WASHINGTON, D.C. — On behalf of his leadership in business and community development, Kyle Murdock, founder of Sea Hag Seafood, Inc., in Tenants Harbor, has received a 2013 Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs award from the Hitachi Foundation.

U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King recognized him in a joint statement: "We are incredibly proud of Kyle and all he has accomplished with his company," said Senator Collins and King in a joint statement. "He is a bright young man whose leadership has not only brought him success in business, but has also helped strengthen his local community and the entire seafood products industry in Maine. We could not be happier that he was selected for this prestigious award."

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 He is one of eight young entrepreneurs from across the country to receive the 2013 award. According to the Hitachi Foundation, the Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs Program "identifies and supports inspiring young entrepreneurs whose work helps alleviate domestic poverty."

The program is open to entrepreneurs who are operating viable businesses in the United States with the dual purpose of making a difference and making a living. Eligible entrepreneurs must have launched their business before they reached age 30. Their business must be between one and five years old. In addition to a $40,000 grant, the foundation provides awardees leadership development, business mentoring, technical assistance and access to a network of peers and advisers.

A native of Monhegan Island, Murdock recognized the need for more lobster processing plants in Maine, and, at the age of 20, he opened his own facility in St. George to help strengthen Maine's seafood products industry and provide stable jobs to low-income individuals, according to a news release from the senators. The majority of his employees come from areas with limited employment opportunities or are members of a work-release program from a local correctional facility.

In the spring and early summer of 2010, Murdock was finishing up his junior year at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. As a physics major, he had his eye on graduate school, and the prospect of a career as a theoretical physicist ahead. Only a few months later he would be completely embroiled in a very different enterprise: entering the lobster industry.

The Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs Program recognizes individuals whose businesses address some of society's most pressing issues including poverty, sustainability, education, community health, and workforce practices. In addition to a $40,000 grant, the award winners receive business mentoring and access to a network of peers and advisers through the Foundation and its partner organizations Investors' Circle and B Lab.

Last spring, when asked in an interview what advice he might give to young adults, he said: "I'd say don't be afraid of commitment. Indecision is still a decision, you're making a decision to not move on with your life because you're afraid of making a commitment."

According to Murdock's biography at the Hitachi Foundation website: "After the seafood price crash in 2008, rising transportation costs began a paradigm shift in the lobster industry whereby it was more reasonable to process lobster closer to the source in Maine than in it was to do so in Canada. Realizing that this shift could mean more security for the local Maine lobster industry, Kyle Murdock left college to establish Sea Hag Seafood, an industrial lobster and seafood processor. Sea Hag Seafood is located in the rural town of St. George, where unemployment stands at 8 percent and an estimated 17.4 percent of residents live below the poverty line. The company hires primarily low-wealth individuals in an area with few employment opportunities and also hires work release participants from the local correctional facility. In a full season of work, a Sea Hag processor can earn more than $16,000, which is more than double the poverty rate in this area. Sea Hag currently has 50 full-time employees.

"Over the next two years, Sea Hag's goals include reaching $25 million in annual revenues, launching an e-commerce site to pilot direct-to-consumer products, starting construction of a commercial wharf, and acquiring a nearby property to provide affordable housing for employees.

"There is no way I would've left college (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) and a career if it was just for me. I grew up in a real community - everyone's in it together. Sea Hag Seafood aims to produce premium Maine seafood products in a way that supports the sustainability of the fisheries and the local community." - Kyle Murdock