Board of Directors

Andrew came to Maine to sail on the windjammers and learn more about operating a business in the burgeoning experiential economy. When he suddenly found himself Mercantile's sole caretaker in 2024, he made it his life’s mission to keep her afloat. Mercantile-New Day, Inc. is the organization he has built to facilitate this mission. Although Andrew wears many hats for Mercantile-New Day, shipwright’s apprentice is his favorite. If you dig long enough through his closet at his parents’ North Carolina home, you might find a piece of paper declaring his graduation from the College of William & Mary with a BA in Economics.

Fred was the founder of the organization we now know as Mercantile-New Day, Inc., and has been integrally involved with Mercantile’s preservation from the beginning. Fred is a practicing architect, who also develops and manages hotels and not-for-profit corporations. He has worked on many large-scale projects for Fortune 500 corporations, including implementation of critical operating systems for those organizations. Fred earned his BS as well as his MA in Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology. A lifelong learning, his most recent degree, a BA in Theology from the University of Dayton, is pending. His historical preservation work has been long- standing and impacted many communities around the country. His historical renovation experience has included a log home, a library and theater, a church, and homes in several states.

Mike is a recovering lawyer, having retired from work as a litigator at a global law firm in 2020. His love of all things related to sailing the coastal waters of Maine reaches back nearly 20 years, although those experiences were aboard boats of fiberglass. His support for wooden boats includes Lynx, a replica 1812 Baltimore clipper, as well as Mercantile. Mike is an advocate for historical preservation. While living in Kansas City, Missouri, he organized the successful community opposition to developers’ efforts to destroy a treasured area of the city, which included the nation’s first planned shopping neighborhood, which dated from the 1920s.

Willie is the proud and bemused father of Andrew. He raised his oldest son in the completely landlocked Southern city of Charlotte, North Carolina with no exposure to the maritime trade. Willie is the 5th child in a tight- knit family of eleven siblings, all of whom are active supporters (in one way or another) of Andrew and his efforts with Mercantile. Willie is a career banker focused on providing capital raising and advisory services to companies in the technology services sector. He possesses a BA in Economics from William & Mary (that is also stored in a closet) and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Willie’s first trip to Maine was in May of 2025 to help with the sail of Mercantile from Camden to Rockland, as well as the subsequent haul-out.

In many ways, J.R. embodies the effort to preserve traditional sail in the modern world. After twenty years at the helm of various windjammers and private yachts (Mercantile among them) he undertook a restoration project, helping to rebuild a historic schooner from the keel up. Today, Ladona is the fleet’s standard-bearer for modern luxury aboard a truly classic vessel. On peaceful summer mornings in one of Penobscot Bay’s little-known anchorages, you can find J.R. using his great-grandfather’s brass dividers to chart the day’s course. His experience sailing and building schooners, along with his thoughtful and measured approach make him invaluable to Mercantile-New Day.

Ed blames his mother for raising him in the blue bedroom with pictures of boats, but he has always been attracted to the sea. He worked with Lance Lee at the Apprenticeshop building small boats in 1973 and worked at Mystic Seaport building whaleboats. In 1974 he started working on the windjammers in Rockland as a crew member during the summer and spent the winters helping to restore and build new schooners. By 1983 he’d bought and captained his own schooner, the Isaac H. Evans (built in 1886) and operated her in the passenger trade for 16 years before spending another 4 years as crew on a little oil tanker serving the islands on the Maine coast. He spent 12 years as the Harbormaster for the city of Rockland before winning a seat on the Rockland city council, serving for 6 years, 2 of them as mayor. Now he serves as the chair of the Knox County Commission and is running unopposed for reelection. He still goes sailing, is still working on old boats, and is happy to offer advice to anyone that will listen.

After receiving his MBA and JD from Villanova University, Chris spent a career in healthcare services, providing care to the most vulnerable in our society. He has been caring for wooden boats his whole life, and takes his 36’ cutter Chrysalis out whenever possible. Chris brings 30 years of experience managing a multi-million dollar nonprofit to the board.