Business buzz Local radio host recognized for small-business contributions

On Wednesday morning at Clear Channel Radio in Bangor, Deb Neuman took a seat in a small studio. She adjusted her headset atop her strawberry-blond hair, pulled her microphone close and took a deep breath.

“Good afternoon, everyone! I’m Deb Neuman, here with Jonny Shields in command and control,” she said, shooting a mischievous smile at the young man in a sound booth behind a glass wall.

“We’re celebrating young entrepreneurs here on ‘Back to Business,'” Newman said. She turned to three guests in the studio and began asking them questions. The guests, self-conscious about speaking into the microphones, answered nervously, then gradually relaxed. By the end of the taping, they were sitting back in their chairs, chatting casually and laughing.

Neuman, a 45-year-old Bangor resident and host of the local “Back to Business” radio show on WVOM-FM 103.9, knows how to get people talking. On Wednesday, Neuman was named Small Business Journalist of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. She won for the Maine and New England categories and is in the running for the national award.

“Radio programs don’t happen by themselves. They take a remarkable amount of planning, preproduction, thought, organization. I’m hard-pressed to find anyone else in this business that does as much preparation before a program [as] Deb,” said Ric Tyler, co-host of WVOM’s “Maine in the Morning” show. “She does her homework, she knows the issues and she does a good job of bringing it to the public.”

Most “Back to Business” shows contain interviews with local business owners, state policymakers, loan and grant officers and other relevant experts on small business. But the show is primarily about people’s stories – how the guest turned a passion into a marketable product or service.

Neuman laughed as she described putting together a summertime show on child entrepreneurs. She drove around Bangor looking for a lemonade stand, then recorded an interview with the children who had set one up, asking them how they arrived at their prices and found their market. Their answers were priceless, Neuman said.

But radio is only Neuman’s side job. She is also director of the University of Maine’s Target Technology Incubator, which provides space, support services and networking opportunities for budding technology businesses, in addition to UM researchers and established private-sector technology firms.

For her entire adult life, Neuman has been involved in small-business ventures. Raised in Pennsylvania, she summered in Steuben and moved to Bar Harbor after she graduated from University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.

Neuman worked as a manager at the Ledgelawn Inn until she noticed another inn for sale.

“I thought, ‘I can do this,'” Neuman said. “I’m a big proponent of starting a business at a young age.”

Neuman bought Ridgeway Manor and spent most of her 20s successfully running the hotel. Eventually, she sold the business and acquired a tour boat operation. That venture was not always successful, Neuman said, because reliance on the seasons and the weather was not easy.

“I’ve always been an entrepreneur. … Along the way there have been successes and challenges and difficulties, and that’s true of every entrepreneur. I believe you learn more from the difficulties,” Neuman said.

On the side, Neuman dabbled in other entrepreneurial ventures. She tried her hand selling jewelry at home parties and at one time manufactured birdhouses out of lobster buoys.

In the early ’90s, Neuman became a small-business loan officer, first at Washington Hancock Community Agency in Milbridge, then at Eastern Maine Development Corp. in Bangor.

With all her experience, Neuman said she had always wanted to host a radio show about the challenges and successes of small businesses. She approached Larry Julius, market manager for Clear Channel, with the idea about two years ago. Little did she know, the station was looking for a way to better serve the local business community, Neuman said. This seemed the perfect opportunity.

Neuman started out at WVOM with regular appearances on the “Maine in the Morning” show. After six months, she moved into the two-hour Saturday afternoon “Back to Business” slot she now fills. She recently celebrated the show’s first year on the air, and Wednesday’s taping was her 51st show.

Candy Guerette, president of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce, said Neuman’s radio show is as informative as it is entertaining.

“One of the things that Deb does through her radio show is bring information, resources and experts to the community. Eighty percent of the Bangor region business community is 20 employees or less. So what she does provides a valuable resource to that sector,” Guerette said.

Neuman serves on the Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and received its 2006 Volunteer of the Year award.

Christopher Frank, founder of Intelligent Spatial Technologies in Orono, has been a guest on “Back to Business” and nominated Neuman for the SBA award.

“Deb was instrumental in helping my company evolve from a graduate-student-run start-up to an established technology company with a lot of potential, ” Frank said in a prepared statement.

“Back to Business” is her way of giving back to the community, Neuman said.

“All I’ve done brought me to here,” she said. “This is what I’m supposed to be doing.”

“Back to Business” airs from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays on WVOM, 103.9 FM. Neuman does an abbreviated “Back to Business” show Wednesday mornings on the “Maine in the Morning” show. Podcasts are available at www.wvomfm.com.