Quincy Hentzel

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Quincy Hensel has been the CEO of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce since July of 2017. Thanks for coming in today.

Quincy Hentzel:

Thanks for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've been in Maine for, we decided, I think 15 years.

Quincy Hentzel:

Fifteen years, yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

But you're not from Maine originally.

Quincy Hentzel:

I'm not. I grew up outside of Chicago in the suburbs, spent my whole childhood there, did college, did law school, and moved to Maine. I think we just decided 2003. 3.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You followed a boy here is what

Quincy Hentzel:

you tell me I did. I followed a boy here who was also not from Maine but had gotten a job out here and we thought we were going to stay for just a few years and then move back to Chicago and we both fell in love with Maine. We're both still here. We're not still together, but we're both still here and we just I just love, love the the city of Portland, love the state of Maine and have made this my home.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You had an interesting detour between Chicago and Maine. You actually were in DC for quite a while.

Quincy Hentzel:

Well, I worked in DC So my time in DC Was actually while I was living in Portland. So when I moved to Portland, the Very first job that I got was doing government relations work and lobbying work. And that job took me to Augusta and also to Washington, D.C. so I was always living in Portland, but traveled quite a bit to Washington.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

When you were in school, did you know that you wanted to do lobbying work? No.

Quincy Hentzel:

I think lobbying work is one of those jobs that you don't really know exists. I mean, there's so many of those jobs out there. I think people know, like doctor and lawyer and accountant. And I really didn't know what lobbying was. Actually, the very first opportunity I was given to lobby, I had taken a temporary job at a law firm in Portland, and one of the attorneys there asked if I would be interested in lobbying. And the first thing I said was, yes. And then the second thing I said was, what's lobbying? And that's kind of what started my professional career in the area of government relations.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So define lobbying for us then.

Quincy Hentzel:

So how I define lobbying is actually being an advocate. So I spent 11 years of my. My first 11 years in Portland, I spent lobbying for the Maine credit unions. So I was essentially an industry advocate for credit unions. And I represented the credit unions both in Augusta, in our statehouse as well as Washington, D.C. i worked on policy issues that would impact credit unions, which is essentially anything in the financial services realm, and worked with lawmakers to ensure that the laws and the rules and the regulations that they passed, we're actually going to be helpful to our industry and not hurtful to our industry.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's a long time to spend on something like credit unions. Did you have an interest in the financial field before you started doing that?

Quincy Hentzel:

I did not have a particular interest in the financial field. I think what happened, not so dissimilar to me moving to Maine is I really fell in love with the credit unions. I fell in love with the credit union movement and the people who make up the credit unions. Maine is a very heavy credit union state. We have a lot of wonderful banks as well, and we have a lot of wonderful credit unions. There seems to be plenty of room for both in the market. And I just really fell in love with the people, and I enjoyed my time there. So, yeah, I think I probably stayed in that job a lot longer than I ever thought that I would. But you blink your eyes and all of a sudden 11 years has passed.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So what is it about credit unions in particular that you found so fascinating?

Quincy Hentzel:

I think it was just the people. I think, you know, credit unions are nonprofit financial institutions. And I just really felt a connection to and a passion to their work. It's their motto is people helping people. And that's just something that I found over the course of my own life, is something that I'm very passionate about as well. So it was really kind of neat to be able to work for a financial institution that really had the same values that I have. And just the people you can imagine, the people who work in an institution or in a movement like the credit union movement, are people that I wanted to spend my time with and I wanted to be connected with. So it was really easy for me to end up spending over a decade, my first job, which is probably pretty rare to stay at your first job that long. But I did, and I really enjoyed every second of it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Why did you decide to go to law school in the first place?

Quincy Hentzel:

So I essentially went to law school because my dad was a lawyer as well. And I know that's probably not the best reason to spend ungodly sums of money to go to graduate school and to get a J.D. but I don't regret going to law school. I love school, and I would be a perpetual student if I could afford it. I've never really practiced law. So I guess that goes to the point that maybe it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do with my life, but it was the path that I went down. And honestly, it was the path that led me to where I am today.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What did you like to do when you were younger, when you were in school,

Quincy Hentzel:

in terms of just fun activities or like when you were in high school?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What was it that was most interesting to you?

Quincy Hentzel:

That's a really good question. You're going to bring me back. Bring me back a few years. I always really enjoyed politics, so even in high school. I think high school is when I started to really pay attention to the news and pay attention to what was happening in D.C. and pay attention to the president. So I think I always had an interest in politics and in policy, and I think it was the policy piece that maybe led me down the path of, yeah, law school may be a good decision to do that, because everyone always says you can do so many things with a law degree. I think that is very true. And I never thought that I would actually work in policy, though, which is really interesting. I actually thought I would go into corporate law and do. And I don't know exactly why I felt that way. But in college and in law school, I was like, I think I could see myself, like, in a big corporation practicing law, which now I find that actually comical because I Don't see myself doing that, doing that at all.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Was your father a corporate attorney?

