Karen Rasmussen and her husband, Manny Peña, have been long-term owners of Taco Trio, a Mexican Restaurant in South Portland. The quality of their food and service have become a benchmark in the community and an ongoing reason for their continued growth. When they outgrew their first location, a perfect opportunity presented itself – as a much larger space just down the street, that would fit both their needs and the needs of their customers, plus some. Read More
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Gathered Minds Media – Rockland
The most successful businesses are based on a problem that needs solving, oftentimes coming directly from the lived experience of the owner. For Branden Densmore, his journey through recovery and a near-death experience gave him the push to fully develop Gathering Minds Media, a coaching and consulting business for others in recovery who want to start and grow businesses. He also provides spiritual counseling to help people in recovery find and better follow their purpose in life. Read More
Rising Sun Adventure Tours – Bass Harbor
When we think about what it takes to run a small business, things like bravery, strategy and forward-thinking come to mind; many qualities found in our veterans and active military members. Kareem Dieng, an active Soldier in the United States Army Reserve, is an inspirational example of all three. Kareem wanted to combine his love for adventure, nature, and connection with his nearly decade of experience leading groups in the outdoors – from there came Rising Sun Adventure Tours. Read More
Maine Jobs and Recovery Small Business Grant
The Maine Department of Economic & Community Development (DECD) has launched the Maine Jobs and Recovery Small Business Grant. This funding is available to businesses who were open before the COVID-19 pandemic began AND to new businesses who were in business as of January 1st, 2021.
The full grant description is available on the DECD Maine Economic Recovery Grants page and the grant application is here.
The application opened Wednesday, November 3rd. The application deadline is 11:59 PM November 26, which is the Friday after Thanksgiving. Read More
Bath Ale Works – Wiscasset
Pepper Powers and his wife Jean have been vacationing in Phippsburg, Maine for years. Originally from Maine, Powers moved to the Washington D.C. area where he worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Like many who vacation here, the couple had dreamed of making Maine their home again.
In late 2016, they decided it was time to create a plan to make it happen. Powers, a longtime homebrewer, wanted to start a brewery in Midcoast Maine. For guidance on the process to make this happen, Powers turned to Brad Swanson, recently retired business advisor at the Maine SBDC at CEI in Brunswick. Read More
Exporting Series
Considering “Small and medium-sized companies account for almost 97 percent of U.S. exporters, but still represent only about 30 percent of the total export value of U.S. goods”, you may have asked yourself…
- How do I even start? I don’t know what I don’t know!
- How do I write an international business plan?
- Where do I find the best possible places to export to?
In this three-part series, Maine SBDC Business Advisor and Center Director Peter Harriman spoke with partners throughout Maine to provide tools and resources to get started with exporting! Read More
Alchemy Chiropractic – Falmouth
Making adjustments can seem scary, but they’re an important step toward finding relief in the future. This can be said about life, chiropractics, and business planning alike! Dr. Sergey Terrio, DC of Alchemy Chiropractic knows all too well how making small adjustments can lead to healing and growth. Read More
Peace House Studio – Bath
Peace House Studio, the name conjures up a quiet space… someplace restful, to reflect, and be creative. But Peace House Studio in Bath Maine is anything but a quiet place for reflection as sewing machines hum and vibrant children’s clothing is manufactured, and an active family lives a life aligned with their values! Read More
October Objectives and Events
With a successful summer season for many businesses coming to a close; now is a great time to check in, assess how things went, and decide where you would like to go from here. Remember our Recovery and Relaunch Resource Center is always available to help with our built-in assessment tools as well as our business advisors! Read More
Lessons Learned: Disaster & Crisis Planning
The sixth and final part of an ongoing series of blog posts on lessons learned from COVID 19. Nobody likes to think about a disaster or crisis impacting their small business. But the Covid 19 global pandemic brought the importance of disaster planning to the forefront. Properly preparing for a crisis means your business will survive, recover and even thrive when times are tough.
“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” –Benjamin Franklin Read More