Jean Hoffman, Class of 1979, has been selected as business leader of the year by Mainebiz, a Portland-based publication that covers business news across the state.

Hoffman is CEO and president of Putney Inc., a generic pet medication company in Portland she founded in 2006. She recently closed a $21 million venture capital deal to grow her company and develop more generic equivalents of animal pharmaceuticals.

Mainebiz reports that Putney currently has two medications in the market, carprofen and ketamine, prescribed by veterinarians to ease inflammation in animals and manage pain. Twenty more medicines are in development. When those receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and go into distribution, Hoffman expects the company could make $100 million in annual revenues.

Last year Inc. magazine recognized Putney as one of the nation’s fastest-growing companies, with 291% growth from 2007 to 2010.