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Charles “Wick” Johnson, chairman of the board at Kennebec Technologies, posed Wednesday for a portrait of the desk he uses while working from home in Augusta. Johnson will receive the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Peter G. Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award Friday for his contributions to the local business community. Joe Phelan / Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — On Friday, the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce will celebrate the efforts of its members and its own nine-decade history in the state capital.
After last year’s virtual event, the Kenney Awards will return to an in-person format at Mill Park on Augusta’s waterfront and will be treated to fireworks.
Although some award winners are already known, the audience will use a written vote to select two final honorees.
The event will be hosted by local restaurants.
This year, the class is honoring Charles “Wick” Johnson with the Peter G. Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award.
As chairman of the board at Kennebec Technology since the mid-1980s, Johnson has devoted his time to building both the company and the community by participating in a wide range of community initiatives.
“I really respect Augusta,” Johnson said this week. “This is an incredibly successful community, and it doesn’t get credit for the work that’s been done in the community over the last 30 years.”
Charles “Wick” Johnson at the winning ceremony in September 2015 after completing the beam with steelworker Chris Cochran at the top of Lithgow Library. His contributions to the business community of the Kennebec Valley. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal File
That work includes the third bridge over the Kennebec River, the new Maine General Hospital and Harold Alfond Cancer Care Center, a new Coney High School, a children’s center, the revitalization of downtown Augusta and the new Augusta police station now in the works.
“Augusta is a city that does things from the bottom up, does them well and works in harmony,” he said.
For Johnson, the Civic was a business priority and guided his thinking as he contemplated retiring from the company he helped lead. Instead of selling to an outsider, he converted the company to an employee stock ownership plan, built the team and the enterprise in Augusta, and made it stronger.
“It’s important for businesses not only to be full citizens in communities, but to be in the community,” he said, noting that several other local companies such as G&E Roofing, JS McCarthy Printers and Kennebec Savings Bank have been strong corporate citizens.
Augusta has many attributes that are typically taken for granted, including a high quality of life, easy access to clean spaces, and a large number of young people who are actively involved in the community.
“Augusta is a very strong, emerging, growing young community, and it’s a credit to the community,” he said.
Prizes announced
In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Council announced the recipients of four other awards.
Dave Dosty
Smart Eye Care was named Big Business of the Year with locations in Augusta, Farmingdale and Bangor. In the year Founded in 1990, the company provides primary, emergency and pediatric eye care as well as cataract and macular degeneration evaluation, glaucoma and dry eye treatment and specialty contact lenses.
KV Tolling Systems, an Augusta-based company that creates special-purpose equipment and streamlines equipment, was named Small Business of the Year.
The Kennebec Valley YMCA was honored with the Distinguished Service Award.
Dave Dosty was announced as the recipient of the Community Service Award.
Dosti, a full-time civil servant, is also a photographer who covers events in and around the capital. Although he is often seen on camera at events, he has never been to the Kenny Awards and refused to be photographed this year. Dosti said he learned of the award when he went to a meeting with chamber staff to discuss how the event would be run.
“It was an absolute shock,” he said.
As a photographer, he covers events he hears and captures sunrises and sunsets.
“This is my way of celebrating the area and highlighting the things that are happening here,” he said. “I didn’t really see it as community service or giving back to the community. It’s something I really like. It’s fun documenting what’s happening around town and in the Kennebec Valley.
He said he struggled to find a way to contribute to society and didn’t think photography would be that contribution. Knowing that people are rewarding.
Direct voting
The Synergy Professional and President’s Club Awards are determined by direct written voting and at a banquet on Friday.
Victoria Abbott, Jonny Swan and Hilary Roberts have been nominated for the Synergy Professional Award, which honors leaders between the ages of 21 and 40.
Victoria Abbott
Abbott is the executive director of Bread For Life Ministries, which operates two homeless shelters, a soup kitchen, dozens of apartments and provides charity funding and case management. She also worked at Spectrum Generations and raised money for breast cancer research, among other things.
“It’s a piece of the community that makes a whole community,” she says of the Bread of Life. Who are we as a society if we don’t help everyone? It is well filled. You have soup kitchens, you have high-end donor events. It’s all part of making your community your community.”
But her service to her community extends beyond that, as she currently serves as president of the Augusta Downtown Alliance.
Swann, who is currently a real estate agent Brookwood Realty says he likes to lend a hand when needed, but he’s not one to seek fame.
