I’m a first-time blogger, so I imagine this will evolve over the next few months, but my hope is to use this platform to stay in touch with all of the wonderful people I have been lucky enough to meet through work, the Chamber, and life in Southern Maine.

One of the hardest parts of leaving for the next year has been the idea of losing touch with all you, so I cannot thank my Chamber family, and my editor-in-chief/Sergeant of the Grammar Police, Paula Mahony, enough for granting me this platform. I will do my best to keep it interesting!

As many of you know, I have been called to active duty from the Marine Corps Reserve and will be out of the country for most of the year. Over the last few months, I have been letting my family/friends/clients/network/anyone who will listen know, and have been met with a wide range of reactions. The truth is that it has been a rollercoaster of feelings for me, but the prevailing one is pure excitement. I have never been one to shy away from an adventure, and this will certainly be one. I am sure I will go into more detail on that in the future, but for the time-being, don’t cry for me, Greater Portland. 

So, what exactly will I be doing this year? I am taking part in a training deployment named, by some of the greatest creative minds ever assembled, the “Unit Deployment Program” or UDP. Although details are still pretty scarce, I can tell you that it will take us to several countries in the Pacific to potentially include Japan, Thailand, The Philippines and South Korea. I do want to emphasize that this is a scheduled, training deployment, and that we expect to be well out of harm’s way.

I am going to try to keep these short, so I don’t put my audience to sleep before I ever get out of the country.  I will do my best to send out an update every few weeks. They will be posted on the Chamber’s social media pages. As I said, my goal for this blog is to stay in touch with you, so please shoot me an e-mail or comment on the posts if you have questions or anything in particular that you would like to know about. The Marine Corps is a wild place with a unique culture, and I look forward to sharing that, as well as all of the other amazing cultures that I will get to experience with you.

 Imagine leaving your business for 9 months in order to fulfill a promise you have made. It’s not for vacation. It has nothing to do with your business. It’s a totally different commitment....

That’s the situation our Visionary Volunteer of the Year, Jeremy Urquhart of Edward Jones, finds himself in as he prepares to deploy to the Asia Pacific with his Marine Corp Reserve unit. While he's away, traveling to California, Japan, and wherever else his deployment takes him, Urquhart promises to share his travels and insights with his friends at the Chamber.

We will be posting his notes to the Chamber member blog. Stay tune for an update on "Where in the world is our Visionary Volunteer" in the coming weeks!