News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine
January 19, 2022
 
This Week's Speaker | Rick Schneider, President & CEO, Maine Public
 
Since June 2021, Rick Schneider has served as president and CEO of Maine Public, the public media company operating statewide networks for Maine Public Radio (NPR), Maine Public Television (PBS), and the Maine Public Classical radio network.
 
Schneider started his career as a television news reporter and anchor in Florida and served as a Washington bureau correspondent for Post-Newsweek Stations before moving to news director and then station manager of WUFT-TV in his hometown of Gainesville, Florida.
 
His public media leadership experience began in 1998 as  president and CEO of KNPB in Reno, where he led the capital campaign for the transition to digital television.
 
In 2004, he became president and CEO of WPBT in Miami, producing the Nightly Business Report for national broadcast on public television stations.
 
Schneider served as executive VP and  COO of WETA, the PBS station and classical music radio station serving Washington, DC, from 2013 to 2017.
 
He worked at the National Center for Family Philanthropy, a DC-based nonprofit serving family foundations nationwide, before returning to public media at Maine Public. Schneider served on the board of directors of PBS and chaired the boards of the Public Television Major Market Group, Florida Public Media, and the Pacific Mountain Network.
 
He holds a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, where he was named to the College of Journalism and Communications Hall of Fame as an Alumnus of Distinction. He and his wife, Karen, reside in Portland.  They have two adult children.
Program | Snapshot of Maine Manufacturing | by Jake Bourdeau
 
Lisa Martin is the Executive Director of the Manufacturers Association of Maine (MAME), and she discussed the status of manufacturing in Maine and her organization’s focus at Friday’s Rotary meeting. Ms. Martin asked us to look around our offices and homes, and take note that everything in them had to be manufactured somewhere. While the list of MAME members is too long to list, some of MAME’s notable members make or build products such as, robots, ships, clothing, testing equipment, textiles, building supplies, medical supplies, semiconductors, and furniture.  
 
Currently, there are approximately 1,850 manufacturers in Maine who employ 55,000 workers. However, even with the demand and population growing in Maine, manufacturers currently need at least 5,000 more employees. Currently, 8.4% of Maine’s work force is in manufacturing, and the average salary for workers in the sector is $62,300. These healthy salaries help support Maine workers and their families. 
 
Output in manufacturing in Maine has continued to grow over the last 15 years. Products produced have grown in value from $5.4 billion in 2008 to over $6.3 billion in 2018 over that 10-year period. While jobs openings in the industry currently need to be filled, overall the manufacturing jobs have actually declined slowly since 1990.  At the same time, production rates as measured by GDP have increased. Why has this occurred? According to Ms. Martin, automation and robotics efficiencies have advanced significantly, reducing the number of jobs available.  
 
Lisa Martin noted that the health of the industry and cost of doing business is at a “middle-of-the-pack” level compared to other states. The primary reason for this is the amount of legislation and regulation that continues to not favor employment that adds to the high cost of doing business in our state. With a worker shortage and lack of training, combined with the supply chain issues that many companies are seeing, add to the challenges Maine Manufacturers face.   
 
MAME advocates for polices that promote a pro-growth, pro-manufacturing environment aligned with Maine’s economic plans. Our economy and our livelihoods depend on the product manufacturers in this state, from defense, textiles, health products and more. MAME’s goal is to continue to help grow manufacturing in Maine, and part of MAME’s focus is to make people aware of manufacturing as a major sector of Maine’s economy. Lisa Martin says we should tell our kids and everyone we know about Maine manufacturing to help spread the word.  FMI, visit MAME.
Bits & Pieces | by Erik Jorgensen

As Friday’s meeting started to shape up on the Zoom screen, it became clear that PP Bill Blount was broadcasting from the court-side lounge at Portland’s Apex Racquet and Fitness Center. His presence there prompted a pre-meeting discussion of the world of tennis – taking in both the successes of our local Rotary tennis league (Where Bill, Erik Jorgensen, Tom Nickerson and Scott Gorneau recently claimed the Fall title), right up to the international situation in Australia with Novak Djokovic.

Our new President-Elect Bruce Jones, kicked the meeting off at noon, marking a return to some of our pre-pandemic traditions: PP Bob Traill led the club in a zoom rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance, and Bill Blount did a solo a capella version of “America The Beautiful” from the tennis club. These were all good rehearsals for when we will return in person. 

Speaking of going back in person, we need to think about knocking the rust off the mechanics of our meetings, which have now been online for almost 2 years. Jan Chapman is now chair of the meeting day committee, which seeks new members to help with meeting day setup and operations. She has a good crew but seeks more volunteers.  Reach out to her at Janchapman1966@gmail.com  to sign up.

And speaking still further about the in-person return, Mike Fortunato recently visited the club’s storage area. He’s looking for our projection unit. Bill Blount has the screen, and there’s the thought that Alice may have the projector.  We look forward to hearing more. 

Charlie Frair, in his invocation, provided a quote by Winston Churchill, who noted that “success is not final, failure is not fatal, and that it’s the courage to continue that really counts.”

