Peter Vigue Receives Maine Business School ‘Achievement in Business’ Award
Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
Photo available upon request
ORONO – The Maine Business School recently named one of Maine’s top business advocates, Cianbro president, chair and CEO Peter Vigue, as the recipient of its 2009 Achievement in Business Award.
Vigue, a member of the University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation board of directors and former board president, has been a long-time champion of the University of Maine, and has demonstrated a deep commitment to community service on multiple boards, commissions and area business, community and educational organizations.
Criteria for the Achievement in Business award includes achievement in a field of endeavor, demonstration of leadership, service to UMaine and its business school, service to community and career development, and a commitment and demonstration of life-long learning.
Citing Vigue’s leadership at the Pittsfield-based Cianbro Companies, John Mahon, dean of the College of Business, Public Policy and Health and director of the Maine Business School, says Vigue was a natural choice for this year’s award.
With nearly $500 million in annual sales and 2,500 employees, Cianbro is one of Maine’s largest companies. The corporation has played key roles in renewing the Maine economy by repurposing several closed paper mills, retraining and employing hundreds of workers.
In a recent article in New Brunswick, Canada’s Telegraph-Journal, Vigue was called a “one-man economic stimulus package,” known for his successful entrepreneurial spirit.
A Pittsfield native, Vigue began his career with Maine’s largest construction company in 1970 as a laborer, after graduating with a degree in marine engineering from Maine Maritime Academy. He held various positions, including foreman, field engineer, project engineer, superintendent, project manager and purchasing director, before becoming an executive in the company’s operations. He had been president since 1991, and added chairman and chief executive officer to his titles in 2008.
In addition to a lifetime of community service and advising and consulting on a state-wide level, Vigue is credited with elevating Cianbro’s reputation nationally through his work and dedication to the concept of workplace safety and total quality management.
Among the successes the company is known for today is its corporate wellness plan, with its goal of improving employees’ quality of life and healthy lifestyle at work and off the job.
In addition, Vigue helped revolutionize Cianbro’s dealings with subcontractors, suppliers and clients by focusing on partnerships among stakeholders.
Under Vigue’s leadership, Cianbro has expanded over the years into other construction-related market areas, including construction management, commercial building, power plant maintenance and construction in Brewer of large floating modules for an expanding oil-refinery facility in Port Arthur, Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico.
Vigue also has advocated for an east-west highway, linking New England states and Canada through Maine and New Brunswick. He recently discussed Cianbro’s intentions to explore commercial ventures in the Canada’s Maritime Provinces.
Vigue lives in Pittsfield with his wife Carole. One of their two children, Andi, is a civil engineering and MBA graduate from the University of Maine.