About Us


Les Otten has been creating jobs and promoting Maine for nearly four decades in a wide range of pursuits including business, tourism, alternative energy, community development and philanthropy.

At Sunday River, Les took a tiny, struggling ski mountain in western Maine and turned it into one of the most successful resorts in America.

Les put together an ownership group to buy the Boston Red Sox and served as vice chairman and partner in the franchise from 2002 to 2007 when they won the World Series twice. Les spearheaded the effort to save Fenway Park and today, fans of Red Sox Nation now travel from all over the world to make the pilgrimage to the refurbished baseball shrine.

In 2008, Les and partners started Maine Energy Systems, whose primary mission is to support a transition to the use of renewable energy for homes and businesses.

In addition to Maine Energy Systems, Les owns several small businesses in Maine and can empathize with anyone who struggles to meet a payroll, in good times and bad.

As influential as Les has been as a business leader in Maine, he has done even more for charities and community organizations.

 

  • Co-founder of the Western Mountains Alliance.
  • Co-founder and first chairman of the Economic Environmental Council of Maine, which later become the Maine Chamber Alliance.
  • Co-founder Maine Handicapped Skiing.
  • Former Chairman of the Board at the Portland Museum of Art.
  • Co-founder Project Opportunity, a unique Grant and Scholarship Program benefiting Telstar Regional High School students.
  • Co-founder and Chairman of the Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness. In 2009, he was honored as the Cromwell Center Person of the Year.
  • Chair the Governor's Wood-to-Energy Task Force in 2008.
  • Past President of the Maine Pellet Fuels Association.
  • 2009 Inductee to the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

 

Les raised his three children – Meredith, Joshua and BJ Otten - in Maine and welcomed his first grandchild, Bear Ethan Otten, in March 2009. Les is also the uncle to Skip, Chris, Pam, Jim and Heather Bennett and the late Eric Bennett.

Les is not a professional politician but he is a businessman and a philanthropist who has devoted much of his life to making Maine a better place. He has made the hard decisions and taken the heat - and he will bring real world experience to Augusta.

3/5/10 Otten Newsletter

posted Fri, 05 Mar 2010 7:58 PM

This campaign is about private sector jobs.
The more I travel throughout the state the one constant message I hear is that Maine needs private sector jobs.

This campaign is about jobs. Your job. Your husband’s job. Your...
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