Kids, families to enjoy ballgame thanks to Prime

PORTLAND – Ira Rosenberg and the Prime Motor Group love the Portland Sea Dogs. Prime also loves kids, and tries to support them whenever possible – even if that means just having a little fun.

       Portland Sea Dogs Mascot Slugger pals around with Prime

       Motor Group President Ira Rosenberg and his wife, Judy. Prime

       donated 100 tickets for a number of local families to take in
       Sunday's Sea Dogs - Rock Cats game.

The Sea Dogs are playing the New Britain Rock Cats at 1 p.m. at Hadlock Field on Sunday,
so Ira and Prime are donating 100 tickets to kids and their families at the Northern York County Family YMCA, Sweetser, and Portland’s Center for Grieving Children.

“It’s amazing what a hot dog and a nice day at the ballpark can do to encourage a sunny outlook on life,” said Rosenberg, Prime president.

Prime becomes member of ‘exclusive’ group

Prime Volkswagen located at 784 Portland Road in Saco.

Volkswagen Group of America Inc. has named Prime Volkswagen of Saco as a member of its exclusive Customer First Club, an award for outstanding customer service. Prime Volkswagen ranks as the 12th best Volkswagen dealership in the country.

“Obviously I am very pleased by this honor, and we hope to repeat it year after year,” said Ira Rosenberg, owner of the Prime Motor Group. “Of course we’re lucky. Here in Maine people really know how to work hard, and they use their training here to really focus on customers.”

Prime Motor Group operates several automobile dealerships in Maine, along U.S. Route 1 in Saco and

Scarborough.

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Prime employees rally to help colleague seriously injured in fall

Nobody ever worked harder for Ira Rosenberg and the Prime Motor Group than Doug Arnold. A longtime automotive technician at Prime Ford/Mazda, Doug is aces on the job, and a great guy, too.

With building materials donated by Prime Motor Group, Joel
Curran, Jeremy Furlong, Jason Barber and Jason Murphy,
from left, and several others built a ramp for Doug Arnold, a
Prime technician seriously injured in a fall recently.

Doug was seriously injured at home recently, falling 16 feet onto a concrete floor while building a garage. He sustained injuries that have left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. He’s undergoing treatment at New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland, and will be home in a couple of weeks.

Doug Arnold

Although this is a tragic accident, hope has already brightened the horizon. Prime employees Jason Murphy and Lisa Sawyer have spearheaded a drive to help their co-worker and friend. Ira Rosenberg, Prime president, and Prime Motor Group donated $2,000 for materials, and friends rallied together to build a custom ramp at Doug’s house, which was not wheelchair-accessible.

A cause Prime takes to heart

Prime Motor Group likes helping Maine children in need. That’s a company culture that owner Ira Rosenberg and his wife, Judy, have built carefully, as Prime has grown steadily.

Inspired by Grahamtastic Connection, Kathy Prior of Prime
Motor Group, center, presents a new iPad 2 to staff at the
Maine Children's Cancer Program at Maine Medical Center
in Portland. Left to right are Jay Westra, RN; Deirdre Hogan,
LSW; Elizabeth Murray, LSW, and Eric Larsen, MCCP
Medical Director.

Recently Prime donated an iPad 2 to Grahamtastic Connection, as a contribution to a fund-raising event in Springvale that raised more than $15,000. As more people are learning, Grahamtastic Connection provides free laptops and Internet access to seriously ill children.

“The place was packed,” said Kathy Prior, a Prime Motor Group employee who rallied employees and vendors to attend the gala. “It seemed like all of York County came out to pitch in.”

Grahamtastic Connection (www.grahamtastic.org) was founded by Leslie Morissette, its executive director. “Last year we provided 155 laptops, and we want to surpass that number in 2012,” Morissette said.

Prime, Sweetser again team up to present annual Golf Classic

OK, it’s February, it’s cold, and everything’s gray.

Have no fear. If you’re a golfer and you support great causes, the Sweetser/Prime Motor Group Golf Classic is just four months away.

