Mapping Maine’s Future #138

Philip Conkling:

It's going to take Maine people some time to absorb, but it's very challenging, very stimulating and very exciting. If we can kind of pull back and see ourselves not at the end of the road, but part of an international trade ecosystem that in fact we could be at the center of, I

Peter Vigue:

believe that you can maintain quality of life, maintain the qualities of this state that exist here today and be very sensitive to the environment, but at the same time take advantage of opportunities that will exist in the future and do it in a way that will allow us to maintain the quality of life that we all enjoy here in the state of Maine. Because what we're really experiencing is a huge transformation in our economy here in this state.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This is Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast show number 138 East West highway, airing for the first time on Sunday, May 4, 2014. How do we get from Here to There? Maine Magazine Contributing editor Philip Conkling addresses this question in his piece A Leader like no Other, a thought provoking piece about Chinbro CEO Peter Vigue in the May issue of Maine Magazine. Today we speak with Peter and Philip about the future of business in Maine, the possibility of an east west highway, and how we may use our resources and ingenuity to improve the work and personal lives of individuals living within our state and elsewhere. We also discuss the importance of workplace wellness. We hope our conversation may inspire you to think differently about what it means to work and live in our great state. Thank you for joining us. I'm pleased to have in the studio with me two individuals who are doing really interesting things in the state, one of whom I know our listeners will be familiar with. And this is Philip Conkling. Philip is a contributing editor for Maine Magazine and has also conceived and edited books on New England's environment, such as From Cape Cod to the Bay of Fundy and Environmental Atlas of the Gulf of Maine and the Fate of Lessons from Abrupt Climate Change, which won the Phi Beta Kappa Award for Science Book of the Year. Thanks for coming back in again.

Philip Conkling:

Great to be here.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And with you we have a newcomer, Peter Vigueu. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Chinbro Companies. Peter's ideas, such as constructing an East West highway using I95 as a corridor for energy transport, entering Maine into offshore wind development, as well as advocating for a healthier society, has earned him the title as Maine's leading business voice on our most pressing economic and social issues. So we're pretty pleased that you're in here with us today.

Peter Vigue:

Thank you very much for inviting me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

The reason that we have you both here at the same time is because you spent time together working on an article for Maine Magazine called A Leader like no Other. And I wanted to read from this article that you've written. Philip, another fine job. I know anybody who's listened to this show before and has gone back and read your articles knows how thorough you are when it comes to business and environment and wellness. So let's read about that. Although Pete Vigue is a man of many accomplishments, he is perhaps most proud of the company's safety record under his leadership. We work in an industry considered to be very unsafe. The one thing we can do about it is to lead by example, lead the way. We can do complex and difficult things without hurting people. In 1987, the company set out to be the safest construction company in America and became not just the safest construction company in the US But a company with one of the most outstanding records in any industry. 52 months and over 12 million work hours without a single lost workday. Everyone goes home in the same condition they came to work in, he says firmly. That's impressive. Why is this so important for you?

Peter Vigue:

Well, I view it as a moral obligation that we have to the people in our company. We really don't produce anything other than a service to our clients. And our ability to do that is all about people. And it's the people that make these things happen. It's their collaborative effort that allows us to be successful and we have a responsibility to look out after them. We're an employee owned company. We're very sensitive to our folks. They help the company to be successful and as a result we have an obligation to look out for them and their families. And the moral side of it comes as a result of having seen or experienced things that wake us up and appreciate the fact that with the right kind of leadership that people do in fact maintain perhaps a healthy lifestyle and go home in the same condition they come to work in. And that's an obligation that we as leaders have.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Philip, when you came back from interviewing Pete, as you like to be called, you said you were impressed by just the obvious wellness, obvious attitude towards wellness, you know, the apple on the table. And it wasn't just something that people were talking about. It wasn't a lip service thing, because I remember you discussing this during an editorial meeting.

