Something’s Afoot In Orono [ANSWER]

The son of Russian Jewish immigrants and raised in Massachusetts. Wikipedia recounts how, after graduating from high school in 1934, Alfond got a job at Kesslen Shoe Company in Kennebunk, Maine, where his father worked. In a short time, he rose from odd shoe boy to factory superintendent. And that would not be the end of his love of manufacturing. In 1956, Alfond would leave his job and purchase an old woolen mill in Dexter founding the Dexter Shoe Company. That manufacturer produced shoes for stores Sears, JC Penny, Spiegel, and Montgomery Ward & Co.  After a fashion he decided to develop his shoes under the brand Dexter Shoes and sell them across the country.  Harold Alfond is also often credited with the invention of the outlet store, Thank you Harry!

And turns out we are thanking him still as his foundation just made the news for awarding 1.5 million dollars to the University of Maine.