Quincy Hentzel:

He was a corporate attorney, which. There you go. Now we're piecing it all together. He was a corporate attorney. So he was a Corporate attorney for U.S. steel in Chicago for many, many years. So that's. I think that was his backgr. And again, I think I just kind of thought so highly of my dad and knew what his career path was and what his profession was and just really saw myself following in his same footsteps.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I think what you're describing is not that unusual. I mean, my father was a doctor and I became a doctor and he was a family practice doctor. So I got training in family medicine and I still practice family medicine. But it is interesting that he and I are different people. So he and I have different ways of approaching the world in general. But when you're young, you don't really know. You don't know how different you are from your parent. You assume that if you do what they do, then you'll have the success that they have.

Quincy Hentzel:

Right, Exactly.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

But now you are working with the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce. So tell me about that.

Quincy Hentzel:

So that's been a really great opportunity. I stepped into that role at the Portland Regional Chamber in February as interim CEO and I held that position for a few months and then was named permanent CEO in July of last year. And it's been such a fun and eye opening experience. I've been closely connected to the Chamber for a long time. I served on the board of the Portland Chamber for probably nine years before I took over this role. So I was not a stranger to the Chamber or the Chamber community. But it is a drastically different thing to serve on a board of directors as opposed to actually run an organization.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How many people are in your organization?

Quincy Hentzel:

So in terms of staff, there's only six of us. But in terms of members, we have over 1300 member organizations that are part of the Chamber.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So describe your day to day activities.

Quincy Hentzel:

Wow. I think that's one of the aspects of my job that I love the most is that it's so different every day. Yesterday I actually didn't leave the office once, which is really rare. But I had a pretty calm day at my desk. I was able to get some work done. I had a few meetings in the office. We had a staff meeting. We're kind of all back from the holidays. So it was. I kind of purposely gave myself a slow ramp up day. But my days can be all over the place tomorrow. My day will start at 7 in the morning I will be at the Holiday Inn by the Bay for Eggs and Issues, which is our monthly breakfast series that we have. And then from there, I think I have a litany of meetings, whether I'm meeting with a member of my board, whether I'm meeting with a member of our organization. I could be meeting with the city manager about an issue. I could be meeting with a city councilor about an issue. Maybe there's a stakeholder group that's pulled together to talk about the opioid epidemic in our city. Maybe we're talking about regional transportation issues. I think one of the things I've learned. I knew this serving on the board, but having stepped into this role, I've realized the reach of a chamber of commerce. When part of your mission is to promote regional prosperity, that encompasses a lot of things. And so I think by virtue of that, I get the opportunity to talk about and to be engaged in a lot of the critical and really important conversations that are taking place. And those conversations lead me. So hence, I'm going back to your first question of what's your day look like? It's different every single day, and it's exciting every single day. And I feel like I am helping the Chamber of Commerce in Portland have a role in helping to shape our community.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've mentioned the opioid epidemic, just for example, and regional transportation. Are those two of the big issues that you're working with right now?

Quincy Hentzel:

There are two of the issues. I don't know. If I had to prioritize the issues that we're working on, those would probably be in our top 10 list. Our list is long, long and mighty. But those are two that are really important to our members. I think the opioid crisis, again, that's been something that I've been very acutely aware of even before I took on this role. Now that I'm in this role, I think I've become just extremely aware of the prevalence of that issue and the impact that it has on our members. And we see it, too, every day. Our office is on Congress Street, Congress in Elm. We're right by the library. You can see the crisis on the streets, and it's really heartbreaking to see that. And you can see the impact that has on businesses, whether it's a business that happens to be maybe in that area of town where there's a lot of activity on the streets, or whether it's a business that has employees or staff that are struggling with an opioid addiction, or maybe they have a family member who has. I just think in my last few months here, that issue has really risen to the top of our list of one that I don't think anybody can escape, the opioid crisis. I think it touches everybody in some capacity, some much more deeply and much more personally than others. But it is there. It is real. It is getting worse. We had. I mentioned exit issues a few minutes ago in December of 2015. We had the police chief, Chief Soschuk presented eggs and issues, and he talked about the opioid crisis. And it was one of the first times that the business community had had this conversation. That was in December of 2015. And it's not gotten better and it's gotten worse. And that's heartbreaking, too. I think people, everyone's just struggling to figure out what's the answer to that issue.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What are some of the other issues that have risen to the top for you?