Philip Conkling:

Yeah, actually, my experience with Chimbro on a personal level began when I was part of the Fox Island Winds project where the communities of Vinylhaven and North Haven were erecting three wind turbines and Cimbrough was selected to do the construction. And they said safety and wellness are very, very important to us. And you hear that almost everybody kind of says that. And the project took two or three months to build. I mean, it was very complicated because of barging all the things and there were lots of moving pieces. And at one point there was one of the workers, you know, slightly turned an ankle. I mean, not anything serious. All work stopped for about an hour where everybody on the crew sat down and talked about how to avoid any injury, whatever. And that's when, you know, the rest of us who were observing this said, whoa, these guys are really doing it. They're not just talking about it, they're doing it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

In 1996, Ginborough actually instituted a wellness program which continues on to this day. And in 2004, the American College of Medicine's Corporate Health Achievement Award as the healthiest and safest company in America, as well as the Wellness Councils of America platinum level of achievement award. These were both awarded to Chinrong. And again, it's not a company that you would necessarily associate with an interest in health and wellness, but you're somebody that knows how, I guess, how work can impact life in general. You've been working pretty hard most of your life.

Peter Vigue:

I have, and I've observed a lot of things that were not pleasant to talk about that I learned from that induced or introduced a lot of pain and suffering on individuals. And also certainly made me feel guilty as I entered responsibility arena within the organization and started to take responsibility for people. I found that to be unnecessary and avoidable. And as a result, we started first on a safety initiative going a very, very significant initiative back in 1987 where we introduced some new standards to the entire industry with full body harnesses as an example that came out of our company. And is now law. Took us 10 years to get that to happen on a national level because we thought it was important. But we started first focusing on safety and understanding what at risk behavior was and educating our people within the organization on what was at risk in terms of their specific behavior and opening the dialogue up to the point where we would acknowledge openly the mistakes that had been made. And we learned from that in a significant way. And then when we started to really understand what was going on with wellness and recognizing that a significant amount, it said 75% of all of the health care costs in this country come as a result of self induced behavior, we took our safety program and started to apply it to wellness. And we started educating our folks, raising awareness not just with our team members, but their families as well. And began to really introduce all kinds of programs that allowed them to understand, see that the things they did to themselves as it related to their own personal health was impacting their quality of life in the long term. And it has been quite a ride and an experience, but very, very positive for our people and their families.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You did not grow up in the lap of luxury. You're from Pittsfield. You had to deal with some challenges, economic challenges, when you were younger, how did this shape the way that you approached your professional life?

Peter Vigue:

Well, I think if I were to be perfectly honest with you, the one gift that I've been given is that I learned how to work very hard at a very early age. And I was able to get along with people quite well. And I learned from people. That was the primary way that I learned, is by interacting and communicating with people. And as a result of that, I started emulating the behavior of a number of individuals that I had great deal of respect for. And so as a result of that, I'm a product of that environment, having interacted and worked with many, many very competent people over my tenure in the construction industry, as an example, within the CHINBRO organization for over 44 years now. And I like learning and I like challenges, and I am who I am because of the environment that I grew up in. It's that simple. I wish I could explain it more, but that's the way it is.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Like Philip, you also were drawn to the ocean. You went to the Maine Maritime Academy, and of course, Philip was the head of the Island Institute for many years. And both of you have both a coastal and an inland kind of presence. But you were a kid from Pittsfield. What was it about the ocean that was so appealing,

Peter Vigue:

being from Pittsfield? Well, I was born In Aroostook County.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So even better, it's even further away from the ocean.

Peter Vigue:

