It’s time, once again, for the Gardiner Board of Trade’s Annual Meeting, and to celebrate some exciting local business success stories! This year the Gardiner Board of Trade will recognize five businesses, including: Dennison Lubricants, Maine Drilling and Blasting, Dr.’s,Paul Pidgeon & Kathleen Peters of Gardiner Family Chiropractic, Black Diamond Consulting, and the Savings Bank of Maine. Although each of these businesses is located in Gardiner, Maine, many deliver their services statewide, and across the entire northeast and country!
This year’s Jazz Party and Business Awards Presentation (aka Annual Meeting!) will be held on Wednesday, March 31st, starting at 5:30 PM, at the home of Amy Rees and Robert Lash and former Central Street School building, located at 7 High Holborn Street. Please join us for an evening of fun, which will include hors d’oeuvres, wine/beer and live jazz. It will be the most fun you’ve ever had at an annual meeting! And, for the first time, this year’s Gardiner Board of Trade Annual Meeting is being sponsored by four local businesses. These event sponsors include: Pine State Beverage Company, Gosline-Murchie Agency, Kennebec Savings Bank and E.J. Prescott.
Tickets are $25 per person. You can reserve tickets by calling Amy Rees at 582-2302 or 415-2021. For more information, please see the attached invitation, or contact Jason Simcock at 582- 6888 or jsimcock@gardinermaine.com.
“The Gardiner Board of Trade is pleased to recognize such a talented group of local businesses this year. The quality of jobs and services that these companies bring to the community is truly impressive,” says Nick Alberding, President of the Gardiner Board of Trade. Dennison Lubricants, a family-owned company, with headquarters in Lakeville, Mass., is receiving the New Business of the Year Award. Tim Dennison opened their new location at Gardiner’s Libby Hill Business Park in December of 2008. Dennison Lubricants is a growing manufacturer and distributor of performance lubricants. Inc. Magazine recently ranked Dennison Lubricants as one of 5,000 fastest growing company’s in the country and the 99th fastest growing in the Boston market. In addition to motor oil, the company provides gear lubes, aviation lubes, industrial and marine lubricants in various packaging (from drums to cases). Dennison Lubricants coverage area includes all of New England, as well as eastern New York State. Tim Dennison, President of the company, says one of the reasons his company chose Gardiner, is the business park’s location. He said, “the company’s service area covers the entire state, so Gardiner provides a convenient location for product distribution.” Customers include auto dealers, service stations, public works garages and fleet management businesses, from Aroostook County to York County. Some local area customers include Pine State and Associated Grocers. To contact Dennison Lubricants, please call 207-582-5700 or visit their website at http://www.denlube.com/ 131 Enterprise Ave.
Maine Drilling and Blasting (MD&B) is this year’s winner of the President’s Award. Ted, Sr. and Judy Purington began MD&B in 1966 as a family business at their home in Gardiner. From the first job of drilling a foundation for a cellar, Ted immediately established a reputation for exceptional quality in every facet. Since then, the company hit the milestone of performing one million controlled blasts for various projects, including highways, site development, quarries, house lots, utilities and marine work. The company maintains a competitive edge by engineering creative solutions and taking on new challenges, such as those found in the growing energy industry. Today’s company is run by President and CEO, Bill Purington. Although still a family business, 25% of the company is now employee owned. MD&B has its corporate office at 423 Brunswick Avenue in Gardiner, Maine and remains one of the community’s largest employers. The company also maintains offices in New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, with the emphasis on local service. To contact the Gardiner location, please call 207-582-2338 or visit their website at: http://www.mdandb.com/.
Paul Pidgeon & Kathleen Peters, of Gardiner Family Chiropractic, are receiving this year’s Director’s Award. Dr. Paul Pidgeon and Dr. Kathleen Peters started Gardiner Family Chiropractic in 1989 at its current location at 90 Maine Avenue in Gardiner. Dr. Pidgeon and Dr. Peters chose Gardiner to start their business after considering other locations all over the country, and included “quality of life” as a key factor in their decision. Today, the office averages nearly 2,000 patient visits a month, from residents all over the state of Maine. Other doctors have joined the business as well, including Dr. Jennifer Johnson and Dr. Karen Biser. The entire staff is dedicated to helping patients experience the best of life by attaining optimal health. They focus on spinal and nervous system health, and on ergonomics, nutrition and positive mindset. They are certified in chiropractic pediatrics and in exercise rehabilitation, and care for babies, athletes, centenarians, and everyone in between. In 2008, Dr. Pidgeon and Dr. Peters were instrumental in helping fund the start-up of Gardiner’s first ever farmer’s market. You can find out more about by calling Gardiner Family Chiropractic at 582-2222 or by visiting their website at http://www.gardinerfamilychiropractic.com.
Black Diamond Consultants is receiving this year’s Technology Business of the Year Award. Black Diamond Consultants began operating in 2000 and are currently located at 312 Water Street in Gardiner. Early on, the company focused primarily on the nuclear and security industries. Since then, it has expanded into the telecommunications industry. From navigating nuclear power plants, to assessing and protecting high security locations, to designing and upgrading features and technology on cell towers, the company relies on high tech solutions and a professional staff. Covering these diverse industries has helped support the company to expand its service area throughout the United States. Engineers, physicists, security, and technology experts all make up the Black Diamond Consultants team, among many other professionals. Customers include utility companies and government agencies. Several of their customers include national private corporations. For more information about Black Diamond, please visit their website at http://www.blckdiamond.net/ or by calling (207) 582-0056.
Savings Bank of Maine will receive a Special Recognition Award for its tremendous support for Gardiner’s downtown waterfront redevelopment project. In February of 2009, Savings Bank of Maine announced it will provide one million dollars (funds set aside as part of the Bank’s 2007 Economic Development Credit program) in funding towards Gardiner’s waterfront redevelopment project. As a result of this major commitment, the City of Gardiner and Savings Bank of Maine formed an exciting private-public partnership for the project. The additional funding has provided the City the financial ability to enhance key parts of the waterfront project in a collaborative way that is a “win-win” for the community and region. Since the funding announcement, a professional design team was established, representing both the City and the Bank, to coordinate an ambitious permitting, engineering and construction schedule. Results of this collaboration are already becoming evident, with visual improvements being made to both gateway waterfront park entrances. Savings Bank of Maine has been an anchor business in downtown Gardiner since its founding in 1834 and continues to be a major downtown anchor business today! For more information about the Savings Bank of Maine, please contact them at 207-582-5550 or visit their website at http://www.savingsbankofmaine.com/ or by going to one of their 32 locations throughout the state.
The Gardiner Board of Trade was incorporated in 1885 as a non-profit corporation to promote economic development in Gardiner. The Board has 18 seats on the Board of Directors which consists of local business owners and professionals. The Board has worked and collaborated with the City of Gardiner on several projects in recent years, including development of the Libby Hill Business Park, the Gardiner Main Street organization and other downtown revitalization efforts. If interested in learning more about the Gardiner Board of Trade, or this year’s award
winners, please contact Jason Simcock at 207-582-6888, or email to econdev@gardinermaine.com.