If you’d like to hit a few golf balls with Ira Rosenberg, owner of Prime Motor Group, why not pull a foursome together and call Sweetser today to sign up for this fabulous charity event? (Just pray that Ira doesn’t crack you up while you’re trying to make a crucial putt.)

At a groundbreaking ceremony in Saco in 2005, Prime Motor
Group owner Ira Rosenberg, right, discusses rebuilding the
Sweetser barn that had burned down in June 2004. Prime
challenged Maine businesses to help, and donated $10,000
to kick off the successful campaign. Prime has been a staunch
Sweetser supporter ever since.

The tournament will be held Monday, June 18, at the Dunegrass Country Club in Old Orchard Beach. This is the eighth consecutive year that Prime Motor Group has been the major sponsor of the Classic.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Sweetser, a nationally accredited, nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide quality treatment, support and hope to children, adults and families through a network of mental health, behavioral health and educational services. Sweetser has 14 locations throughout the state of Maine. More information about the organization is available at www.sweetser.org.

“My wife, Judy, and I have been over to the Sweetser farm in Saco a few times for tours, and we always leave very impressed,” Rosenberg said. “The work they do with kids and families is just outstanding.

“I’m really looking forward to this year’s Golf Classic, and helping Sweetser fulfill its mission.”

For more information about sponsorship opportunities (a few are still available) or playing in the Sweetser/Prime Motor Group Golf Classic, please contact Jennifer Steele Skillings at 294-4485 or at jsteele@sweetser.org.

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A mission that keeps inspiring Prime’s generosity

The Sanford/Springvale Chamber of Commerce recently hosted a Business-After-Hours event at the Backstreet Grill, and the guest of honor was Leslie Morissette, founder of Grahamtastic Connection, one of Prime Motor Group’s favorite charities.

Prime Motor Group employees
Sean Van Praet, Vadim Makhlis,
Kathy Prior and John Kennedy,
from left, join Grahamtastic
Connection's Leslie Morissette,
center, at a Sanford/Springvale
Chamber of Commerce Business
After Hours event at Backstreet
Grill in Sanford on Jan 11.

Morissette’s dynamic and moving presentation about her organization was a huge hit with the packed house, as she explained how Grahamtastic helps keep seriously ill children connected with their friends, families and schoolmates.

Morissette and Grahamtastic provide free laptops and Internet access to these children, age 18 and under. The “lending library” makes laptops available to kids                       throughout their medical treatment.

Grahamtastic concentrates on supporting children too sick to leave their hospital room or bed. The child’s social worker (or medical contact) makes a request, and Grahamtastic ships the laptop, which is later returned for other children to use – continuing their education, completing homework assignments and connecting with their teachers and classrooms.

Community service is a Prime value

Prime Motor Group president Ira Rosenberg is shown on his visit to King Middle School, where he discussed the importance of businesses’ performing community service.

A few weeks ago, the president of Prime Motor Group, Ira Rosenberg, visited King Middle School in Portland. Prime and its employees are well-known for their work for charities in southern Maine, and for the emphasis that Rosenberg places on giving back to the community. But the company tries to help in other ways, too – specifically, by volunteering time and sharing experiences.

Paula Murphy, a math teacher at King, had written to Rosenberg to ask him to participate in an Expeditionary Learning project, “Takin’ Care of Business.”

King is well-known for the success of its Expeditionary Learning model, which includes an interdisciplinary, project-based curriculum and emphasizes real-world learning experiences.

At King, Rosenberg discussed the community- service aspect of owning a business. “Think about what your obligation is to the country,” he said.

“Always look up; don¹t look down. I want you to have that fire in the belly, and an intense desire to succeed.”

The kids had a great time with Rosenberg, asking him all kinds of questions, and posing for pictures..

Finding the students “engaged, enthusiastic, sharply intelligent, and so overwhelmingly positive,” Rosenberg said he left the school with his spirits raised and his faith in a great future stronger than ever.

“Wow! What a great job the King Middle School is doing with these kids!” he said.

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