Chamber honors Bangor couple with Dowd award

BANGOR – When the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce convened for its 95th annual dinner Jan. 18, it honored members of a Bangor family that has operated a major business in the city for 110 years.

Richard J. Warren and his wife, Elizabeth, received the Norbert X. Dowd Award for community service and the advancement of business.

Rick Warren is the fourth-generation publisher of the Bangor Daily News.

The chamber program for the dinner stated that “together and individually, the Warrens’ contributions have been immense to the civic, business and cultural institutions of the Greater Bangor region, and the impact and influence of their philosophy of philanthropy and personal investment continues to have a profound positive effect on the lives of people throughout Maine.”

Editor and publisher of the newspaper for the past 20 years, Rick Warren has made contributions covering a range of important public and societal issues, including education, the environment, the arts and health care.

Rick and Beth Warren both have been members of the board of Eastern Maine Medical Center and Beth Warren has been a member of the board at Acadia Hospital. She also has been active with the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen, Meals for ME, the Maine Center for the Arts and Bangor Theological Seminary, among other local institutions.

Under Rick Warren’s leadership, the Bangor Daily News has been publicly praised by organizers of the National Folk Festival for the paper’s contributions to the festival’s successful three-year run, and its continuation as the American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront.

Rick Warren received the highest award for public service from the Maine Children’s Alliance in 2004. The Warrens are actively involved in the Warren Center for Communication and Learning.

Rick Warren recently was named chairman of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, which reflects his longtime passion for salmon fishing. Among other interests, he has been involved with the Forestry Society of Maine, the Land for Maine’s Future Board and as chairman of the Penobscot River Restoration Project.

Whenever the Bangor Daily News has been honored, Warren typically has given credit to its 300 employees.

Tom Palmer, general manager of the Best Western Black Bear Inn in Orono and organizer of the annual dinner, said the Warrens were an easy choice for the selection committee.

Dr. Robert Clough, a heart surgeon and friend of the Warrens, said Rick Warren does not seek the limelight but is “extremely effective in getting things done.” Clough said Warren leads by example.

In response to the award, Rick Warren said he was very proud of the community and wanted to help it grow and prosper in any way he could.

“In Maine, it’s easy to make a difference by the little things you do,” Beth Warren said.

The Warrens were honored for making that difference.

More than 650 people, the largest recorded turnout ever for a Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce annual dinner, attended this year’s event last week to hear of the organization’s accomplishments this past year.

Besides the Warrens, the dinner attendees stood to applaud Arthur Comstock of United Kingfield Bank, who was presented with the Chairman’s Award. Outgoing Chairman Nelson Durgin said he picked Comstock for the award because of his “extraordinary vision and leadership.”

Telford Aviation was honored as the Chamber’s 2006 Business of the Year.

Those at the event included a dozen civic leaders from Saint John who have been working with their counterparts from the Bangor area to improve cultural and commercial ties between the two cities.

Bob Manning of the Saint John Board of Trade said that the Canadian group plans to host a trade conference in Saint John June 8-10.