PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — PNM Construction owner Steve McHatten received the Patriot Award in recognition of employing National Guard Service members.
Dave Keaton, the state chairman for the Maine Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, awarded McHatten with the Patriot Award at PNM Construction in Presque Isle on Friday, July 21.
The Patriot Award recognizes employers who support National Guard Service members through employment. McHatten accepted the Patriot Award at PNM Construction and also signed a statement of support for the National Guard and its members.
“We try to utilize guard members and any military personnel that we can depending on what’s going on with them and if the [employment] opportunity is right for them,” McHatten said.
“McHatten is getting this award for his willingness to work with a pretty high operational tempo and training cycle both before National guardsmen’s deployment and after we return,” said Gabe Cheney, commander for Bravo Company 3172 in Brewer.
“When we came back, McHatten was very willing to reintegrate us back into [PNM Construction],” Cheney said.
Cheney works as a project manager for PNM Construction and nominated McHatten for the Patriot Award, which was approved by the Maine National Guard state committee.
“He didn’t think he was doing anything that was out of the ordinary or spectacular,” Cheney said. “He felt like it was the right thing to do and is humbled by the recognition.”
The Employer Support of the Guard is an organization that represents service members who have civilian employers. The organization helps protect National Guard service members’ employment rights and requires employers of service members to follow certain rules.
“The [Patriot] Award itself means that [the employer] went above and beyond what the employers legally are responsible to do to support their guardsmen or reservists,” Keaton said.
