In my (can it be?) nearly 20 years of chamber leadership, one of the events I have always cherished is our awards events where we honor business leaders who make our communities what they are. Whether it was in my first decade in chamber work up in Skowhegan or down here in the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham region since 2016, the awards events have always been special to me. The reason is simple and obvious: We don’t take enough time in our lives to celebrate the greatness that is around us in our everyday lives. We appreciate it, we see it, but we don’t say it enough.
This year, we have decided to shake up the awards event. Our Annual Awards Night in March was a lovely time, and it served its purpose for the last six to eight years; however, the committee felt it was time for a change. Summer is beautiful in Maine, and we don’t spend enough time enjoying that, plus the sit-down-dinner–style event, for as nice as we made it, could use a refresh — thus, we are refreshing it.
The chamber awards event is now called the Community Leadership Awards (or CLAs for short), and it is taking place on Thursday, June 18, at Live Well Farm in Harpswell. With this new venue, we are transforming it from a sit-down dinner to a summer cookout-cornhole-live music-summer mixer with a condensed program of about 35 minutes and distinguished business leader guests to mingle with. After several iterations of what this event will be, we have a format that we are excited about and that is also truly unique. A key for us was to have an event that ensures we are still focusing on the winners but also keeps it light, fun and engaging.
Oops, I’m burying the lede — let’s talk about the winners!
The following recipients were announced last Friday in our weekly e-newsletter and will receive recognition and share some words on the night of the CLAs:
• Harry C. Crooker Lifetime Achievement Award: Tom Wright.
• Citizen of the Year: Frank Connors.
• Excellence in Entrepreneurship: Liza Rowland.
• Large Business of the Year: Reed & Reed.
• Small Business of the Year: Now You’re Cooking.
• Nonprofit of the Year: Tedford Housing.
• President’s Award: United Way of Mid Coast Maine.
• Director’s Award: The Brunswick Hotel.
We are thrilled with this slate and these winners. You will hear all their stories either leading up to the event, during the event when you meet them or afterwards, as I will profile them all in these columns. That’s actually a key piece of the new format, in that the awards event program will be shortened because we won’t tell the winners’ whole stories that night, but rather let them use the presentation time to talk about those they appreciate and what being recognized means to them. It’s a lot to explain, but just trust me, it will be a wonderfully meaningful time, and if you love any of these winners, we encourage you to come out.
Additionally, we have a list of 10-15 distinguished guests we are inviting to meet all of you. You get a better sense of a person by sharing a drink with them on the lawn in a laid-back atmosphere, so we are manifesting that. The RSVPs are still coming in, but essentially, we will have some guests who won’t present on the microphone but have been invited to network, hang out and mingle. We will recognize these industry leaders from the microphone, and we will say, for example, “If you have never met Cory from our chamber and have business ideas or questions about the chamber, go grab a drink with him. Cory, give everyone a wave.” We anticipate some of these guests will be local leaders, while others will be statewide leaders of renown — more to come on that.
In terms of parking, we will be running a shuttle from ancillary lots in Harpswell as parking is available for only about 40 cars on-site. As for ticket prices, despite the major move to an outdoor venue and the increased costs of food for events in 2026, we have not changed our ticket price, which is still $75 per person (which includes the free shuttle, dinner, apps and dessert, and one drink ticket to the cash bar). Thanks to members like Central Maine Power, who has jumped on as a Gold Sponsor, and Wilcox Wellness & Fitness. who will be one of our Video Sponsors for helping to offset some costs with their support. Proceeds from the event go towards our chamber of commerce and supports the workforce, networking and business programming we are known for.
Live Well Farm is owned by Nick and Jen Charboneau of Cook’s Lobster & Ale House, so you know the food and drinks will be as great as it has been in the past few years. Additionally, last year, we offered local restaurants, caterers and chefs the opportunity to include some of their food on our menu as a way to showcase what they do. We had four to six businesses take us up on that last year, and we are hoping for that level of engagement this year as we happily offer it again.
For more details on winners, the event, sponsorships and ticketing info through Constant Contact, check out the Bath Brunswick Topsham Regional Chamber Facebook page, and by next week, we should have a dedicated page on our website too at midcoastmaine.com (our new summer intern is creating that as I write this!).
Enjoy the sun.
Cory King is executive director of the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham Regional Chamber of Commerce.