Center), providing the family farm a good start financially. Currently, she organizes the Farm Camp, and weddings aspect to the farm. She also keeps the books and runs the numbers on the latest business “schemes”.
| Shep Erhart, Maine Coast Sea Vegetables |
 |
Shep started harvesting local seaweed on Frenchman Bay for his family and friends in 1971. Those friends told others and now about 50 regional harvesters and 20 local processors send Maine Coast Sea Vegetables products all over the world. With this success, Shep and his company are currently facing the challenges of preserving the |
local seaweed resource, bringing the customer base closer to the home and generally reducing dependence on goods and services outside the bioregion.
|
|
|
|