We had a guest, Gervin Kah, from the beautiful seaside city of Libreville, Gabon –  it was great seeing a member from this central African country between Cameroon and Congo.  A French speaker, Gervin prompted Juliana L’Heureux to step up and try out her French in public.

PP Ellen Niewoehner completed the final step in the nomination process: an election. We needed to vote on our new Second Vice President, Patty Byers, who was nominated last week. The unanimous vote ratified Patty in her new position: “All it takes is for someone to ask, and I am glad you asked” she said. 

PP Tom Talbott announced that PP Laura Young has joined the Windjammer committee. Welcome, Laura! We’re still looking for two more aspiring journalists to join our merry band. 

Finally, as our meeting closed, President Bruce introduced a new agenda item, “What Do You Know? He provided a tidbit of "Rotary History", this week telling the story of Hiram Shorey from Litchfield,Maine, who was one of the four original Rotary founders in 1905.  "The Four Original"

Bruce then closed the meeting, triggering a round of thanks and applause in recognition of the success of his inaugural outing as President-Elect.

Foundation News | by Patty Byers
This is the sixth in a series on the seven focus areas that the Trustees of the Rotary Foundation have identified as the underpinnings of all our charitable activity.
 
"Growing local economies"
Nearly 800 million people live on less than $1.90 a day.
 
Rotary members are passionate about providing sustainable solutions to poverty.  We carry out service projects that enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for decent and productive work for young and old. We also strengthen local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities.
 
Rotarians make amazing things happen, like:
 
The power of light: Rotary members from Durango, Colorado, teamed with the Navajo Nation to bring solar lights to 16,000 remote, off-the-grid homes on the country’s largest Native American reservation.
 
Breaking the cycle of poverty for women: Most of the women living in rural Guatemala do not have the collateral to get loans from regulated financial institutions. The Rotary Club of Guatemala de la Ermita helped 400 local women complete financial literacy courses so they could pool their money and fund their own micro-lending program.
 
Skills development, business training: In Esmeraldas, Ecuador, Rotary members helped grant more than 250 microloans and train more than 270 community members in sewing, baking, plumbing, microcredit, business management, and leadership. 
 
Sustainable farming: In west Cameroon, soil erosion and loss of soil fertility have significantly reduced farmers’ harvests. Rotary members gave farmers the skills they needed to improve soil fertility, control soil erosion, and market their produce. The results: increased crop yields and profits.
 
Help grow economies and reduce poverty
 
Consider a gift to the Rotary Foundation to create opportunities to help individuals and communities thrive financially and socially. If you have any questions, please contact Patty:  pattybyers@gmail.com.
January Birthdays and Rotary Anniversaries Salute!
Birthdays:  Brian Batson 9th, Tony Manhart 12th, Steve Stromsky 23rd,
Matt Tassey 24th, Marissa Fortier 25th, Don Lowry 28th, and Amy Chipman 30th!
 
Anniversaries:  Brian Batson 1 yr, Michelle DiSotto 3 yrs, Ben Millick 5 yrs,
Liz Fagan 18yrs, Bruce Moore 21 yrs, Patty Byers 23 yrs, John Marr 27 yrs,
 Mark Millar 35 yrs, Tom Sukley 36 yrs, Alan Nye 38 yrs, Mark Stimson 55 yrs!
Speaker Schedule

January 28 | Christian Cotz, Executive Director, First Amendment Museum  

February 4 |  Joe Reagan, Wreaths Across America (Former Portland Rotarian)

February 11|  Kathleen O'Donnell, SCORE Maine

February 18 | Nate Stevens, Boulos Company

February 25 | Club Assembly

Past-Presidents At The Podium!  President-Elect Bruce Jones has chosen to share the podium with former Past-Presidents (PP's) prior to his Presidency starting July 1, 2022.  You can look forward to these blasts from the past presiding over the following meetings:

February 4th: Laura Young   •  March 4th: Amy Chipman   •  March 25th: Tom Talbott                            April 1st: Bill Blount  •  April 22nd:  Larry Gross  •  April 29th: John Marr  •  May 20th: Bowen Depke     May  27th: Ellen Niewoehner  •  June 17th: Roxane Cole                             

Club Executives
President-Elect  Bruce Jones
1st VP  Dick Hall
2nd VP  Patty Byers
Treasurer  Howie Herodes
Secretary  Michelle DiSotto
Board of Directors  Ellen Niewoehner, Mark Foster, Bob Clark, Roger Fagan, John Thompson
Sergeant-At-Arms  Dave Putnam
Club Administrator  Alice Alexander
 
 
The Windjammer
is published online by
The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine.
 
Contributing Editors
Bill Blount, Jake Bourdeau, Dick Hall,
Erik Jorgensen, Julie L’Heureux, Ben Lowry,
Tom Nickerson, Tom Talbott, Laura Young
 
Managing Editor  Tom Talbott    
Co-Production  Alice Alexander
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