Show 168: CEO of MaineToday Media & Publisher of Portland Press Herald Lisa DeSisto

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Show: 168
Air Date: Saturday 09 April 2016
Guest: Lisa DeSisto
Host: Steve Woods (Stevoe)
Studio Contributor: Debi Davis
Executive Producer: Emily Sullivan (Sully)

Lisa DeSisto was last on our show in 2014, so she joined us recently to update us on the goings-on at MaineToday Media and the Portland Press Herald. She had been in Boston before moving to Maine, but found that lifestyle to be “soul crushing” and it was sucking the joy out of her life with her husband. When the opportunity presented itself to move to Maine and help run the Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, she jumped on it and hasn’t looked back since. She’s helped build the brand to be better focused on communications with subscribers and to create an online presence that has helped to keep the paper current.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed CEO of MaineToday Media, Lisa DeSisto (at right).

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed CEO of MaineToday Media, Lisa DeSisto (at right).

In this interview, DeSisto and Stevoe talked about getting the news online and how important it was to reaching a broader audience. The Maine Sunday Telegram reaches ~350,000 monthly (on Sundays only), but the monthly online viewership of the Press Herald and MaineToday’s other papers is over 1.1 million. Unfortunately, that’s not where the profit is, but that’s where the people are. DeSisto says that most of their revenue comes from subscribers (myself included – support local business!) and advertising. When they first started publishing articles online the daily content was free, but since they created a paywall, there has actually been better reader/subscriber retention. The paywall allows readers of online content to view 10 articles per month before a subscription and/or log-in is required to keep reading.

MaineToday has been pushing their content on to as many social media and online channels as they can. DeSisto says that Facebook is very important to them, but Facebook is another channel where they are allowing access to their product for free. The company is expanding their business model and focusing on moving into live events like their Source Sustainability Awards which were held recently.

DeSisto and Stevoe also spoke about the importance of having a trusted brand, especially online. It’s hard (for me) to understand, but some people still believe everything they read online. It’s critical to MaineToday that their readers are able to distinguish between sponsored content or advertising and editorial or informational pieces printed by journalists. DeSisto says they do this online and in print by visually separating commerce from content with a box or banner around the article.

To learn more about MaineToday Media’s business model and the papers it publishes, visit pressherald.com. You can also visit the website to subscribe to online content, paper delivery, or a combination of both.

Show 167: Brigadier General of Maine National Guard Doug Farnham

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Show: 167
Air Date: Saturday 02 April 2016
Guest: Brigadier General Doug Farnham
Host: Steve Woods (Stevoe)
Studio Contributor: Debi Davis
Executive Producer: Emily Sullivan (Sully)

Brewer native Doug Farnham never had dreams of serving his country, he just wanted to get out of Maine for awhile. It’s not an uncommon motive for many young Mainers. So Farnham joined the US Air Force. He had no real interest in aviation or the military, but he wanted to be challenged and he wanted a new opportunity. Farnham always knew he wanted to come back to Maine, though. He wanted to be a part of the 4th generation to run his family business, Getchell Brothers, Inc.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Brigadier General Doug Farnham (at right).

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Brigadier General Doug Farnham (at right).

Farnham joined us recently with a couple new titles and some new responsibilities. As of January 2016, he is now the Brigadier General of the Maine Army National Guard (ME NGB), a post appointed by the governor. That role also comes with the responsibility of representing Maine as the Commissioner with the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management committee.

So now he wears two very important hats. The Brigadier General leads the Maine Army National Guard, but because the ME NGB gets a chunk of funding from the federal government, Farnham must balance the soldier’s time and resources accordingly. Thankfully, it’s not too difficult as many of the military’s air refueling planes are strategically based in Maine and generally have no shortage of work. The ME NGB, which has ~3,000 members statewide, also serves locally depending on what Farnham, the governor, and/or the Maine Emergency Management team decides is necessary. This may include security, transportation, checking on the elderly, or rebuilding roads.

Stevoe and the Brigadier General spoke about a number of other topics including the inclusion of women in the military (Fun Facts: Only two positions within the ME NGB were male only before 2016; The first woman in the Army National Guard was from Waterville; The first female command chief in the Air National Guard will be appointed in Maine later this year.) They also spoke about mandatory military service, and the ME NGB’s role in relation to climate change.

To hear more about Brigadier General Farnham’s background or the Maine Army National Guard, listen to the interview below or go to me.ngb.army.mil.

