Joseph M. Koch, III, the president of Dragon Cement and Concrete, has been elected chairman of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce for 2001. He will assume the title immediately and serve a one-year term. Koch replaces Peter Vigue, president of Cianbro Corporation of Pittsfield.

Koch, a resident of Cumberland, has served since 1995 on the board at the Maine State Chamber, a statewide business organization with more than 1,000 members. He also has been active in other community affairs, such as the Pine Tree Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and industry associations, serving as a board member of the Portland Cement Association and the Northeast Cement Shippers Association. Koch is a 1972 graduate of Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and received an MBA from Washington State University in Pullman, Wash.

Koch became president of Portland, Maine-based Dragon, New England's only cement manufacturer, in 1993 after serving as the company's chief financial officer. Under his tenure, Dragon has innovated, expanded and thrived. He developed an intermodal method for transporting cement by an unmanned barge from Thomaston to southern markets in Boston and beyond. The project removes more than 125 large cement trucks per trip from busy Route 1, and also has served to maintain steady employment at the Thomaston plant. Koch also led Dragon's move into the computer age. The company now uses a central dispatch system for delivery of its concrete from its many ready-mix batch plants throughout the state, reducing delays and making delivery more efficient statewide. Dragon, too, has received numerous awards in recent years for environmental efficiencies and workplace safety.

"It's an honor to be elected chairman of the Maine State Chamber. I plan to continue the progress made by Peter Vigue, Chamber President Dana Connors, the rest of the board and the staff in fostering a good working relationship between business and government in what I call collaborative advocacy," Koch said. "Also, we must understand that knowledge is empowerment and continue to expand upon the business portal created through the web site at www.mainechamber.org."

Dragon Cement and Concrete, founded in 1928, is Maine's largest concrete supplier and New England's only cement manufacturer. Headquartered at 38 Preble St. in Portland, Dragon employs more than 230 people in Maine and has more than 10 concrete plants located throughout the state, including in Biddeford, Portland, Brunswick, Lewiston, Augusta, Fairfield, Canton, Farmington, Madawaska and Presque Isle. The company's cement plant in Thomaston produces approximately 450,000 metric tons of cement per year. Dragon supplies cement and concrete to many major building projects throughout the state. Recent and current projects include the Brunswick/Topsham Bypass, the Casco Bay Bridge in Portland, the Portland International Jetport expansion, the Bath Iron Works expansion, the Southern Maine Juvenile Facility and the "Big Dig" in Boston. 

Other appointments made by the Maine State Chamber were: First Vice Chairman - John Oliver, director of public affairs for L.L. Bean, Inc.; Second Vice Chairman - David Flanagan, president and CEO of CMP Group, Inc.; and Treasurer - Dan Hutchins, managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers. In addition, the Chamber welcomes nine new Board members: Frank de Moes of The Chinet Company; John Donahue of Sappi; Kevin Hancock of Hancock Lumber; James Hiltner of Casella Waste Systems; Barry McCrum of Time Warner of Maine; Connie Russell of the Samoset Resort; Kathryn Underwood of Key Bank of Maine; Richard Warren of the Bangor Daily News; and, Charles Wilson of Hannaford Bros. Co. The Maine State Chamber of Commerce represents nearly 1,300 businesses statewide and advocates on behalf of their interests before the Legislature and regulatory agencies and through conferences, seminars, and affiliated programs. For more information regarding the Maine Chamber's board of directors, please contact Kelley Wheeler, assistant to the president, at (207) 623-4568, ext. 15.