Heather Blease is a graduate of University of Maine (B.S. Electrical Engineering) and Worcester Polytechnic INstitute (MBA). She started her career at Digital Equipment Corporation in Massachusetts, where she served in several management/engineering capacities. She founded Envisionet in 1995 in Augusta, Maine, and grew the company 300 percent per year over six years. The company was sold in September 2001 to Microdyne Systems, Incorporated. From 2001 to 2007 Heather was president and CEO of Broadband Solutions, INcorporated, and is currently a consultant with Custom Electroncis, Incorporated. Heather was honored as the Maine Development Foundation's Economic Champion in 1999. She has received the University of Maine Distinguished Engineering Award, the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce President's Award, an honorary Ph.D. in Business from Thomas College (Maine), the Margaret Chase Smith Quality Award for Envisionet, and was named one of the "2006 Women to Watch" by Mass High Tech, a business newspaper focusing on technology.