Show 165: Peter Bissell of Bissell Brothers Brewing

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Show: 165
Air Date: Saturday 27 February 2016
Guest: Peter Bissell
Host: Steve Woods (Stevoe)
Studio Contributor: Debi Davis
Executive Producer: Emily Sullivan (Sully)

Running out of beer is one of those “good problems” for a brewery to have. Bissell Brothers Brewing, known for it’s 3-B’s logo and hop-filled IPAs, officially opened it’s doors on December 7th, 2013 and hasn’t been able to turn out enough beer since. While Peter joined us in-studio to talk business, it was Noah Bissell’s goal to start the brewery. He started home-brewing while in college and realized the potential of a craft brewery in Portland while staying with Peter in the summer of 2010. The following fall, Noah shared a new home brew with the family. Peter remembers it tasting distinctly like “licking an ashtray,” but many of Noah’s other recipes had been good and in 2012 Noah and Peter really started considering the possibility of owning and operating their own brewery.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Peter Bissell of Bissell Brothers Brewing (at right).

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Peter Bissell of Bissell Brothers Brewing (at right).

Now located on Industrial Way in Portland, they’re neighbors with other craft brewers Foundation Brewing Company and Austin Street Brewery and across the street from local giant Allagash Brewing Company. In most other industries, having your competition as neighbors may not be ideal but Peter explains that in the craft brewing industry, if you don’t have a niche, you likely won’t survive. Bissell Brothers focus mainly on hoppy IPAs and will experiment with something new every so often. Because the other breweries produce different types of beer, they don’t see each other as direct competition.

Bissell Brothers have recently outgrown their space on Industrial Way and have plans to move to a new facility on Thompson’s Point. Among other growing pains comes changes in how they distribute. As they get bigger, the brewery is unable to control their own distribution, so local start-up Sleek Machine Distro will be handling those operations from now on. Peter says the brewery intended to stay within the state of Maine and is still dedicated to doing so.

To hear more about the history of Bissell Brothers Brewing, listen to Peter’s interview below or visit their website at bissellbrothers.com. They are also on Facebook at facebook.com/BissellBrothers and on Twitter @BissellBrosBrew.

Bissell Brothers Brewery logo courtesy of @BissellBrosBrew on Twitter

Show 164: GrandyOats Chief Granola Officer Aaron Anker

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Show: 164
Air Date: Saturday 20 February 2016
Guest: Aaron Anker
Host: Steve Woods (Stevoe)
Studio Contributor: Debi Davis
Executive Producer: Emily Sullivan (Sully)

GradyOat‘s Aaron Anker came to Maine in 1998. Originally from upstate New York, Anker attended the University of New Hampshire (UNH) where he met classmate Nat Pierce. The rest of the GrandyOats story isn’t exactly “happily ever after,” but it’s close enough.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed GrandyOats Chief Granola Officer, Aaron Anker (at right).

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed GrandyOats Chief Granola Officer, Aaron Anker (at right).

Anker comes from a family in the food service industry. His grandfather owned a popular fish-fry in his hometown where Anker worked until he left for college. After UNH, he got into the Hotel & Restaurant Management industry and worked for restaurants and hotels across the country before coming back east to pick up a sales position with Fresh Samantha. In 2000, when the company was sold to Odwalla (and later to Coca Cola), Anker reconnected with Pierce, who had recently acquired the GrandyOats company from it’s former owners in Farmington and moved the business to a renovated barn in Brownfield.

Anker and Pierce decided to split ownership of the company and since then, GrandyOats has grown it’s revenue 50 times over. This spring, they will move their operations from the barn in Brownfield to an abandoned elementary school in Hiram. When Anker and Pierce were looking to expand, they knew they wanted to stay in Maine. With their current operations based so closely to the New Hampshire border, it drastically narrowed their search field. They knew they wanted to stay close enough to not put a strain on their employees and when they discovered the school in Hiram, they saw all of its potential. They have since installed 288 solar panels on the property and have become New England’s first net zero, solar-powered food manufacturer.

GrandyOats is mainly a granola manufacturer. They use no refined sugars, using only natural sweeteners such as honey, agave, and maple syrup. They are selling their products all over the country in stores such as  Lois’ Natural, Whole Foods, Hannaford, and Wegmans. They also sell in bulk to food services such as Sysco. You can also purchase GrandyOats on their website here.

To hear more about GrandyOats production, please listen to the interview below or visit their website grandyoats.com.