Johnny Swan
“It’s an honor to be recognized among the most prominent and successful people in our community,” said Swann.
“When I got into real estate in 2018, I quickly learned the importance of being involved in the community and improving the community through volunteering and giving back,” said Swann, who served on the Kennebec Valley Board of Realtors. “And helping others can help you down the road. What you put in is what you get out, and my job allows me to be involved,” he said.
In both work and Synergy, he was able to participate in various activities as a part of the Chamber of Commerce, including holding panel discussions, helping with roadside cleanups, collecting and assisting with the diaper truck. Cleaning the garden from weeds.
Hilary Roberts
Roberts is the executive director of the Kennebec Valley Humane Society, where she has worked for more than a decade. The firm is in the process of selecting a contractor for the new facility on Leyton Road.
The Humane Society has been a member of the Chamber of Commerce for several decades, which is important because the organization wants to be part of the business community and connect.
“We want to make sure we’re talking to leaders and stakeholders and representing our organization to the best of our ability,” Roberts said. “I really admire what (the Chamber) is doing and I like the direction they’re going in now, it’s a modern and promising step in what they’re going to do next.”
Earlier this year, she was invited to speak at the Chamber’s Women’s Luncheon, where she talked about her work, career and how the community has shaped her.
Roberts said it’s important for nonprofit leaders to connect with the business community, promote their own organizations and keep up with what’s happening.
This year, the finalists for the President’s Choice Award are Elliott Office Products, Gardiner Family Chiropractic and Mid-Maine Generator.
At Elliott Office Products, Jamie and CJ Elliott grew into the business and helped grow the local printing company.
Jamie and CJ Elliott.
“One Easy Way is everything you print under one roof,” says Jamie Elliott. “If you’re a business, we can help you with your business logo, your business cards, your vehicle lettering, t-shirts and sweatshirts for your employees. We can make certificates and give you awards. A sign for your field. That’s what people don’t realize.”
The family company began as a Ricoh distributor in Gardiner in the 1980s, when CJ Elliott grew up in the business working for his parents.
The business expands when the company acquires a machine that creates banners and signs and starts using it for t-shirt and vinyl printing. That’s when Jamie, a former GAP manager, volunteered to join sales to sell the service.
“I got here and I didn’t have time to sell to businesses; I wanted to be here,” she said. “It was crazy, it’s just taken.”
Elliott said it’s a “nice little family story” and that she thinks the word is spreading as the company moves from a rental location to a purchased location in Farmingdale.
“I think we’re going to run out of space, so we’re going to come up with a plan to add more,” she said.
At Gardiner Family Chiropractic, Dr. Jennifer Johnson says the wellness-based practice is focused on helping people achieve their highest functioning, no matter what.
Gardiner Family Chiropractic staff, from left to back, Sue Lassell, Jennifer Basford, Lisa Couture, Diana Dow, Linda Gillio and Kathryn Drage; In front, are Dr. Karen Bisser, Dr. Richard Kniping and Dr. Jennifer Johnson. Contributed photo
“We are very fortunate that many of our patients have been with us for a long time,” said Johnson, whose business has been in business since 1989.
Johnson and Dr. Richard Kniping own the business.
As longtime members of the community, the practice has built relationships with local organizations, including Johnson Hall Center for the Arts and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Kennebec Valley, and has donated to support athletic teams and yearbooks.
“It’s not enough to do business here, we think it’s very important to be part of the community. You have to know people, who they are and how they live,” she says. “Many people born in this area stay in this area, and there are very important relationships between people, and we want to be a part of that.”
Mid-Maine Generator workers gather at the Winthrop location on Route 202. Contributed photo
Chris Moulton started working at Kaplan Electric, an electrical business founded in 1984 by Kaplan Brothers to serve the Kennebec Valley region. About 10 years ago, the company began installing backup generators, and soon Moulton — who had worked there for years — and his partner, James White, became co-owners with the Kaplans.
“We went from an electric company that installed two generators a year to being the second largest residential Kohler dealer,” Mid Maine Generator’s Molton said of the business.
With the company’s office in Winthrop and a second location in Wiscasset, the company has become the largest Kohler distributor in New England.
“Everyone is very dependent on power,” he said. “Generators have always been a luxury, and now they are becoming a necessity for many people. We put all our eggs in one basket and take great pride in what we do.
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