Sam Morton, Sterling Rope
Sam Morton, sales director at Sterling Rope in Biddeford, has been with the company for 18 years.
Sam Morton
Sam Morton was passionate about rock climbing, so when he was looking for a job after college, the fact Sterling Rope had recently moved to near his home in Scarborough seemed like it was meant to be.
Morton had graduated from Maine Maritime Academy with an associate’s degree in marine management and has a bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Southern Maine. “The position I landed was handling Sterling’s specialty and OEM sales — selling rope and cord to companies that use it to build their products,” he says. “I also did some customer service and supported the other markets when needed.”
A lifelong Mainer, Morton, 44, is now sales director at the company.
He says Sterling was always a good fit. “It was a small crew of us in sales and marketing, we formed a pretty good team and it was a dynamic environment — never a lack of something to do. Traveling, working with customers, learning the industry, getting hands on training, developing new products, and meeting amazing people; the combination of all those things was pretty rewarding.”
As the company grew over the years, Morton grew with it.
“Sterling’s revenue was increasing, and we were expanding into new markets, and I was able to grow professionally as Sterling grew,” he says, adding while his career aspirations are general, “I want to continue working for a company that allows me to grow and contribute; even if I’m not exactly sure what that might be.”
The foundation for that is the fact he’s “been fortunate to work with a lot of talented and smart people through the years. I’ve seen a lot of successful small companies and while there may be some luck involved, it’s usually the people that drive the success.”
To young people starting in the market today, he’d tell that while there are often times work isn’t fun “you can create your own opportunities by hard work and being open to change.” ■
