Business Breakfast Forum: Work Space - May 16, 2018

A company’s physical work environment has a tremendous impact on productivity, profits and employee recruitment and retention. As more firms are drawn to the “agile office” when they move locations or redesign, finding the balance between flexible space, sound level management and a sense of routine can be a challenge. Join a panel of experts for free discussion of the benefits and detriments to breaking out of the office space box

  On the panel HOST: Carol Coultas, business editor

Carol Coultas has been practicing journalism in Maine since the mid-‘80s and focusing on business journalism since 2003. She’s been the business editor at the Press Herald, overseeing an award-winning staff, since 2014.

Panelists:

Mark Pettengill, CEO, Patrons Oxford Insurance Company

Mark Pettengill is a lifelong Mainer who has worked in the insurance industry for more than 25 years.  For the past six years he has been the President & CEO of Patrons Oxford Insurance Company, recently relocating from Auburn to Portland. Pettengill is a board member for the Center for Grieving Children as well as a father of two boys.

Giovani Twigge, Chief HR Officer, IDEXX

Since 2010, Twigge has been vital to IDEXX’s global growth, which has included doubling IDEXX’s employee population worldwide. Coming from an HR generalist background with innovative thinking, Twigge has consistently aligned HR with business and shareholder objectives.

Prior to IDEXX, Twigge held supported employee bases of up to 12,000 people for multibillion-dollar company Abbott Laboratories. Over 11 years, he focused on growth, change management and turnaround, including the successful turnaround of Abbott’s $3.5B Diagnostics Division as well as the separation of the company’s US and international nutrition businesses into a newly formed $4B global division with 6,000 employees.

Lisa Whited, founder and CEO, Workplace Transformation Facilitation

Lisa Whited, NCIDQ, M.S., has a passion for improving workplaces. Her work is borne out of the desire to move the needle on the shocking statistic that only 14% of employees worldwide are highly engaged at work. Whited’s process leverages the connection between leadership, employee engagement and physical workplace design, which results in more engaged employees and transformational cultures.

In addition to her business, Whited volunteers in her community to bridge connections between immigrants, refugees and city residents. She has written and published more than 50 professional industry articles, taught at several New England colleges and been honored with an International IIDA Leadership award in 2002 and the Council of Interior Designers’ Louis Tregre Award in 2017. She also serves as a Senior Associate to Advanced Workplace Associates and on the advisory board of George Mason University’s Workplace Strategist Program.