By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

 Eddie Woodin, voted the Scarborough Leader’s “Great Person” by his neighbors last month, said he’s just “an ordinary guy who has a great work ethic.” He said he was honored to be nominated for the contest by Sam Kelley, and would do his best “to wear it well” in the upcoming year.

“It’s wonderful to see four other people in this community who are driven to give back,” Woodin said of other “Great Person” nominees. “The reality is, they’re just the tip of the iceberg.”

Woodin said his philanthropist roots go back to his childhood in Concord, Mass. The son of a carpenter and a house cleaner, Woodin said he felt lucky to receive a full athletic scholarship to Colby College in Waterville, where he still holds several baseball and football records. 

“I had never been to Maine, and then I never left,” he said. “I think you live longer here.”

Although his athletic performance enabled him to attend the school, Woodin said his college years prepared him to enter the business world, but were anything but easy. In addition to attending practice and games he was required to work for the university food service, a time-consuming and laborious job he said “reinforced the strong work ethic” he inherited from his parents.

Shortly after graduating from Colby, Woodin began working as a purchasing agent for an electronics company and “migrated” to Scarborough in 1973.

“After buying for a while I saw what the sales guys were doing and thought ‘I can do that,’” he said. “So I started working for a company selling display shelving. It was fun, I learned my way.”

Life after college was initially financially challenging for Woodin, who said he found himself living in a one-bedroom apartment struggling to afford heating bills. The fact that money was tight didn’t stop Woodin from donating what little money he had left over to various national and local charity organizations, he said. 

“I started out writing $5 and $10 checks,” he said. “I was just as happy about it then as the checks I’m writing now.” 

Woodin’s generosity was largely rooted in a deep respect for religion and God that blossomed when he was “born again” in 1988, he said. 

“It’s a recommitment of yourself when there’s really something missing,” he said. “This lady hands me the Bible and says I should really read the Book Of Job because it’s only five pages. I thought ‘OK, I’m a math guy, not a reader, I can handle that.’”

Inspired by the words he read, Woodin continued to give what money he could, efforts he said have come back to reward him in “surprising and never-expected ways.” 

“It starts coming back and you can’t stop,” he said.

By 1992, Woodin felt he had gained enough life and business experience to strike out on his own in the display shelving industry.

“God said it was time to start the business,” he said. 

Determined to follow God’s advice, despite several banks and investors not so hopeful about Woodin’s endeavor, he “built a plan and worked with it,” shouldering the expensive process of starting Woodin & Company on his own.

“I started with cash and credit cards,” he said. “In the first month I maxed out five different credit cards.”

While his business plan may have been risky, Woodin said he relied on his faith in God to carry him through to success.

“I believe in God, I believe in the power of prayer, I believe in miracles,” he said. “Faith without deeds is no faith at all. If you never take action to go forward, then all of that passion really is useless.”

More than 15 years later, Woodin & Company of Scarborough, valued at more than $7 million, is doing business with major retailers across the globe and provides nearly 600 people with an income.

“Thank you, God,” he said, raising his hands into the air. “I manage this place, God owns the business.”

 To date, Woodin’s company has donated more than $1 million to charity since it was founded. He said he is currently working with groups to build missions and churches in Africa, sponsor orphans in Rowanda and contribute to local organizations such as Project G.R.A.C.E.

In 2005, Woodin said he literally “gave away” the company’s entire net proceeds. 

“As the company grew, the charity grew,” he said. “It’s not my money, it’s not about me. I started penniless, if I got back to penniless, I don’t lose a thing. It’s not like I can hitch up the U-Haul and take my favorite possessions with me. Why do I want to leave millions of dollars for someone else to make decisions with?”

Throughout the years, Woodin said he has learned to find a balance between “giving back” and running a multi-million company. The key, he said, is to stay positive about any situation.

“I gave $8,000 to a church in South America that was never built,” he said. “But, I know the man and his family and I’m sure he used it for something good. It was a pretty good lesson.”

This year, inspired by the downturn in the economy, he said some donations were delayed, but still went through. 

“If you don’t tend to the business, there’s going to be nothing to give,” he said. “That’s the trap.”

Woodin said he hoped to inspire others to donate despite the negative outlook for the economy. 

“I don’t think any business owners have slept very well lately, but I’m a very positive thinker. I work on channeling it into a positive to keep from dwelling on the negative,” he said. “We’re just in the honeymoon of this thing, and we have to help. The [federal government] can’t do it, the state can’t do it, the town just can’t do it. It’s going to have to happen amongst the people. If you’re one of those people on the sidelines, just think about it.”

In the end, charity is about more than money, Woodin said. 

“It encourages everyone to think of Scarborough as a community, not a town,” he said. “Scarborough isn’t just brick and mortar, I want to view it as its people. I want that new thinking.”