Quincy Hentzel:

I think so. One of the big challenges that the Chamber is trying to tackle right now is just the level of growth that Portland is having right now. It may not be. I think part of it is actual growth. We are growing. We are building. I know we're sitting in a new building right now on Middle Street. There's been a lot of development. People are attracted to Portland. Portland's kind of made the world stage. People know about Portland. So we have. Tourism's up, and you've got people of all ages who are moving to the city. And that's all from the chambers perspective. That's great. We want to see a really vibrant community. We want to see a robust economy. We want more businesses for our businesses here to serve and more consumers for our businesses to serve as well. So we want to see that growth. But there are people, and I understand this, that are seeing that growth and that are getting really scared and that don't know what this growth is going to mean for them. And they know change is coming. Change is here, and there's more change coming, and they don't see what's on the other side of that change. And I can appreciate that. I think change is hard for everybody in so many different aspects of our life. But I think that's the point where we're at right now with the business community really wanting to see our community grow and then having a whole other sect of our community that's pushing back on that growth and who is just scared for what that growth means. And that's been showing itself. You know, we had an election last November where Portland had two really critical and extremely Devastating referendum questions on the ballot. One was dealing with rent control, one was dealing with changing the way we do zoning. Both were citizen initiated referendums and those were initiated really from a place of fear, of fear of change and, you know, fear of rents being too high and people thinking that perhaps rent control might help the fact that rents are too high. And so those are issues that we are, we're faced with at the chamber and that we're trying to figure out how to deal with. We opposed both of those referendums. Both of them lost. Not, you know, the zoning referendum did not lose by the largest of margins, which is, is very interesting and scary to us. But it's just a real time and a place right now in Portland and trying to figure out how do we balance the new development and the new condos going up and the new development happening on the waterfront, which is wonderful, but also very different from what people were used to. There's now a moratorium on Munjoy Hill because people feel really nerv and scared about the demolitions that are happening and the new buildings that are going up. So we're in this place of change. And I think with change comes huge opportunity. I think we will definitely get through this. I don't worry about getting through it, but we're trying to help have a community wide conversation with all parties about what this change is and can we get to the other side while maintaining all the things that we love about Portland and Portland's authenticity, but also being able to support more business and to build more housing. How do we get there? We're going to get there somehow, we hope. But how do we get there and how do we bring everybody along to get us there?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Given that you describe yourself as a potentially perpetual student, this must be a really interesting opportunity for you because you've had the chance to learn about lots of, of different areas like the opioid crisis and housing and credit unions. Do you feel yourself continually challenged?

Quincy Hentzel:

Yes, I do. I do. I think and I think this is a position. I have a hard time seeing this position not challenging me. At some point in the future, maybe we'll, maybe we'll get there, but there's just, there's so many issues to be tackled and there's always new issues coming onto the horizon. So yes, I feel like I'm constantly in a place, I'm learning something new. I'm kind of bringing myself up to speed. I'm figuring out how have we done it before? Where do we want to go with it? How do other Cities deal with it. We're not the only city that's grappling with these issues, so trying to help and be a part of finding the solutions. So, yes, I feel like I am a perpetual student in this role, and every day I'm tackling a new issue, and I go home most days and I'm like, wow, I have a pretty amazing job. It's just very cool to be able to have a role where my primary goal is to build, to help build and support a vibrant Portland and a vibrant Portland region.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You live in Cape Elizabeth now?

Quincy Hentzel:

I do.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What do you like to do when you're not. It sounds like you put a lot of time in at work because it sounds like a pretty big job.

Quincy Hentzel:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

But when you're not doing that, what do you like to do?

Quincy Hentzel:

That's a very good question. I have struggled as of late to find time for myself because it is. It's. We're trying to take on a lot. We're tackling a lot. So there is a lot of work to be done. But when I'm not working, I'm trying really hard to read. Not for work. I have a lot of reading that I do as part of this position, but I'm really trying to find time to read. I do love to read. I don't often have the time to do it, so trying to carve out the time and trying to be outside more, especially in the winter. I don't ski, which has been challenging. Everyone tells me every single winter you've got to start skiing because it's really a great way to embrace the winter. But I think I've passed that phase in my life. I tried it a few years ago. It was not pretty to strap wood slats onto my feet and send me down a mountain and. But still trying to be outside more and trying to just enjoy. I mean, Cape Elizabeth, Portland, just to. Just to walk around. To walk around the trails, to head down by the lighthouse, take my. My poor dog for a walk, who. I probably have not been giving my dog enough attention either. So I think just making time for myself.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What are some of your favorite places in Maine?

