As the first woman and a sixth-generation member of her family to help lead Hodgdon Yachts, a traditionally male-dominated business, Audrey is no stranger to standing out or carrying forward a remarkable family legacy. 

Born and raised in Boothbay, Audrey attended local schools and was a frequent visitor to the Boothbay Region YMCA.  As a youth, she participated in tap dance, swimming, and tennis. Now a working mother with two young sons, Audrey continues to make the Y an important part of her life.She remembers teen dances, Halloween bashes, and afternoons spent hanging out with friends after school. 

Today, Audrey and her husband, Caleb Easton, juggle their careers, family time, travel, and the daily drop-off and pickup of Grant, 3, and Barrett, 1, at the Y’s Harbor Montessori School. When schedules allow, Audrey also finds time for a workout. 

Her parents, Tim and Cathy Hodgdon, are Y regulars as well. Tim works out and plays pickleball in the earliest hours of the morning, while Cathy takes a variety of classes and plays pickleball a few hours later. Three generations of the Hodgdon family now have their own relationships with the Y.  

Audrey and Tim also work together as a father-daughter team.“We have different skill sets,” Audrey shared. “My dad is still heavily involved in the company and we have different strengths.He is great on the technical side, amongst many other areas.” 

Audrey brings another set of strengths to the company. She graduated from James Madison University in Virginia in 2007 with a degree in marketing and wanted to establish herself professionally away from the Boothbay peninsula. Her first job took her quite literally to the other side of the world in Auckland, New Zealand, where she worked for a composites design and engineering firm in the marine industry. 

After a year in New Zealand, she eventually landed in Portland. There, she met Caleb through mutual friends and later boomeranged home to Boothbay, bringing her education and international experience to the family business. Today, she manages sales, marketing, customer relations, and business development across Hodgdon’s diverse operations. 

Tim is particularly proud to see Audrey carrying the family business forward. He says, “Audrey is the first woman in a leadership role in our business, which is especially gratifying for me. But her skills and capabilities stand on their own, well beyond her gender. And having our grandsons living so close to us is tremendous." 

That legacy began in 1816, when Caleb Hodgdon opened a boatbuilding operation in East Boothbay. More than 200 years later, Hodgdon Yachts remains family-owned and is recognized as the oldest continuously operating boatbuilder in the United States. 

Today, the company spans several distinct areas. It operates a full-service boatyard in Southport, storing and caring for approximately 450 boats belonging to year-round and seasonal residents. The experienced marine professionals who work therehelp keep those boats safe and shipshape for the boating seasons. 

Hodgdon Tenders, located in Damariscotta, designs and builds highly specialized custom tenders for some of the world’s largest superyachts. The team travels each year to the Monaco Yacht Show, where Hodgdon showcases its Maine-built craftsmanship to an international audience. 

The company’s newest work reaches into maritime technology and national defense. Hodgdon Shipbuilding has partnered with Blue Ops, the maritime division of Red Cat Holdings, to produce prototypes of uncrewed surface vessels,boats designed to operate without a crewaboard. It is a modern extension of a company that has continually adapted its craftsmanship and expertise to meet the needs of changing times. Across its operations, Hodgdon employs approximately 70 people. 

During a recent meeting with Boothbay Region YMCA CEO Megan Benvenuto, Audrey and Megan compared notes about one of the greatest challenges facing year-round employers on the peninsula: attracting and retaining a reliable workforce. 

The obstacles are deeply interconnected. A prospective employee may struggle to find affordable housing or dependable childcare. A spouse may have difficulty finding appropriate work. A family with teenagers may wonder what educational, employment, and recreational opportunities will be available to them. One, or a combination, of those challenges can determine whether a family is able to build a life here. 

But that is where local businesses and community organizations can work together.The Y is grateful to Hodgdon Yachts for becoming a Major Sponsor in 2025 and for offering discounted Y memberships to its employees. The partnership gives Hodgdon employees and their families greater access to fitness, recreation, and community connection, all of which contribute to a healthier and more sustainable year-round workforce. 

For the Hodgdon family, maintaining a balance between work, home, and play is important. They live that commitment themselves while encouraging their employees to do the same. And that is what it means to be anchored in this community: to live here, to work here, to employ people here, to raise children here, and to help create the conditions that allow other families to thrive. 

For Audrey and the Hodgdon family, those roots now extend through six generations. And with Grant and Barrett growing up on the same peninsula, the seventh generation of the Hodgdon family is already finding its own place.