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Shoptalk: Contractor building a better life for vets

By Melanie Creamer mcreamer@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

Q: The U.S. Small Business Administration named you Veteran Business Champion of the Year for Maine and New England. How do you feel about the recognition?

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Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer Philip Lander, president of Atlantic Defense Company LLC and an Air Force veteran, says one of the reasons he started the construction firm was to employ other vets.

Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

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PHILIP A. LANDER

WHAT: President of Atlantic Defense Company LLC

WHERE: Five Star Industrial Park, 65 Bradley Drive, Westbrook

PHONE: 854-2039

E-MAIL: plander@atlanticdefense.com

A: We got a call from Eastern Maine Development Corp. . . . I'm very proud of my family and the people working with me.

Q: When did you start your company?

A: I started in 2005, just after I retired from the Air Force.

Q: What does your company do?

A: We are a general construction company dealing with federal opportunities. The biggest part of our work has been rebuilding and renovating Veterans (Affairs) hospitals. We do Department of Defense work, rebuilding aircraft parking ramps and infrastructure. We have done a lot of infrastructure work at Acadia National Park.

We also transport a medical van to remotely located veterans in northwestern Maine, so they can receive medical care through the Togus VA system.

Q: Why did you start the company?

A: The scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center started this off. At the hospital they discovered soldiers in back rooms in these decaying buildings. In 2007, they started rebuilding the veterans hospital system. I saw it as an opportunity to employ other veterans. It's an opportunity for us to export our young adults' knowledge and work ethic versus exporting our kids and grandkids. So many are leaving the state because there are no work opportunities here.

Q: How many people do you employ?

A: We have 15 to 20 year-round employees and employ subcontractors, in particular service-disabled veterans.

Q: Is this a family run business?

A: Yes, there were four of us. My son Joshua is the chief operating officer. My wife Marilyn is kind of a co-consultant. She keeps me cooled down. She keeps me with a steady vision. My son, Scott P. Lander, died on Feb. 26.

Q: How did he pass away?

A: He had complications with sleep apnea. He had severe apnea. It's a silent killer that not many people know about.

Q: How old was he?

A: 37.

Q: What did he do here?

A: He was in charge of our special projects. He ran our field operations on what we call the earth side. He was a heavy equipment operator and mechanic. Where Josh and I head the administration, Scott headed the work. He liked to get down and dirty.

Q: What did his contribution mean to you?

A: He was the cornerstone . . . the foundation of our company. He (ran) the operation often when I was deployed with the Air Force. We are a Christian family. We feel that God gave him to us for 37 years. He leaves two children and a wife. As he would say, "It is what it is." He would remind me. He would say, "Dad, don't make it so complicated." We put that on his tombstone.

Q: What are your hobbies?

A: I enjoy fishing and flying. I love the freedom of it, and the view of our country. It's unbelievable what we have here. I enjoyed teaching as a flight instructor for the Air Force. That's what I enjoyed the most, and accomplishing a mission.

Q: Do you have any projects on the horizon?

A: We are starting the hospice center at Togus. We have so many World War II veterans now that are dying. It seems the number of veterans coming to the VA centers has increased. The system is trying to accommodate this influx of veterans.

Q: When are you starting the project?

A: April. It will be completed in December or the first of 2011.

Staff Writer Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at:

mcreamer@pressherald.com