And I was born in Aroostook County, Caribou, Maine. And I always wanted to be a farmer. But at a very young age, it became very apparent to me that that wasn't going to happen. I couldn't make a living that way, couldn't make a go of it as a result, at a very young age, I believe I was 13 years old when I went to work on construction for another contractor, actually, that was headquartered in Calais, Maine, Building the Interstate. I got exposed to a whole group of people over a period of seven summers. And I really liked building things. But over the course of that time, I was going to school at Maine Maritime, got exposed to the ocean, which I really loved, and loved the coast in a significant way. But the challenges of going to sea didn't really satisfy me personally from a learning standpoint. It was during a period of Vietnam conflict. It was an unusual time. But having been recently married, and then when my wife and I decided to have our first child, I decided I wanted to be home. And so I joined the Chinbro Organization, actually in Port Lamaine on the waterfront. And because I was a merchant mariner, I spent a great deal of time out in Casco Bay on the islands and doing a lot of marine work in Portland. And again met a lot of great people. But the company was very small at that time. And so you did everything which was like going to a classroom because you get exposed to so many things. And as a result, as the company grew, I grew. But I had made my home in Pittsfield, actually moved there at age 8 and so decided that we would stay there, traveled a good bit with a company, actually lived outside of Washington, D.C. built a small dam across the Potomac river and started an operation down there and moved my family there and had a tremendous experience, learned a lot, and got exposed a lot. A much different place in Washington, D.C. than in Pittsfield, Maine, or even Maine, for that matter. But again, that raised my awareness about what was going on in the world outside of Maine and Pittsfield, for sure. But it was a great experience. And when you get exposed to an environment like that, it allows you to raise the standard just a bit, because your awareness is up there. And you begin to suggest to yourself that we can do great things. And that's how I was given the opportunity to be exposed to those situations which allowed not only the company to grow, but allowed me to grow as well as an individual.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

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Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Philip, you've worked with a lot of different people in business, in the nonprofit world and the environmental world. And I mean, you just have a lot of experience with, I guess, the economic climate in Maine. What is it about Pete's ideas about things like the East West Highway? What is it about that that is so intriguing to you and what's so important?

Philip Conkling:

One of the things that I loved about interviewing Pete was when he pointed out that in Maine, we. We all have a mental map of where Maine is. And you look at Maine in the United States, and we look like we're at the end of the highway, we're at the end of the road. And yet, if you step back and as increasingly all of us have to do and realize that we're all global citizens as well. In fact, you know, as Pete pointed out, Maine is equidistant between. You know, is really in the middle of international trade routes. And Eastport is a port, the deepest port on the Atlantic coast of the United States that has tremendous underutilized value from an international trade point of view. And that was just part of seeing Pete as a leader, looking through a new lens at where Maine could be economically. And it's a very exciting vision, and one that is going to take Maine people some time to absorb. But it's very challenging, very stimulating and very exciting if we can kind of pull back and see ourselves not at the end of the road, but part of an international trade ecosystem that, in fact, we could be at the center of.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's interesting that you would say that, because it actually creates an entirely different visual when you think of the United States. And it brings to mind your experience with the Maine Maritime Academy and as a merchant mariner, and that we may think of roads as hard and cars drive over them, but boats also float on the ocean on their own sets of roads. So this is the kind of thinking that we need to have more of, is that it's not just what we can see, it's what might already be in existence that we haven't quite matched up with what's there.

Peter Vigue:

