Sitelines and Jim Howard recognized at chamber’s Awards Night
- By Cory KingFrom the Chamber
- Mar 24
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 28
Two of the awards given at the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Annual Awards Night on March 14 were from the executive director and the president of the board. The award recipients were selected because they are two of our strongest supporters — check it out:
2025 Director’s Award: Sitelines PA
As the chamber looks to continually evolve to meet the needs of our ever-changing membership, one of the most valuable assets we have are the members who believe in us. Belief in the vision of what our chamber wants to become is not always easily communicated. Yet certain business leaders believe in the people making the vision and need little convincing — Sitelines PA gives exactly that kind of support. In a show of how grateful I am for their belief, I selected them this year as the Director’s Award recipient.
It’s funny when you talk to Kevin Clark and Bruce Martinson, the co-owners of Sitelines, as they aren’t particularly sure why they’re being honored. Supporting what our chamber does is so second nature to them that I’m not sure they see the significance it has on us. For starters, they have been members and active supporters of the chamber for literally decades — somewhere around 30 years. Kevin was a board member, a former president of the board and a one-time Volunteer of the Year recipient, while Bruce’s attendance record for our monthly Chamber After Hours events would rival almost any member.
One of the things that has always impressed me, too, is that their industry doesn’t necessary lend itself to easily getting business from a networking event. When a restaurant or retailer attends a chamber event, if they make a good impression, nearly everyone in the room can say “Oh, I’ll go eat there” or “I’ll stop by their shop,” but for Sitelines, if you don’t need a civil engineer or land surveying, you don’t need it. Yet that’s also what makes them a great example of engaged members, too, because even though their services may be more niche than other industries, they make such a positive networking impression on business leaders that when someone does need surveying and engineering services, Sitelines is top of mind. Of course, their high standard of work for commercial and residential clients alike certainly helps — I mean, any successful businesses needs to be good at what they do.
Since I joined this chamber in 2016, I can’t think of a single major event that Sitelines hasn’t been a part of. Even before they joined on as Cornerstone Members in 2018, when the program was created, they were already supporting all we do. In fact, this May, we’ll be hosting our 12th Annual Hacker’s Ball Golf Tournament, and they have been the only Cart Sponsor we’ve ever had.
But again, that doesn’t seem special to Sitelines. Kevin and Bruce just see it as how they give back to the community, make connections and support the region. That seems like a pretty good reason to recognize them.
Congratulations to Sitelines PA our 2025 Director’s Award recipients.
2025 President’s Award: Jim Howard
The President’s Award is given annually by the president of the Board of Directors, who is a volunteer for the organization and a local business leader. Shannon Anketell is finishing her second year as president, and for her last act, she wanted to honor the person she felt has been the most influential during her presidency: Jim Howard of Priority Real Estate Group.
Jim Howard (left) with the 2025 President’s Award, alongside Bath-Brunswick-Topsham Chamber of Commerce Board President Shannon Anketell and Executive Director Cory King. Jeffrey Morris photo
Many people know of Jim through both his business success — Priority Real Estate Group (PREG) is widely known throughout Maine and New Hampshire for the development work they do — and for their philanthropic efforts. PREG is one of the most active developers in the state, with projects that range from Rusty Lantern Markets to Spring Works Farms greenhouses in Lisbon to Maine Community Bank in Cook’s Corner to Vivid Cloud on Brunswick Landing to the new massive STARC Systems building being constructed on Brunswick Landing. Jim, along with his son, Parker, and his incredible staff, have created the opportunities for thousands of jobs in our region and millions of dollars of business investment. Their importance to the growth of Brunswick Landing and the entire region can’t be understated.
Yet, several years ago Jim made the conscious choice to give back as much as he could, as often as he could. He had reached a level of comfortable success and he remembered how difficult things had been for himself growing up. Jim is the rarest kind of self-made success stories, as his financial accomplishments were truly made on his own, and he has become a true philanthropist.
Annually, Jim gives tens of thousands of dollars of support publicly and likely just as much anonymously. I wouldn’t venture to guess the exact figure, but it is substantial, and so deeply appreciated by the dozens of recipients annually. One organization Jim has always believed in is the chamber. When it fell on hard times over a decade ago, Jim was one of the key figures to ensure it was still around, and when COVID hit, Jim helped then, too. When we introduced our Cornerstone Member program in 2018, Jim was the first one to sign on to it. And it should come as no surprise that Priority Real Estate Group is also the first business to sign up for our brand-new Platinum Community Partners Program, which Jim was instrumental in helping us figure out the structure for, along with Don Spann of RE/MAX Riverside.
Jim believes in the chamber, and that makes us strive to do our best so he can continue to be proud of the work we do. More than that, though, Jim knows through years of deal-making that collaboration is the only way we can all have success, and when we work together, we truly can achieve more than we ever could alone.
Congratulations to our 2025 President’s Award winner, Jim Howard.
Cory King is executive director of the Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber of Commerce.
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