 

Show 163: Medical Researcher Dr. Leif Oxburgh

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Show: 163
Air Date: Saturday 13 February 2016
Guest: Dr. Leif Oxburgh
Host: Steve Woods (Stevoe)
Studio Contributor: Debi Davis
Executive Producer: Emily Sullivan (Sully)

Growing up, Leif Oxburgh split his time between Scotland, where he went to high school and Sweden, where he got his Ph. D. In 1999, he received an opportunity to study in a lab at Harvard and moved to the states. He studied the influenza virus until 2004 when he was ready for a new endeavor. In 2004, when Maine Medical Center’s Research Institute (MMCRI) was still in it’s infancy, Dr. Oxburgh accepted a position as a Faculty Scientist and began new research on nephrology and stem cells and the possibilities of growing (or assembling) a lab-created kidney.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Medical Researcher at Maine Medical Center's Research Institute, Dr. Leif Oxburgh (at right).

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Medical Researcher at Maine Medical Center’s Research Institute, Dr. Leif Oxburgh (at right).

The Research Institute, now in it’s 25th year, is funded partially by Maine Medical Center and also from a mix of private and federal grants. The latest budget passed by Congress finally increased the spending allowance for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). With the approved budget, came a five-year $6.8M grant that will allow Oxburgh to hire more scientists and further his already astonishing research.

Dr. Oxburgh admits that the “end product” is still 20+ years away, but what his team has created so far is proof that lab-grown kidneys are a possibility. He isn’t sure if they will be growing a kidney as a whole or growing its parts and assembling it later on. At this point, the team has grown 50 of the necessary 500,000 – 1,000,000,000 nephrons needed to create a functioning kidney. A nephron is the part of the kidney that is responsible for the filtering process. The nephrons are created by taking stem cells, “reprogramming” them back to a blank slate, and set them up to be kidney cells instead. Stem cells usage used to be very controversial, but Oxburgh explains that scientists no longer need to use embryonic stem cells as it is now possible to use just about any type of cell from an adult through the “reprogramming” process.

Oxburgh is inspired by other stem cell/lab-grown organ research around the world. Very recently, a team in Japan performed a re-engineering of a woman’s stem cells to create a new retina. She had macular degeneration and other treatments were of no help.

To learn more about what Dr. Oxburgh and his team’s reserach at MMCRI, listen to the interview below or visit mmcri.org.

Show 162: Executive Director of The Telling Room Heather Davis

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Show: 162
Air Date: Saturday, 30 January 2016
Guest: Heather Davis
Host: Steve Woods (Stevoe)
Executive Producer: Emily Sullivan (Sully)

Heather Davis moved to Maine because it seemed like a good place to raise a family. The self-declared “bookworm” found her calling while teaching a creative writing class to kids in Harlem. From there she co-founded a writing center in Texas called the Austin Bat Cave. After the birth of her daughter in 2007, she and her husband decided to move back to the east coast to be closer to family and decided Portland would be a suitable place to live. She discovered Portland’s The Telling Room, a non-profit writing center for school-aged children and knew it was the place for her. She has been the Executive Director since 2011 and was crucial to helping the organization win a National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Award along with a grant for $10,000.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed the Executive Director of The Telling Room, Heather Davis (at right).

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed the Executive Director of The Telling Room, Heather Davis (at right).

The Telling Room is more than the national award recognizes. The award was given to them based on the success of their Young Writers & Leaders program, a competitive after-school workshop that teaches kids how to become well-rounded writers and leaders. The writing center has seven other programs that children from all over the state participate in. Technically only students at Portland schools can enroll in the center’s programs, but The Telling Room has had requests from schools all over Maine to visit and run workshops. In Portland, approximately half of the children have been recommended to a program by their schools or teachers. In total, over 3,000 students participate annually from more than 60 schools and 30 towns.

In the next year, The Telling Room plans to design training programs for new teachers and volunteers to be able to build their own “telling rooms.” With the demand for programs so high and space so limited, Davis and the rest of the staff want to be able to help as many Maine schoolchildren as they can.

If you have any interest in volunteering or want to learn more about The Telling Room, please visit tellingroom.org or listen to Heather’s interview below.