That's exactly right. And I believe that you can maintain quality of life, you can maintain the qualities of this state that exist here today and be very sensitive to the environment, but at the same time, take advantage of opportunities that will exist in the future and do it in a way that will allow us to maintain the quality of life that we all enjoy here in the state of Maine. Because what we're really experiencing, and I have to go back to this, is a huge transformation in our economy here in this state. And the northern half of the state is significantly challenged economically. People are hurting, communities are disappearing. I mean, it's just. It's a sad commentary when you evaluate the fact that the death rate exceeds the birth rate and the number of people on social programs and all, and at a time when people only want one thing, and that is an Opportunity. So I look beyond the state of Maine, look beyond the United States and say, what is the future going to bring? And where does that position the state of Maine? And if you go back 100 years and ask yourself, why was Maine the lumber capital of the world? Well, there's two things that we had back then that was a great advantage to us, and that is we had a natural resource and we also had the ocean, which really allowed this state to grow in a significant way. And so if we look at the things the world today as it exists, and as Phil indicated here earlier, that we are at a midpoint, but then add the Arctic shipping that might come one day and recognize that we are the closest point on the east coast for sure, if that ever comes to pass, and it's forecasted that it will, sooner than later. And then look at all of what we have to offer. This country today has positioned itself where our cost of energy is 50% less than anyone in the world. On top of that, we have the largest market in the world today. The cost of transporting goods is a significant cost. There's going to be a lot more global interaction going forward in the future. It's forecasted that the middle part of the United States, from the northern part of the US from the Canadian border all the way down to the Gulf coast, which is the heavy industrial and manufacturing center of North America, will continue to grow. In fact, it will accelerate. A lot of what we've lost in the last 20 years will come back. If you look at that statistics, you look at the fact that the President of the United States has set a goal to double the export capacity of the United States. Couple that with the fact that every port along the east coast, from Miami to New York, is super congested. That exists even on the west coast as well. And look at the cost of handling one single container, which is a major cost factor. And look at where we are with the deepest port in the continental United States in Eastport, Maine. And look at that location in terms of the Midwest. We are the closest point to the Midwest without any congestion. Port without any congestion. I'm not talking about creating a port that is like New Jersey, New York or Charleston or some of these other areas. I'm talking about efficiency in terms of connecting via rail to the upper Midwest. If you look at the map simply and look at the distance it is to the upper Midwest, all the way down to the Gulf coast, we're the closest point. We're the least cost point in terms of any other port along the Eastern seaboard. And I believe that you can do this and preserve the quality of life. And when I look at Washington county as an example, whose population is about a third of what it was 25 years ago, and then look at the challenges they have economically and the lack of opportunity, there's nothing there. And look at the space that could be utilized without destroying the quality of life or the environment. I believe that it would have a huge effect on Maine from the potential of developing of a port. But beyond that, the jobs that would be created, land based distribution centers and things like that, and the small businesses that potentially could flourish because of their ability to export via containers if, if we would simply build that into our thought process, say nothing about the Arctic shipping possibilities that will exist in the future years. I think Maine is positioned and poised to take advantage of that. That's not to say that Portland with IMSCIP won't work because that's a totally different geographic area that's being serviced to Iceland and also the Scandinavian countries. But again, how do we operate as a global trade center as a state? Again, why? We've got a three port system in this state. We have huge potential. And the best potential I think that we have is the workforce. We have the work ethic, we have the competency and the capability of people that I have personally worked with within our company as we had taken on some very sophisticated projects that we had never done before and seen personally how the people of the state responded to that opportunity in terms of their safety, their ability to meet a schedule and the quality of the work and their ability to compete financially, it's second to none. And we've proved that on multiple occasions. And that gives me great hope to suggest that there will be a future for this state well beyond what we think of it today. The greatest fear that I have, and if you read the book by George Freebie, the Next Hundred Years and you look what's going to happen globally with the population and we're seeing it happen in our own state because of our aging population, we're going to shrink population wise. And who will it be that will broaden our tax base? Who will develop the next generation of workforce if we don't lay the groundwork for them? If we don't create the right business atmosphere and think of ourselves as being far more capable than what we are today? Who will do it? And I believe that our generation has a responsibility to put those things in perspective and to communicate those. But more than that, it's one thing to talk about it's another thing to lead by example, to show others the way. And I take that very seriously as an individual. Our company takes it very seriously and we're very proud of what the people in this state are capable of achieving.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As a physician and small business owner, I rely on Marcy Booth from Booth, Maine to help me with my own business and to help me live my own life fully. Here are a few thoughts from Marcy.

[Unidentified voice]:

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Philip Conkling:

you know, every great idea requires great leadership to implement. And you wouldn't necessarily think of a construction company as being a leader in health and wellness. And yet, because Pete set out to be a model for, he wanted his company to aspire to being great in terms of its record of health and wellness. And you know, they worked really hard on it. And you know what? They changed a lot of mindsets and became that leader. All of the people of Timbro that have, you know, so in a like way, I think this idea of Maine being part of a much bigger global transportation system and the opportunities that it creates for us, particularly in parts of the state that are really being left behind, I mean that's, that's, it's an enormous challenge. But with the right leadership, there's no reason we couldn't do that.

