Maine Names Tech Stars

It’s not just about lobsters, vacations, and Stephen King. Maine’s technology community is booming. On Wednesday, TechMaine, the state’s trade association for the tech sector, announced the winners of its 5th not-quite-annual (they skipped a year) Technology Awards. The awards highlight the achievements of tech firms across the state. We thought you’d be interested to learn a bit about the winning companies and what they do—we certainly were. So without further ado…

CxO of the Year:
Peter Murray, CTO and co-founder
Quantrix (Portland, ME)
Business modeling software that replaces 2D spreadsheets and business intelligence tools

The Governor’s Award for Technology Company of the Year:
Blue Marble Geographics (Gardiner, ME)
Mapping software that manages, analyzes, and displays geographic information

Technology Innovator of the Year:
Jeremy Knope
RainStorm Consulting (Orono, ME)
Web-based software for enterprise website management

Gazelle Company of the Year:
CLYNK (Scarborough, ME)
Recycling services and management of recyclables

New Technology of the Year:
Parco Merged Media (Portland, ME)
Receiver and antenna enclosures for RFID location systems

Also at the gala, which took place in Portland, ME, TechMaine trotted out its Best of the Web awards. Just a bit about these websites and their designers—be sure to check them out yourself:

Arts & Entertainment:
www.mymetromama.com
For moms on the go
Insyt New Media (Farmington, ME)

Corporate Image:
www.susancollins.com
Innovative political campaign site
Maine Coast Design (Searsmont, ME)

Non Profit:
www.tanzanianchildrensfund.org
Financial support for the Rift Valley Children’s Village in Tanzania
Integra Strategic Technologies (Portland, ME)

e-Commerce:
www.fetchdog.com
Community site for dog owners
Fetch Enterprises LLC (Portland, ME)

And yes, there were lobster cakes served at the gala. Some things in Maine should never change.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.