The man they call Peter Big View
Maine Business leader key in transformation of shuttered paper mill into a modern factory
PITTSFIELD, Maine - Before the 60-year-old head of a well-known construction firm approached the city of Brewer with an ambitious plan for its shuttered paper mill, he put on a pair of work boots and took a walk around the site.
Peter Vigue, chairman and chief executive officer of Maine-based Cianbro Cos., wanted to see for himself if the 16.5-hectare former Eastern Fine Papers mill could be converted into a modern modular construction yard.
It wasn't the first or the only time Vigue personally toured a potential site, says Stephen Bost, Brewer's city manager.
"He set out to a number of sites all up and down the state of Maine to look at suitable locations and when he walked the Brewer site he was convinced of its potential."
Vigue, said Bost, played a key role in the city's decision to accept Cianbro's plan for the former mill, which closed in 2004.
"He communicated a vision for that site that no one had articulated before. He knew where he wanted to take it. He had a timeline. He had an idea for the type of industry he wanted to bring here and the rest is history," said Bost. "His reputation as man of vision and integrity was critical to the decision to partner with Cianbro."
Vigue is no stranger to work boots.
When he was only 13 he spent the summer helping build a state highway. He joined Cianbro as a 22-year-old labourer and worked his way to the top job, becoming the first person outside of the founding Cianchette family to be the president of the company in 1991. He gained the titles of CEO in 2000 and chairman in 2007.
Today he's lauded as a visionary who should run for governor.
Vigue is well-known in Maine for helping save pulp and paper mills in the state, for the growth of Cianbro under his watch and for his outspoken, boundless optimism.
Jack Cashman, senior economic adviser to Maine Governor John Baldacci, said Vigue was instrumental in helping reopen four of the five mills in Maine that had closed or gone bankrupt since 2003.
"Unfortunately for Pete, three of the four owed him money when they closed. He was one of the major creditors. He joined with us rather than just trying to get what he could out of the bankruptcy court," said Cashman.
The mills owned Cianbro millions.
Vigue took three months of his own time to help Maine's pulp and paper industry and reopen mills in Lincoln, Millinocket, East Millinocket and Old Town.
A front-page story in the Bangor Daily News carried Vigue's public commitment that Cianbro would not shut a mill down in order to extract its money.
In Brewer, Vigue has become a local hero.
The only mill he and the state weren't able to save - Brewer's Eastern Fine Papers Inc. - Cianbro has turned into a modern industrial construction yard that has created 500 new, good-paying jobs.
When Cianbro announced its Eastern Manufacturing Facility last year, one restaurant owner across the street from the mill leapt into the air in joy, a moment captured by the local newspaper.
Signs welcoming Cianbro still dot South Main Street in Brewer.
A grassroots campaign sprung up in 2007 encouraging Vigue to run for governor in 2010 when Gov. John Baldacci must step down due to term limits. Bumper stickers reading "Pete Vigue, please run for Governor" can be seen on cars and trucks in Brewer.
Brewer Mayor Manley DeBeck is among those who believe Vigue would make a good governor.
"Pete understands people, he understands economics," said DeBeck, a long-time municipal politician. "Pete knows what it's like to throw gravel.
"He's not a politician. Sometimes these are the people you want running things."
Vigue shares some of the business DNA that New Brunswick's most successful entrepreneurs and industrialists - the Irvings, the McCains, the Ganongs - all have.
He can anticipate where an industry is heading, he knows when to seize on an opportunity and he has an unshakable commitment to the place where he grew up.
Born in Caribou, Maine, which is 20 kilometres north of Presque Isle, Vigue grew up in Pittsfield, which is 60 kilometres west of Bangor and is home to Cianbro Cos.' corporate headquarters.
His son Andi, who like his father is a former Pittsfield mayor, is president of Cianbro Corp, which is responsible for Cianbro's construction projects across the northeast. Andi lives in the town with his two children.
Vigue's daughter Michelle and her two children, also live close to Peter and his wife Carole.
Part of Vigue's passion for growing Maine's economy is rooted in his desire to stem the out-migration of the state's young workers and their families.
Habid Dahger, director of the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center and the Advanced Structures and Composites Laboratory at the University of Maine, described Vigue as a "visionary."
"He's a person who thinks big and knows how to execute."
One 2007 profile of Vigue nicknamed him "Peter Big View."
He has promoted the construction of a privately-funded East to West highway through Maine that would cut costs for transporting goods, be a major boost to the Atlantic Gateway concept and benefit industry on both sides of the border.
Vigue said while he is often asked about running for governor, it's an idea he's never promoted.
"The governor's race is a long way off in the future. Right now, I am focused on running Cianbro's businesses."
Gross sales for Cianbro, which has over a half-dozen subsidiary companies, hit roughly US $430 million last year, up from $300 million in 2006.
Vigue is a firm supporter of regional cooperation between Atlantic Canada and New England.
In Maine, New England or in Atlantic Canada, the key to success is believing in the people who live there and working together with each other, said Vigue.
"It's all about believing in ourselves, and taking responsibility for our own success. Our success is not the government's responsibility, or someone else's responsibility, it is our responsibility. By working together towards a common goal with a clear vision, the people of this region can do anything."
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