Peter Vigue:

Clearly the demand is there. The demand on a global basis is there, the opportunities are there, and there are certain risks that are inherent in taking on these challenges. There's no question about it. I believe that we understand what those are. We need to be quite guarded in approaching these things, to not sacrifice the quality of life, not sacrifice the environment that we live in here. But at the same time, if you simply look at the environment in some of these areas, the quality of life, environment, the quality of community, all of it, when you see abandoned buildings, abandoned homes, you see people leaving, you don't see quality of life because of their access to health care, because of their schools are going away, and that the infrastructure exists in many of these places and it's well underutilized and not taken advantage of. And at the same time, we're building infrastructure in other parts of the state where there's more of a population center. I think those are counterproductive. It doesn't add a lot of value, and things get worse in these other areas. And I think the one driving force for me, and I do travel around this state a very significant way throughout this state, I know a lot of people and a lot of communities very well. And when you see people that are suffering, that have no future ahead of them, they're destitute. Some cases they're not very healthy, and they're just eking out a living any way they possibly can just to survive. And in my opinion, this is America. This is a great state, and people deserve more than that, and they don't ask for anything more than that opportunity. And I believe that it's incumbent on us, as leaders of business, education, and government, have a responsibility to collaborate, to work together, to take advantage of the opportunities that exist globally, to paint a picture, to develop a strategy to take this state to a whole new level. We'd been there before. We knew what it took years ago. It took a vision of people to bring together ideas and thoughts and to develop opportunities for people. We're in a whole new era now, and we've learned a lot from the last hundred years. I think in terms of dealing with our environment, we've learned a lot about the sins of the past and what not to do. And I think we can have it both ways and really enhance quality of life for everybody in this state, you

Philip Conkling:

know, and a great model for that really is playing out right now in this offshore wind opportunity. Here you have a private business like Tynbro and its other partners. You have the university at the UP in Orono under Habib Dagger's leadership, and you have government in terms of what the PUC and the legislature has set out as goals and policies for developing the offshore wind Resource. So you have those three entities basically aligned to give Maine a real leg up in this next energy frontier. And it is a tremendous opportunity. It's the first time that I've seen in my 35 or 40 years of being here in Maine, where the university, private enterprise and the government are all on the same page in terms of a tremendous economic development plan and implementation process. It really could be the model for the future.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So it sounds like what we need is collaboration. We need creative thinking, we need leadership, and we need the ability to work hard. And from everything you are telling me, we have this within the state of Maine.

Peter Vigue:

It exists today. There's no question in my mind that all the pieces of the puzzle are here. It needs to be put together and it takes a lot of collaboration to do that. One of my major concerns as far as I can remember, that this state has not had an economic strategy. So if we simply ask ourselves, what are the two or three things that we're going to invest in to take this state to a whole new level, recognizing we have limited resources in terms of finance. So where do we place our bets in the future? Two or three things which we set out to become a national leader in those specific areas. A national leader, which means that the policies that exist in our state government, the educational areas or focuses to educate the potential workforce that will service these needs and then rally the business community around it. It just takes three pieces of that puzzle to bring them together and say, we are going to be number one. Now, I'm going to give you a very good example of one. That's an easy one. If this state decided that it wanted to be the breadbasket of the Northeast. So let's just take that model. We're within one day's travel of 40% of the population of North America. One day's travel. So we've got the population base. Look at our fishery. Look at what's happening in Madison. Look at all the potential. The largest broccoli grower in the United States in the summertime is located up in Aroostook County. Look what the folks at Libra foundation have done with natural beef, naturally potatoes and the cheese out here at Pondland. Look at that model and the quality that has produced here in this state and where it's sold, people are willing to pay for quality and natural and organic. But again, how many people in Maine can afford it? But people in Philadelphia sure can, and in New York and Boston and throughout the entire Northeast. And think about this, think about the Maine brand alone. Think about the possibility of pulling that entire brand together, whether it be the lobster or the fishery or the water and all these other products that are grown in greenhouses and the possibility of using that, leveraging that main brand. Now, why do I believe that that brand is so powerful? Go to Manhattan any day of the work week, stand on any street corner, and within one hour you're going to see at least one Poland Spring truck. Go down to Houston, Texas, and there are all kinds of restaurants down there and these steakhouses that exist down there. I have to go there on business. Show me one of those major businesses that doesn't have a lobster tank in it that says Maine Lobster. And the lobsters are four pounds. They don't even come from Maine, they come from Canada. But guess what? They advertise this Maine lobster. What does that say about the brand? Send a Maine worker anywhere in this country and say you're from Maine and see how quickly they get hired because of the work ethic and, and the way this state and its people are perceived on the outside world and group it together, brand it the right way together, all of us together, and see how powerful that would be if we said we were going to be the breadbasket or the Northeast. And again, that's but one example. The same thing applies to renewables. The same thing applies to. Why not Maine in terms of becoming the healthiest state in America? What's wrong with that goal? Why could that happen? If we went to the National Institute of Health and said, invest in our state, develop models to allow us to develop a living laboratory, working with the Jackson labs, working with the two major hospital systems in the state and the whole medical community, including developing a virtual medical school here, developing programs that would be implemented statewide to try and deal with the obesity issues, the health issues in this state, and within a period of 10 years, you could get measurable results. And why Maine? Because we've got every cross section of society living here. The most wealthy to the very poorest, they live here. But we could be a lab, because there's only a million 300,000 people. You could implement and get measurable results within a relatively short period of time and then share that knowledge and information with nih, who has a very multi billion dollar budget, get them to invest $23400 million here in the state annually to create jobs, research implementation, and share it with the rest of the country so that they could implement these programs on a national basis. Because we already know, we already know that when you implement certain types of programs through education, using the educational institutions and using the medical community, all of these things that we could change things to the good here in the state of Maine, at the same time, create economic activity and solve. What I believe. What I believe is this country's number one challenge is health care. And if we honestly believe that much of our health care costs, it's been said up to 75% of our health care costs comes as a result of self induced behavior, if we really believe that, then why can't we attack it with education and research and take it on nationally, but have it driven right here in the state of Maine?

