BRUNSWICK

Members of the Brunswick Downtown Association on Thursday honored Bowdoin College’s outgoing 14th President Barry Mills and his wife, former of U.S. Small Business Administration head Karen Mills.

“The intersection of town and gown is not always easy to maneuver, and under the Millses’ leadership, the college has vastly improved its outreach to residents in efforts to collaborate with neighbors,” said Town Council Chairwoman Sarah Brayman, whose district includes parts of Bowdoin College and the surrounding neighborhood.

A long list of Brunswick business and nonprofit leaders thanked the Mills family in person and in a video montage.

In a video message, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, also a Brunswick resident, called their involvement in the town of Brunswick significant and important.

“In many communities, the college and the town are either at each other’s throats, or there’s a lot of friction or isolation,” said King, but noted that Karen and Barry Mills involved themselves heavily in the community.

‘Maine Street with an E’

Karen Mills served as the administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration for four years. In 2012, President Barack Obama elevated that role to a Cabinet-level position.

She recalled how her interactions on Maine Street were part of discussions with the administration’s economic team as to the difficulty small businesses had recovering from the Great Recession. She also emphasized to her White House colleagues that it was “Maine Street with an E.”

“It became a thing. People started going, ‘How’s Maine Street with an E?’” she said. “It was very much a part of the identity that I carried all across the country. I knew that if I could do this job, that people on Maine Street with an E could benefit.”

Upon her resignation in 2013, Obama said in a statement that: “I asked Karen to lead the Small Business Administration because I knew she had the skills and experience to help America’s small businesses recover from the worst economic crisis in generations — and that’s exactly what she’s done.”

Karen Mills recalled how the underdog Brunswick High School lacrosse team, on which her son was goalie, defeated Portland, and the victory parade down Maine Street.

“It was just this is moment of being a part of this community,” she said. “It is still one of my most powerful memories.”

Karen Mills is a senior fellow at Harvard Business School.

15 years of building projects

Many Bowdoin College building projects conducted in Mills’ tenure enhanced the town, said Brayman, including: Renovations to the Walker art building that draws thousands of tourists to the area, the 2007 completion of the Studzinski Recital Hall, the Watson Arena that opened in 2009, where Brunswick residents can watch Bowdoin hockey for free, and a planned $1 million renovation of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House.

“There’s also a lovely park on Federal Street with granite laid out to mark the foundations of structures that previously stood at that location, and I was given the hint to mention it does not at all look like a cemetery,” Brayman joked.

Maine State Music Theatre Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark noted the renovation of the former Longfellow Elementary School into the Edwards Center for Arts and Dance.

“You took existing structures and modified them to work in the modern world,” said Clark. “It wasn’t a cheap choice, it wasn’t an easy choice, but it was the right choice.”

“We have worked hard over these 14 years to enhance our relationship with the town, and I think have been successful,” said Barry Mills.

“We are who we are because we are located in Brunswick, Maine,” he said.

Barry Mills graduated from Bowdoin in 1972 and holds degrees from Syracuse University and the Columbia School of Law. Prior to becoming Bowdoin’s president in 2001, he served as deputy presiding partner in the investment firm of Debevoise & Plimpton in New York City.

He announced in April 2014 his intention to retire after 14 years of heading the private college. Mills is stepping down at the end of June, and is being succeeded by Harvard

Business School Professor Clayton Rose.

Rose and his wife are “as committed to being a part of this community as Karen and I have been,” Barry Mills said.

The Mills family will move out of their Bowdoin College Federal Street home, but have said they will maintain a residence at Cundy’s Harbor.

“You will still be seeing us in town and on Maine Street,” Karen Mills said.