Coley Mulkern, owner of Lionel Plante Associates, a maritime transport company on Peaks Island, is very happy his 19-year-old nephew is an avid reader. He spotted an ad to win a new Cat truck in a trade publication and convinced his uncle to enter. Mulkern, who uses Cat machines on a daily basis, thought they might have a shot and decided to go for it. Mulkern wrote a script and took his nephew and a video camera to work. They submitted their video essay two days before the deadline.
In the weeks that followed, news spread quickly. “We have very loyal customers who we knew would vote for us,” says Mulkern. Voting began on October 1, with only a two-week period to vote, so there wasn’t much time to get the word out. Family and friends spread the word through bulletin boards, emails and through Facebook.
As voting closed on October 15, everyone began asking Mulkern if he had heard any news. “When we found out the contest received over 47,000 votes, our hopes began to wane,” says Mulkern. “We’re a small community in the grand scheme.” Sure enough, however, the island community spirit paid off. One of over 250 submissions, Mulkern and the team at LPA Marine found out they had won. “We have always counted the islanders we work for as our friends, but this contest has really proven that to be the case,” says Mulkern.
The contest announced LPA Marine as the winner on November 1, but Mulkern emailed the big news the night before results were officially announced. “Everyone was so excited that our small Maine company had won an international contest,” he says.
The news arrived by way of a personal telephone call from the CEO of Caterpillar. “He asked me if I was having a good day—and then informed me that we had won,” says Mulkern. “At that point I told him I was having a very good day.”
LPA Marine has a strong history serving island communities. It was founded in 1962 by Mulkern’s brother-in-law, Lionel Plante Sr., who arrived on Peaks with a plan to retire. Instead, he focused on providing islanders with services that did not yet exist. He started the business by opening the island’s first laundromat, which is Peaks’ longest running business.
Mulkern and his siblings continue to run the company today, keeping with the deeply rooted island tradition his brother-in-law began. Today the company not only runs the laundromat, but also provides the island with an oil and propane business, a booming marina, a gas station, an excavation business and a barging company. The entrepreneurial spirit that Lionel put into place continues within the company.
Mulkern and the rest of the team are thrilled to be able to use the Cat CT660, a truck worth $175,000, to serve island communities. “The money we save from this kind of capital expense will allow us to keep our operating costs down, a savings we will pass on to our customers,” says Mulkern.
“We have been blown away with the wonderful support we have received from so many people.” The truck will arrive on Peaks next spring and Mulkern is looking forward to its arrival. But before he puts his new truck to work, Mulkern is planning a christening party with the Peaks Island community.