For employees of Southpaw Meat Market, giving back and supporting the community is second nature and has led to them being honored with one of the most prestigious business awards in the state of Maine.
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| The Southpaw Meat Market Team celebrates after learning that the company was this year's recipient of the 2025 Maddy Corson Small Business of the Year Award presented during the 2025 Maine Family Business Awards Oct. 8 in Portland. From left are Devon Sargent, Kali Mowatt, Niki Sargent, and Hayden Sargent. COURTESY PHOTO |
The award is presented annually to companies in Maine with fewer than 25 full-time year-round employees that demonstrate excellence in the positions and responsibilities; family involvement; succession; use of external resources; family communication; family-owned values; business communication; business success; and community service.
“I cried like a baby when our name was called,” said Niki Sargent, Southpaw Meat market co-owner. “I honestly didn’t think we were going to win anything. More than 500 companies were nominated, and it was an amazing event. The people there were amazing, and the atmosphere was electric and like a mentorship.”
Sargent said that the awards ceremony was truly professional and beautifully done.
“We were surrounded by so many talented individuals,” she said. “Being there felt so encouraging and uplifting.”
When business representatives gathered for the awards presentation after a series of other demonstrations and guest speakers at the event, Sargent and members of her Southpaw team were jolted out of their seats when the business was called to the podium to receive the award,
“I think what I took away from all of this is that what we are trying to do is right,” Sargent said. “We don’t put it out there abut how much we do in the community and collaborate with other small businesses on meaningful activities for this community.”
In 2023, Sargent, who co-owns Southpaw Meat Market, Southpaw Packing Company and Windham Butcher Shop with her husband, Leon, partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NMAI) Maine and created the “Slicing Through The Stigma” campaign to help individuals in the farming and agriculture business to receive help through a fundraising initiative.
She first took interest in creating “Slicing Through The Stigma” after she noticed a lack of access to mental health services in the local farming and agriculture communities. Seeking to find a solution to help her friends and neighbors, Sargent then partnered with NAMI Maine to establish a place of access to the services some might need.
“We put together a whole webpage on our business website through the Windham Butcher Shop and put it together for access, just so people can go in and click a button and can be anonymous and people could access information about the services that were out there,” she said.
The program was so successful that it earned the company the C.A.L. ME Award for “Caring About Lives in Maine” by NAMI and deserving recognition for those in Maine who advocate for mental health.
Southpaw employees and Sargent’s daughter Devon received the 2025 Chief Reginald Brown Community Service Award from the Raymond Fire & Rescue Department for generosity and kindness, and deep dedication to community outreach.
If that wasn’t enough, company employees also donate their time to volunteer with 4-H clubs and students in Cumberland and Oxford counties in raising livestock, and in donating to food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the Lakes Region. They also donate processing services for the raffle pig each year at the Cumberland County Fair and have made donations to medical research schools and local small businesses in need.
Employees that Sargent says were instrumental in helping the company win the Maddy Corson Small Business Award are:
Windham Butcher Shop
Leon Sargent (Niki Sargent’s husband)
Kali Mowatt (Niki Sargent’s sister)
Jane Lamb (40-year employee)
Dale Desjardins
Hunter Durgin
Paul Roy
Dana Mains Jr.
Southpaw Meat Market
Devon Sargent (Niki Sargent’s daughter)
Hayden Sargent (Niki Sargent’s daughter)
Helen Linscott
Noelle Surette
Kiera Greene
This year’s Maddy Corson Small Business Award was sponsored by Volk Packaging Company of Biddeford.
Now approaching its third decade, the Institute for Family-Owned Business (IFOB) is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to supporting family-owned businesses, which represent about 80 percent of all businesses in Maine. Through consulting, seminars, workshops, and networking, the Institute assists family-owned firms in meeting the unique managerial challenges associated with operating and sustaining a successful family enterprise.
Additional information about the Institute Family-Owned Business is available at www.fambusiness.org. <
