> Return to the Forty under 40 index
Jeremy Litchfield, 34
CEO/Founder
Atayne
Jeremy Litchfield founded Atayne LLC, which makes highperformance outdoor and athletic apparel, exactly five years ago.
After finishing an 8-mile run in Washington, D.C., one hot day, he was disturbed to see his legs and shorts incarnadined by red dye from his shirt.
The next day, Litchfield left his job at a marketing firm and launched Atayne, whose gear âÂÂis safe for people and for the planetâ and all made from 100 percent recycled materials â recycled polyester, recycled cotton, activated carbon, and Chitosan.
HereâÂÂs one example of AtayneâÂÂs positive effects on the environment: âÂÂOver the last four years, AtayneâÂÂs products have helped to prevent over 150,000 plastic bottles from going into landfills,â notes Link Stevens, who nominated Litchfield for his Forty Under 40 award from MaineToday Media.
ItâÂÂs also notable that, as Stevens points out, all Atayne products âÂÂare third-party verified to ensure that they are free of chemicals known to be harmful to human healthâ and âÂÂall of AtayneâÂÂs manufacturing is done, fiber to finish, in the USA.âÂÂ
Litchfield, a 35-year-old Bowdoin graduate and longtime committed environmentalist, runs Atayne from his home in Brunswick.
âÂÂJeremy has quickly become recognized as a thought leader in the apparel and textile industry and beyond,â Stevens notes. âÂÂIn 2011, he gave the keynote address at Techtextil NA, the largest technical textile show in North America. In 2008, he presented on how to âÂÂgreenâ your business or employer at the national Net Impact conference for MBA students â and wrote a somewhat irreverent column for Washington Business Journal on what it really means to be an environmentally responsible business.âÂÂ
An athlete who qualified for the Boston Marathon by running a 3:10, Litchfield promotes positive social change in his personal life as well â he founded the Maine Trash Runners, who pick up litter on the roads and trails.
> Return to the Forty under 40 index