Quincy Hentzel:

Oh, that's a tough question, because I think Maine is. Maine is honestly probably the most beautiful place in the world. And I pinch myself driving to work those summer mornings over the bridge and just looking at the bay and being like, I cannot believe that I live here. I can't believe I'm crossing this bridge. I live on one side, I work on the other side. But I would say probably My most favorite place and the place that I get to spend the most time is on Casco Bay. I love the bay. We have a sailboat, actually. We go back and forth between having a sailboat and not having a sailboat. But we, we love to be on the water. We have plenty of friends with boats. And that's the best I've learned is if you're not going to have your own boat, it's probably better to have a friend that has a boat. But we also have a cottage out on Long Island, Maine. So we're on the water a lot, whether on our own boat, friends, boats, ferry boat. And I just find the bay one of the most beautiful, beautiful places in all of Maine. And particularly those early morning ferry boat rides when we're out on Long island during the week and we're commuting into work in the morning. It's pretty stunning. I used to do the rush hour commute in Chicago, which looks very different than the morning commute on Casco Bay.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, it's interesting because we have had a lot more traffic in the last few years leaving Portland. You probably notice on your side going towards Cape, but also going north.

Quincy Hentzel:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

But then I've talked to other people from California who live outside of Los Angeles and they're like, you do not know traffic. This is traffic, but it's not the way that it is elsewhere.

Quincy Hentzel:

Right, right. It's all relative. I completely agree with that. I laugh sometimes too when people talk about the traffic at Portland. Because you're right. I used to, you know, you could be stuck if you leave 15 minutes later than normal. Your commute has gone from like 30 minutes to two hours if you're outside Chicago and other big cities. But it is all relative. And I think for Portland, you know, we're a very small city and traffic has been, it's been creeping up there and you do notice it. And if you're, if you're driving to work, like in the morning rush hour or the evening rush hour, I mean, there are a lot more cars on the road and, and I think that's part of what I had mentioned, transportation issues before as one of our priorities at the Chamber. And I think that's something a lot of people are looking at. I mean, I know the city of Portland is looking at that too. How do we manage the traffic? How do we provide alternatives to people from. Are there alternatives to driving a car? There's a lot of people moving to Portland who don't want to own a car. So to be able to provide them with other ways and other means to get to work. Whether it's people are on their bikes, there's buses, perhaps different bus routes. Parking is always an issue. And you know, I don't know if the solution is necessarily more parking because then you just have more traffic. I mean, we do need a certain level of parking. You're always going to have those people who drive to work, I'm probably one of them. But giving people alternatives and helping to like mediate the amount of traffic that we see and giving people other ways to get to and from work I think is really important. And there are a lot of people in groups and organizations that are really putting a lot of time and effort and energy into that right now.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah. And that I don't want to diminish people's observations about. I mean, if you're not from Los Angeles and it seems like there's more traffic, that's still a very legitimate thing.

Quincy Hentzel:

Definitely.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And especially if we live in a city that really hasn't been built for that. We haven't been built for more cars. We haven't been built for more cars leaving the city during. I'm still going to call it rush hour.

Quincy Hentzel:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So how do we, I guess, retrofit? How do we figure that out?

Quincy Hentzel:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

My last question is, what has surprised you about yourself? If you were to go back, I don't know, let's say 20 years in your life and think about the person that you were at the, at that point, what has surprised you about who you've become?

Quincy Hentzel:

It's a really good question. I think, gosh, thinking back to my 20, you know, 20 year old self, I think my level of resilience is much more than I ever thought. I think, you know, we all go through things in our life and we all go through changes and struggles and challenges. And I feel like I've gone through a lot. Probably not dissimilar for many people. You go through a lot of ups and downs. And I think I'm pretty pleasantly surprised at my resiliency. You know, sitting as like a high school or a college student where I had really. No, I had, I had gone through nothing really difficult or bad or challenges. And to see what I've gone through up till today, I feel like I weathered it pretty well. And I consistently surprise myself as to what I can get through. You know, when you're facing it head on, you're thinking, I'm never going to survive this, I'm never going to make it through this. And then you do make it through it and you're stronger and you're better and you've learned a lot. So yeah, I think the resiliency piece, if I had to look back, the last 20 years have weathered the storm.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Okay, is there any piece of advice that you would give yourself if you were able to sit down and say, hey quincy of the 20s, this is what I'd like to tell you.

Quincy Hentzel:

I would definitely say to be more confident. I think I'm fairly confident now in my older age but you know, my 20 year old self probably not so much and I think confidence is just such a wonderful and important trait to have. I think confidence just help it can get you through some really difficult situations. It helps to build trust in other people. And I probably was a lot less confident as my 20 year old self than I am right now. So I think, and that's probably advice I would give any 20 year old person out there is just be confident, carry yourself with confidence and that will take you so far in life.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've been speaking with Quincy Hensel, who has been the CEO of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce since since July of 2017. Thank you for all the good work you're doing and for coming in today.

Quincy Hentzel:

Thank you so much for having me. This was a lot of fun.