This award is given annually to a select group of Hancock Lumber employees whose positive attitudes, commitment to quality and focus on customer service combine to serve as a living example of the core values of our company. Employee of the Year award recipients are held in high regard by their peers and set a standard for enthusiastic and effective work for others to respect and emulate. By recognizing them with this award, Hancock Lumber is thanking them for their exceptional contributions to our company and looking to them as a leading example of what the Hancock spirit represents.
Austin Brown – BRIDGTON
Austin is highly esteemed by all his peers in Bridgton. What he means to Bridgton certainly became very clear as we took nominations for this year’s employee of the year. He has been described by his fellow employees as someone who, “ALWAYS, without fail, can brighten any day with his positive attitude.” His seemingly endless positive attitude has not only impacted our employees, but all of the customers that he engages. Other employees have described him as “always courteous” to our customers when he worked in the yard. And, now that he is a Driver Pro, “contractors enjoy having him on site”, and he, “does a great job with promoting the Hancock culture out on the road”. A true Hancock brand ambassador, Austin exemplifies what every manager wants to have in an employee. He is an absolute joy to be around and no day is complete without hearing his customary “woohoo!” yelled out the window as he returns from a day of exemplarily customer service. Austin brings nothing but value to the Hancock name and brand!
Drew Johnson – BETHEL MILL
Team Hancock in Bethel was very fortunate to add Drew Johnson to the roster in May of 2015 in a millwright position. Drew started full time after completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology through the University of Maine, Orono. Not only did Drew join the team with an excellent educational background, but he fit right into the Hancock culture and built admirable relationships with his teammates. Drew quickly advanced in the company becoming an in-house Mechanical Engineer through hard work, perseverance, and an incredible ability to build anything put in front of him. Drew is a focused and uncritical listener who takes the necessary time to discuss tasks with all parties involved. His ability to involve operators into the process and learn the ins and outs of the job is first-class. Drew always makes time for his teammates and will teach or share his knowledge with others with no lack of detail! His creative ability to design and build projects in-house with a conscience effort to minimize cost has been a tremendous asset to our business. Thank you, Drew, for your contributions to our company and culture, helping make Hancock Lumber a great place to work!!
Chris Belliveau – CASCO RETAIL
“Casco’s 2019 Employee of the Year Award goes to Chris Belliveau. Chris is a dedicated, hardworking employee who takes pride in offering excellent customer service. Chris displays great positivity in the workplace and is always displaying incredible work ethic and stewardship. Chris started his career with Hancock Lumber as a part-time Yard Pro in January of 2019. Throughout the year, Chris proved himself to be a fully engaged team player who shared great ideas and a consistent dedication to performing top-notch workmanship. Chris’s continuous drive to learn more about the materials and products that Hancock Lumber offers, along with a positive outlook, earned him a promotion to full-time Yard Pro in June. Chris has developed great leadership qualities and a strong work ethic which his fellow employees and customers recognize. If I were to choose five words to describe Chris they would be: positive, hard-working, motivated, dedicated, and reliable. Thank you for your continuous efforts and ability to be such a positive team player!” –Mark Morissette, Casco Retail GM
Matt Packard – MAINELY TRUSSES
Matt Packard is an 18-year member of Team Hancock. In 2018, he moved from the Casco area to Belfast and requested a transfer to Mainely Trusses, remaining in manufacturing but switching divisions. Mainely Trusses has benefitted greatly from the addition of Matt to the team. While Matt is typically soft-spoken, he brings with him quiet, but solid leadership. His strong work ethic, teamwork, flexibility and extremely positive attitude have all helped Mainely Trusses improve, benefitting from the Hancock culture. Despite having no prior truss manufacturing experience, he used his strong skill set to quickly adapt and become a top performer at Mainely Trusses. In 2019, Matt took it upon himself to establish higher production goals on the blade saw in the cutting operation. Matt completely demolished all previous production records at this station and helped elevate the output of all operators of this equipment. He was very open and willing to share his knowledge with anyone that wanted to improve. Matt’s initiative helped our fabrication line improve production and eliminate a potential bottleneck in the cutting operation. Matt has proven to be a great leader and team player. He does what is necessary so that the entire operation runs smoothly. Mainely Trusses is very lucky and happy to have Matt as a member of the team!
Dave Blaker – WINDHAM
A member of Team Hancock for 15-years, Dave began his career as a Driver Pro and has experience driving boom truck, moffett, flat bed, and box trucks. This experience helped greatly when he transitioned into Windham’s Yard Expeditor. Dave’s knowledge of how to do deliveries with any type of truck helped him to organize customer orders and loading of trucks in the most efficient manner. Following this role, Dave moved into the Millwork Handler position and did an excellent job helping to organize and load millwork orders. Dave’s product knowledge, along with his mental map of knowing exactly where every place we ever need to go has helped tremendously in keeping millwork orders well organized. With the new moves in Windham’s Millwork building in 2020, Dave is now the Millwork Specialist and has great knowledge of product and holds a high standard for what we expect from our vendors. Dave works great with others and is always looking to help when he can. He is always engaged with what is going on around him and looking out for others. We are extremely happy to have him on our team. Anyone that knows Dave knows that it is amazing what he can remember; whether it is a delivery address or knowing where the special order is without having to look it up, his recall is unlike any other. We are very grateful for all he does and how he does it—thank you, Dave, for the work you do and the way you do it!!
