Expansion allows native to stay

After Idexx’s announcement last week, Chris Lewis knows he won’t have to leave his home state again.

A native of Unity, Lewis left the state in 1991 after graduating college because he couldn’t find a job here. He spent the next six years trying to get back.

“When I graduated, I looked everywhere to find a position that would fit my profile,” he said. “In the early 90s in Maine, it was very tough to land a job out of college, so I took the closest position that I could find that sort of fit what I was looking to do. But my goal was to eventually return back to Maine.”

Lewis took a position with Lockheed Martin in Nashua, N.H., for four years. He then switched to Heidelberg Harris in Dover for a year. While there, he moved back to Maine (Biddeford) and commuted to work.

In the summer of 1997, Lewis started looking hard at Idexx, and that fall he was able to get a position at the company. He has lived in Gorham for the last two years, and he doesn’t plan to leave Maine for the rest of his life.

“It’s the way of life or the outdoors,” said Lewis. “I really enjoy hiking. I have a hunting camp (near Unity) where I go and spend weekends or any vacation time I can. Like I said – hiking, snowshoeing, hunting. The likes. So it’s really the countryside that’s the draw, as well as the family, which is the most important.”

Family is a big reason why Lewis is happy Idexx is staying and even growing here in southern Maine. He got married last year, and his wife, Michelle, has a 15-year-old daughter.

He also gained an unusually large number of in-laws. His wife’s mother, who is a member of the Wight family of Gorham, was one of 18 children. Her father was one of eight.

“I tell you, my first Christmas (with the in-laws) was a bit overwhelming,” said Lewis.

Lewis’ parents still live up north, and his older sister and her husband and three boys live in Fayette. Lewis owns 225 acres of woodland near Unity, where he keeps his hunting camp. Since 2002, he has tapped, boiled and bottled his own maple syrup under the Parsons Valley Sugar Farm label with his father, who also owns several hundred wooded acres in the area.

“We can never leave,” said Lewis. And he clearly doesn’t want to leave.

Regarding Idexx, Lewis says he really appreciates the work the company does.

“I’m actually a cat guy, even though I probably don’t look like a cat guy,” he said. “We have four cats. So obviously I love animals, and the fact that I’m working for a company that’s helping the quality of life for animals is very important to me.”

Lewis also appreciates the people at the company.

“There’s a lot of folks that were either originally from Maine or have strong ties to Maine who work here,” he said. “I think if you polled the majority of the folks, they have strong local ties.”

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