Show 161: ICELANDx207 Artist Justin Levesque

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Show: 161
Air Date: Saturday, 23 January 2016
Guest: Justin Levesque
Host: Steve Woods (Stevoe)
Studio Contributor: Debi Davis
Executive Producer: Emily Sullivan (Sully)

Have you ever seen the stacks of shipping containers at the end of Commercial Street in Portland and wonder where they came from? So did Maine artist Justin Levesque. After arriving home from an Icelandic vacation, he recognized Eimskip’s Icelandic name and started thinking about why they were here. Levesque holds a BFA from USM where he specialized in the critical analysis of images and their impact on social norms and community expectations. His ICELANDx207 project will ultimately focus on portraits of Icelanders in Maine, the revitalized shipping industry in Portland, Maine and a podcast of Levesque’s journey aboard Eimskip’s shipping vessel MV Selfoss from Portland to Reykjavik.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed ICELANDx207 artist, Justin Levesque (at right).

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed ICELANDx207 artist, Justin Levesque (at right).

Levesque, a native Mainer, felt the twinge to get out of the state like many young Mainers do, but ended up staying and is glad that he did. After taking a “Björk-inspired” trip to Iceland with a friend, he realized upon returning that there was opportunity for a multi-media project documenting the new, industry-focused connection between Reykjavik, Iceland and Portland, Maine. Levesque then spoke with foreign ambassadors with the International Trade Center and applied for a grant with the Maine Arts Commission to see if he could make his idea a reality. He won the grant and when someone else suggested he take the trip aboard the shipping vessel, he then then integrated that as part of the project.

From September 15th to 28th last year, Levesque was a passenger at the “Hotel Selfoss,” the name of the guest quarters on-board the ship. During the first few days, he took photos of the ship to document what life was like for the crew and started recorded a podcast for each day of the journey. In the last few days, after gaining respect from the captain and crew, Levesque took portraits of each of the 11 crew members and got their interviews for his podcast. Once arriving in Iceland, Levesque splurged on a first-class flight back to the states where, believe it or not, he was seated next to Björk herself and his whole journey had come full circle.

The next phase of Levesque’s project is making portraits of Icelanders in Maine, which is proving to be a daunting task as there is a wider network in Maine than he expected. He’s hoping to document “cross-cultural” experiences of those who are “from away.” His photographs from his journey on the Selfoss will be displayed in a retrofitted shipping container that will be on display during the Arctic Council meeting set for Portland in April 2016.

Levesque has also applied for an artist residency where he would have the opportunity to travel around the Arctic countries, so keep your fingers crossed for much more to come from Justin.

Show 160: Co-Owner of American Roots Ben Waxman

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Show: 160
Air Date: Saturday, 16 January 2016
Guest: Ben Waxman
Host: Steve Woods (Stevoe)
Studio Contributor: Debi Davis
Executive Producer: Emily Sullivan (Sully)

What do you do when your locally-made, custom-ordered apparel start-up company needs employees and there’s no one in the area capable to do the work? If you’re Ben Waxman and Whitney Reynolds, you partner with other local companies to recruit and train the workforce you need. American Roots (AR), owned by Waxman and Reynolds, is the sister company to Old Port Wool and Textiles, owned by Waxman’s mother, Dory Waxman. AR is a custom-made fleece apparel company based in downtown Portland and their orders are coming in so quickly, they’re fast outgrowing their Danforth Street shop. With business-to-business orders keeping them busy through the summer of 2016, this new Portland business is already looking to grow – and fast.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Ben Waxman (at right).

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Co-Owner of American Roots, Ben Waxman (at right).

Maine native Ben Waxman is passionate about politics and spent over seven years working with labor unions and with the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations), the largest federation of unions. He says he always knew he’d be coming back to Maine because he never was able to shave off his beard. Now, with his fiancee, Reynolds, he’s partnering with Old Port Wool and Textiles to produce outerwear that is designed, cut, and assembled in Portland with materials that are made in America. Waxman mentioned there was some difficulty in sourcing all of the materials needed to work with their Polartec fleece (out of Lawrence, MA). For example, it took five months to find cloth that would work as the jacket/vest pocket lining.

Waxman says that they are currently running two shifts at American Roots: a regular shift and a training shift. They’re training more and more employees in hopes to keep up with demand. In April, they will be moving to a bigger, 5,000 sq. ft., facility that should ideally allow them to increase production. In order to increase their labor force, AR has been working with Goodwill, CEI, and Portland Adult Education. They build and create training programs for employees who are new to the textile industry, an industry that, for the most part, left the state years ago.

American Roots currently has four items for sale online: vests, jackets, pullovers, and blankets. They will be adding other products, such as hats, gloves, and scarves, and additional fleece colors. AR is currently marketing toward other businesses to provide products customized with company logos. They also do some retail sales through their website: americanrootswear.com .