Jordan Small – YARMOUTH
Like so many other long-time Hancock employees, Jordan has worked his way up in the company, earning promotions along the way. When he started as a high schooler in October of 2012, Jordan’s first job was stocking shelves and cleaning the store. As a part time worker Jordan was very reliable and hard working so when he graduated from high school, we offered him a full-time job waiting on customers in the yard, cleaning and organizing. Jordan quickly learned to be an efficient forklift operator and when a position became available as an order coordinator, Jordan jumped at the opportunity. As an order coordinator Jordan was also efficient and accurate, collaborating with the logistics team to make sure loads were built before the drivers got back so they could get in and out of the yard quickly. The Order Coordinator position is the most physically demanding job in the yard and Jordan never complained. He just showed up and did his job well, always with a safety-first mentality. When the position of Expeditor opened up in Yarmouth, once again, Jordan stepped up to the challenge. Because of his accuracy as an Order Coordinator, we knew that he would be effective at this new position, being responsible for checking in product from vendors, verifying vendor accuracy, and staging the product in an identifiable manner. Beyond this, he is also responsible for trucks getting in and out of the yard as quickly as possible, with priority given to our delivery vehicles. In addition to being a hard worker, Jordan is also well liked by his fellow employees and works well with the entire team. The entire Yarmouth team feels Jordan deserves this award—congratulations!
Stasha MacDougall – NORTH CONWAY
Stasha started at Hancock Lumber in the summer of 2017. She spent her first two years as inside support for our Account Manager team. Last summer a position opened up for an Account Manager –and, in typical Stasha fashion, she jumped on the opportunity and has performed above and beyond expectations! Stasha is a true team player, collaborating with others and always willing to help in any capacity needed around the store or yard. Her tremendous spirit of cooperation is something we all admire in North Conway. North Conway is fortunate to have found such an incredible employee two and a half years ago—we’re so lucky to have Stasha on Team Hancock!
Melinda Palmer – HOME OFFICE
Melinda Palmer has been with Team Hancock for 16 years! She has held a variety of positions within the organization in both the Sawmill Division in Casco and the Home Office. Melinda has been a member of the Accounts Receivable Team since 2006 and has done a super job. She embraces each new challenge with attention to detail and learning. She is a great listener and is always willing to step up and help. Over the years, Melinda’s proven how valuable she is to the Accounts Receivable team, bringing a high level of knowledge, delivering excellent customer service to both internal and external customers every day, and a tremendous sense of teamwork. Thank you, Melinda, for doing such a great job and for being a part of our team!
Ethan Elvin – BRUNSWICK
Ethan began his career at Hancock Lumber in April of 2016 as a Yard Pro at our Brunswick location. Ethan progressed in this role and took on more responsibility with managing the unloading of all vendor trucks—always doing so diligently to make sure we receive products that are correct and undamaged. When the opportunity arises, Ethan also helps with millwork receiving. On top of this, Ethan is Brunswick’s Safety Coordinator, performing monthly inspections, passing along any safety concerns, and helping implement new policies to his fellow employees. If you speak to anyone at the Brunswick location, they would tell you that Ethan is always willing to help out! In his spare time, Ethan enjoys riding his motorcycle, playing golf, and spending time with family–which includes his parents, 3 sisters, and 12 nieces and nephews!
Scott Chase – CASCO MILL
Scott has been with the company for nine years and is the head scaler at the Casco sawmill. He has been the driving force to repair our reputation as a preferred destination for our pine log suppliers. According to our suppliers, we have drastically increased the turnaround time for getting trucks in and out of the yard while scaling logs from their load—and, they can count on consistently fair and accurate scales each time. Scott’s organizational skills have allowed us to pile in more log inventory to carry the mill thru mud-season. Scott is the ultimate team player, willing to do whatever needs to be done around the mill when trucks aren’t rolling. He is an excellent equipment operator and always puts safety first. He is the type of employee every location would be lucky to have. Congratulations, Scott, on earning this well-deserved recognition!
Dylan Weatherbee – DAMARISCOTTA
“Choosing the person to receive the Employee of the Year Award in Damariscotta for 2019 was easy. Every month, every quarter, whenever I asked people who they thought was deserving of a quarterly award or who was the next man up, the answer was always the same—Dylan Weatherbee.
In a short period of time, Dylan has established himself as a rising star at Hancock Lumber. He started as a Yard Pro but has taken on the role of back-up Logistics Manager, Driver Pro, and pretty much anything else we offer his way. To top it off, Dylan is one of the most active safety observation reporters. He epitomizes everything about being an employee of the year and we’re proud to have him on our team—congratulations, Dylan!!” –Eric Dolloff, Damariscotta GM
Jason Staples – KENNEBUNK
Jason is the go-to person in the Kennebunk yard. He is always a step ahead when it comes to planning for seasonal or operational changes and takes action to prepare for them. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our team. Always dependable, he is rock solid and consistently exceeds our expectations. Through Jason’s many years in the business, he has formed lasting customer relationships and is often specifically sought out by those customers. He sets the bar high for his peers and is always a willing mentor. He is a valuable team player with a “get it done” attitude and shifts roles easily to meet demand. Whatever the task, he is always there to pitch in and help out. It is a pleasure to work with Jason and we are fortunate to have him as part of the Kennebunk team. Congratulations, Jason, on earning Kennebunk’s employee of the year award!
Read Stasha MacDougall's Story
Read Drew Johnson's Story
Read Austin Brown's Story