Due to Havana South closing, we had to re-plan our scheduled PROPEL Eats on January 25. Not to worry - we're still having a party, a pizza party! Join us at Pat's Pizza Old Port on January 25 from 5:30-7:00. Enjoy a sit down meal that includes one small pizza (ordered any way you want), a salad, one drink (beer or wine) and gratuity and tax - all for $15! Pat's will be featuring Baxter Brewing Co. beer on tap! Come enjoy great networking, conversation with friends and food. Register now!

The Portland Regional Chamber invites all PROPEL members to attend Small Business Matter on January 24. This new program is specifically designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses and will feature Les Otten, who will engage attendees in a conversation about perseverance, failure and success.  Talk about strategies, insights and learn ways to take your business forward. Register now.

Come to the Salt Exchange on February 8 for a fun networking event. Taste some great food, enjoy a cash bar and get to know new people. Free for PROPEL and Chamber members! Register now!

PROPEL is putting on a special night skiing on February 16 to Shawnee Peak! Your registration includes the lift ticket as well as the round trip bus ticket from Portland to Shawnee. A great deal, and lots of fun! Click here for more information and to register.

Stay tuned to our website for more details on all of these great events.  Mark your calendars now and remember to register in advance as many of our events sell out fast!

PROPEL Profiles
Every month we will be profiling two PROPEL members, one board member and one PROPEL member.

Board Member of the Month
Kate Lanman, Lanman Law LLC

About Kate
Born and raised between Maine and Massachusetts, Kate Lanman fell in love with Portland at an early age. After completing her undergraduate work in linguistics at McGill University in Montreal, Kate moved to Portland to attend Maine Law.  She graduated from law school in 2009 and reflects "I felt very fortunate to find a position with Macdonald Page & Co. at the peak of the economic downturn. The experience I gained working there was essential to my overall career path and ability to venture out on my own."

Kate's New Business Venture
In 2011 Kate started her own law firm, Lanman Law, LLC, with an office on Danforth Street in Portland. Kate focuses her practice on business, estate and tax planning. Although Kate says she loves all of the work that she does, she most enjoys helping new businesses navigate through the legal obstacles of getting started and then helping them to grow. It's her entrepreneurial spirit and love for helping other people with their new businesses that compelled Kate to start her own practice. Kate says of starting her own firm "sometimes finding a career that you love means being bold and taking risks."

How do you get involved with PROPEL?
Kate started attending PROPEL events at the suggestion of a former colleague at Macdonald Page. She enjoyed the events and found that she was meeting interesting people with similar goals. After regularly attending events and getting to know some of the board members, Kate joined the PROPEL board in 2011. Kate says "PROPEL events offer a great way to meet other professionals not only for networking but on a social level. I have made some great friends as a result of PROPEL.  If I get some business referrals later on as a result, that's great but it's been great making friends with other professionals in the community."

Fun Facts
Some of Kate's hobbies include running and cycling to stay in shape. In addition to recently starting her own law practice, Kate is very busy planning her wedding, which will take place in Portland in September 2012.  Congratulations, Kate!

PROPEL Member of the Month
Jill Wheaton, Begin Doing

Jill's Past
Jill grew up in northern and central Maine. She traveled out of state for school, earned a Masters in English at Stanford University, played in a rock band and for a few years in LA, and also taught high school for a year before returning to Maine to work as a financial advisor in 2008.

Her Path to PROPEL
"I moved back to Maine after 10 years out of state and I had to start building my network from scratch. I first heard about PROPEL from my colleague Susan Pye. Propel was a great way for me to meet other young professionals and start doing business locally. PROPEL has supported me not only through business I've received, but through relationships I've created with other members.  When given the choice, I always opt to do business with a Propel (or Chamber) member versus someone outside the organization."

What would you tell someone new to Portland to encourage them to become a fellow Propeller?
"Join! Now more than ever, people do business with others based on relationships not dollar figures.  Propel is a great way to socialize, build trust among local professionals, and expand your network.  I remain friends today with many people I met in Propel 3 years ago.  It can transcend business."

Jill's Present
In 2010 Jill left the financial sector and spent a year traveling and reflecting on what she really wanted out of life. Her travels included volunteering with Anthony Robbins and immersing herself in an entrepreneurial environment. Her experiences were inspiring and she wanted people in her own backyard to have access to the energy from these events.

Now an entrepreneur herself, Jill founded Begin Doing, a company that will bring some of these resources to Maine. Begin Doing's first event is January 25^th, an evening with best-selling author Andy Andrews at Merrill Auditorium. Jill describes Mr. Andrews as "a Peak Performance Coach, not a motivational speaker or a life coach. He will help anyone who wants to improve something about their life by helping them address the psychology of how they do things, not the mechanics. His presentations, while highly energized and entertaining, will also change your life."

Her favorite authors right now are Timothy Ferriss and Gary Vaynerchuk.  

President Selma Botman:  Diversity of student ages, backgrounds shows USM is evolving
USM President Selma Botman writes a regular opinion editorial for the Portland Press Herald.  Catch her latest entry celebrating USM's adult student population:

"When I was an undergraduate student in the early 1970s, classrooms and dorms were filled with students fresh out of high school. That is no longer the case. The fastest-growing sector of higher education is the adult market." 

A look at the University of Southern Maine's student body confirms this trend of fewer traditional-age college students and more adults beginning or completing their baccalaureate degrees. There are also more students from away and from around the world who have chosen to pursue their degrees here. Given the well-publicized -- and continuing -- decline in Maine's high school graduate population, as well as the widely lamented low numbers of Mainers who complete their college degrees, the changing demographics of USM's student body represent a healthy development. Public comprehensive universities are designed precisely to serve students across a range of ages, backgrounds and experiences.  Read More.