Show 159: Director of the Portland International Jetport Paul Bradbury

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Show: 159
Air date: Saturday, 09 January 2016
Guest: Paul Bradbury
Host: Steve Woods (Stevoe)
Studio Contributor: Debi Davis
Executive Producer: Emily Sullivan (Sully)

It’s been over 100 episodes since Paul Bradbury last joined us on TideSmart Talk and a lot has happened at our favorite jetport. Since the $163 million renovation, Portland International Jetport was named #7 on Condé Nast Traveler’s Best Airports in America. It also had it’s best year with the most annual travelers to date. Bradbury shared all the good news and some other fun facts with us on this visit to the TideSmart Talk studio.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Director of the Portland International Jetport, Paul Bradbury (at right).

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Director of the Portland International Jetport, Paul Bradbury (at right).

2015 was a good year for the Portland International Jetport and 2016-2017 looks like it will be good, too. Travel was up 12.5% in November 2015 and as of December 2015, the jetport was setting all new records for five or the last seven months. In fiscal year 2017 (which starts this summer), the jetport plans on renovating gates 1 – 6 to match the updates that have already been made to the rest of the terminal.

Bradbury mentioned that the average size of airplanes flying into and out of Portland are growing in size thanks to increased air travel. Now, the smallest commercial planes are generally the 70-seat regional planes. He did mention that the largest aircraft is a Boeing 757 that is used for cargo transport by FedEx.

Stevoe asked what the difference was between an airport and a jetport. It turns out, that there is no difference. When Portland’s airport was being renamed, propeller planes were being phased out for jet planes and therefore the airport became Portland Jetport. And what about Portland’s airport code? You know, the three-letter sign at the entrances? It’s PWM and there’s some history behind that, too. The last light beacon before you get to the runway is in Westbrook, so the code became Portland Westbrook Municipal, PWM. Bradbury said it’s obviously hard to come up with three letter codes for all of the country’s airports, so sometimes some creativity is required. For example, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has the code ORD because before it was built, the nearby community was called “Orchard Place” and therefore the airfield was named “Orchard Field,” or ORD.

Bradbury said that PWM’s next focus is “working on the seasons.” As it is now, like with the rest of Maine’s tourism trends, July and August are the busiest months at the airport. They also happen to be the busiest months at the car rental facilities on site. During the summer months is when the car rental companies at the jetport pull in the most of their $30 million in sales. That’s a lot of vacationers and that’s what the Maine economy likes to see.

For more information about the Portland International Jetport, visit portlandjetport.org.

Show 157: CEO of Girl Scouts of Maine Joanne Crepeau

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Show: 157
Air date: Saturday, 12 December 2015
Guest: Joanne Crepeau
Host: Steve Woods (Stevoe)
Executive Producer: Emily Sullivan (Sully)

Joanne Crepeau has been a Mainer her whole life. She has also been a girl scout her whole life. With a career background in non-profit management, she seemed like the perfect fit to lead the Girl Scouts of Maine when the position became available in 2003. Since then, she has been leading the group of 14,000 members.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed CEO of Girl Scouts of Maine, Joanne Crepeau (at right).

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed CEO of Girl Scouts of Maine, Joanne Crepeau (at right).

Crepeau believes that girls face “unique challenges.” Women’s role in society has changed so drastically since the organization’s inception in 1912 and Girl Scouts has worked to keep up with the ever changing needs of girls today. While learning about the outdoors is still part of the program, community involvement and teamwork is also stressed. As an organization, Girl Scouts of America has started fostering more STEM-focused (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) experiences. They are also starting to push “non-traditional” goals, such as digital cookie sales.

Most troops in Maine now have the capability to utilize a digital platform when selling cookies this season. While Crepeau says they’re not encouraging the scouts to use digital instead of person-to-person sales, it does teach the girls how to manage sales and inventory, business ethics, and how to market their products online.

Girl Scouts only sell cookies three months out of the year (January – March). Although they are now selling cookies online, you must still purchase from a specific scout or troop during this period. According to Crepeau, Thin Mints are the most popular Girl Scout cookie and the second most sold cookie in America (behind Oreos and Thin Mints are only sold three months of the year!).

The Girl Scouts of Maine is always looking for adult volunteers. There are currently more than 1,000 girls in Maine (and 30,000 nationwide) waiting to join a troop, but are unable due to the lack of volunteers.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or you know a girl who is looking to join a troop, you can visit girlscoutsofmaine.org/join.