Philip Conkling:

So what you're hearing, vision, leadership, passion, those are the ingredients. That's why I had such a good time getting to know Pete and his whole program. It's very, very compelling.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

The goal of the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour is to help make connections between the health of the individual and the health of the community. The goal of Ted Carter Inspired Landscapes is to deepen our appreciation for the natural world. Here to speak with us today is Ted Carter.

[Unidentified voice]:

I've had the good fortune of working to some degree with the Lakota Indians. And I'm always amazed at the Native American teachings and the power of intention. I did a ceremony with them, a Uweepi ceremony, actually, and we all had to bring 500 prayer ties to the ceremony. And as we did each prayer tie stuffed with tobacco, we would say tankashila mitakyoyasan. Tankashila means creator and mitakyahasan means all my relations. And what I find striking about the Native American teachings is it's all is one, it's very first chakra. It's very much about connection and connection to each other. And in their teachings, they feel that the creator is the creator, the God force, and the grandmother is the earth. And we all have the same father and we all have the same mother. And I think that's something very important to realize that we are all connected. And when tragedy strikes or when something happens, sometimes we can feel that and we know something's up. We can't quite put our hand on it. But knowing this and understanding how the earth works with these subtle energies and this form of connection between the great creator and the mother makes us feel like we're not so all alone in the world. And at times when we're despondent or having trouble, it's important that we honor the earth and move out into nature and let her speak to us. She will comfort us and take good care of us. I'm Ted Carter, and if you'd like to contact me, I can be reached@tedcarterdesign.com

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

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[Unidentified voice]:

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Dr. Lisa Belisle:

similar attitude, a similar vision in other leaders around the state that you've interacted with? Because I know that you are also very connected in the work that you have done in the past. The work you're doing with Maine Magazine. Now, the work you're doing as a consultant, you know, what kinds of things are brewing? Are they similar to what Pete is describing?

Philip Conkling:

Absolutely. I think Pete was talking about food earlier. Maine is actually really considered to be right in the sweet spot of this. All of this making sure you're eating things that you know where they were grown and how they were grown and what was put into them. This is, this is a national level conversation. But Maine's got 10 or 15 years of experience in this. Sure, small operations, but now they're beginning to scale up. MOFCA Maine Organic Farmers and Growers association is the largest organic group of growers, farmers and growers in the country. That, you know, that didn't happen overnight, but it happened because people here in Maine are used to starting small. And then, you know, what we've been lacking is this scaling ability. And that's what I think is really interesting about Pete's point of view. That, you know, you scale, you get to scale when you harness government and the university, along with a lot of, you know, private initiatives that are the sort of the little testing labs, if you will, or big, in case of Chimbro is a big part of the reason Chimbro has gotten a lot of deserved credit is because they're a large organization that is, that has tested models that have proved successful. So it's a very important example of scaling these kinds of activities to larger and larger levels. And there's no reason that this can't scale to the state level. It just takes leadership along with the vision and that. So I think the future is ours.

