In Amsterdam, reaffirming ties forged in ... Madawaska?
Reporter’s notebook: The governor’s group chances on another Maine businessman with global aspirations.
By MATT WICKENHEISER, Staff Writer
September 27, 2009
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS — So what are the chances of meeting someone else from Maine at the very international airport here?
Given that it was at a terminal where a flight was leaving for Boston, maybe the chances were better than average.
As Gov. John Baldacci and his fellow travelers waited for the flight to Logan on Saturday morning, Patrick West of MaxTorque came by to give his regards.
MaxTorque is a Limerick business that makes technology to open and close valves. It was grown with Maine Technology Institute, and sold four months ago to a Houston-based business.
When the company was bought, the new owners asked West about whether they should close the Maine operations and consolidate elsewhere.
“If you want the best possible work force, I can’t imagine going anyplace else,” West said he told them.
The company has 11 employees, and is looking to hire two engineers in the next few months.
West now lives in Holland, as his wife took a job as an international war crimes prosecutor in The Hague. Because the new owner has operations globally, he was able to move and keep his job.
West said MaxTorque just got a $4 million contract to build pieces to go on the next-generation aircraft carrier for the U.S. Navy. And his traveling companion, Jesse Morin, had traveled to several European countries, including Ireland and Italy, to give presentations for MaxTorque.
The random meeting drove home something Baldacci had been saying for the entire trip – and the randomness made the point with authority.
“Maine businesspeople compete on an international playing field,” Baldacci stressed again Saturday.
I had actually written about MaxTorque several years ago, though that’s not a great coincidence – I’ve written about hundreds of Maine companies in my previous life as a business reporter.
What was a great coincidence was the fact that Morin and I are both Madawaska natives, and both graduates of the University of Maine (albeit, I’ve got a few years on Morin, who now lives in Westbrook).
Two guys from the top of the state, the heart of the St. John Valley, chatting about who we know in common from home. Throw in the fact that Baldacci rented campaign office space from Morin’s dad for one of his congressional runs – now the coincidence level is at X-Files stature.
As my dad is fond of saying, “Madawaska’s a nexus.”
Staff Writer Matt Wickenheiser can be contacted at: 791-6316 or at: mwickenheiser@pressherald.com
