Boat in Ocean with Yellow Sunset

Economies of Scale, #108

Here in Maine, the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well. We work with the resources we have, creating new and interesting products to share with the world. No small feat, given our geography and relatively small population base.

This week’s radio show guests, Philip Conkling, founder of the Island Institute and contributing editor at Maine Magazine, and Dream Local founder & Client Success Officer, Shannon Kinney, understand the entrepreneurial process. Entrepreneurs themselves, they have brought their unique talents to Maine, creating and nurturing organizations that act as valuable resources for our community.

Guests

Philip Conkling

Philip Conkling

With a background in both conservation and business, Philip Conkling launched the Island Institute with a vision of helping communities and owners balance natural resource protection and community development objectives. As part of his work, he has traveled extensively on voyages to Arctic and sub Arctic regions of both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and written extensively on sustainability issues facing coastal and island villages throughout northern and coastal regions.

Philip is the founding publisher of Island Journal and the author of Islands in Time, A Natural and Cultural History of the Islands of the Gulf of Maine. He conceived and edited From Cape Cod to the Bay of Fundy – An Environmental Atlas of the Gulf of Maine and most recently also conceived and edited The Fate of Greenland-Lessons from Abrupt Climate Change, which won the Phi Beta Kappa award for science book of the year. Philip’s formal education includes a B.A from Harvard University (1970) and a M.F.S. from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (1976) and in 2013 was awarded an honorary doctorate from Bowdoin College. He is a contributing editor for Maine magazine.

Shannon Kinney

Shannon Kinney

Shannon Kinney is the Founder and Client Success Officer of Dream Local Digital, a digital marketing agency that has worked with thousands of small businesses across North America. She has over 15 years of experience in the development of successful Internet products, sales and marketing strategies and has worked on the teams developing successful Internet brands such as cars.com, careerbuilder.com, and over 60 online media properties for newspapers all over the U.S. and Canada. Prior to that, she spent over 10 years in media sales and sales management in Maine. Shannon is considered an expert in the field of online marketing and social media, and speaks regularly at conferences on the subject. She was recently named one of the Women to Watch in 2013 by Maine Biz Magazine.