Peter Vigue:

Looking at what Libra foundation has done. And that wonderful lady, Betty Noyce, was extraordinary and she had tremendous vision, very outspoken, very direct and understood Maine very well. And the potential that existed here. And her legacy is still very much alive. And if you look, if you go way north up in Aroostook county and look at what natural beef is doing up there or naturally beef and what impact they've had on the county. They've got huge feedlot up there and they have employed a number of farmers that very likely would not be growing anything, but they're growing barley and grain to feed these beef that are very attractive to the marketplace, most of it outside of the state of Maine, but it's employed a number of people in Aroostook county. And essentially that model, if you look at that model and then take it down a. The middle part of Aroostook county where they're doing the naturally potato business and adding value to potato and the cheese and Pineland and think about what are they doing. They're running a very successful business. But again, what was Betty Noyce trying to accomplish? She was trying to improve the Maine economy. She could see the capability and the competency of the people in this state. And so they're setting the example for others to follow. And that model is working because guess what? They're selling to markets that are willing to pay extraordinary amounts of money for what they produce, which is quality. High, high quality. And they're successful at doing it. I'm not suggesting that we have to invent anything. The models are there. If we simply realize what benefit we have from our location, the natural resources we have, the competency of our people, if we simply work together and use the brand to leverage our position in the marketplace. I don't think there's anyone in the entire northeastern part of the United States states that can come close to us in terms of the brand itself as long as you bring it all together and operate as one. So what does that really mean? That means distribution systems. That means marketing efforts. Establishing ourselves in the marketplace outside of this state with these larger groups of people who deal with scale in numbers, I think the opportunity would be huge and we need to look at it as such. And granted, recognize that over 80% of the businesses in this state have 20 or fewer employees. But that is, as Phil says, where they start. I can attest to that in our business. But I can point out many businesses here in the state and the key is collaboration. People willing to work together, raise the bar and the standard and recognize the benefit of collaboration and working together that will take us to a whole new level in this state.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I know that we could talk on for hours. There's so much interesting information that you they're sort of stirring up in my own mind. I'm sure the people who are listening are feeling the same way. I encourage people to go and read more about you and the Maine Magazine upcoming Maine Magazine article by Philip Conkling. We've been speaking with Peter Vigue, who is the chairman and CEO of the Chinborough Companies, and also with Philip Conkling, the contributing editor for Maine Magazine and author of multiple books and formerly of the Island Institute. I appreciate the work you're doing because I know that wellness is such a broad topic and it pretty much is the future right now that it's what we need to be focusing on. And obviously this is my field. So, you know, I'm glad to have so many other people with really great ideas coming in and saying, yeah, we want to be part of this too. So thanks for coming in.

Peter Vigue:

Well, thank you for allowing us to come in and express ourselves and and also the fact that you understand this very important issue with wellness and it is in no uncertain term, in my opinion, the number one issue that we face in this country today.

[Unidentified voice]:

Thank you Lisa.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have been listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast show number 138 East West Highway. Our guests have included Philip Conkling and Peter Vigue. For more information on our guests and extended interviews, visit Dr. Lisa.org the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is downloadable for free on itunes. For a preview of each week's show, sign up for our E Newsletter and like our Dr. Lisa Facebook page. Follow me on Twitter and on Instagram as bountiful1. We love to hear from you. So please let us know what you think of the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour. We welcome your suggestions for future shows. Also let our sponsors know that you have heard about them here. We are privileged that they enable us to bring the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour to you each week. This is Dr. Lisa Belisle. I hope that you have enjoyed our East West Highway Show. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day. May you have a bountiful life.

Philip Conkling:

It.