Maine Startups Insider: Founder Forum – Joel Alex of Blue Ox Malthouse

Maine SBDC client Joel Alex and his business Blue Ox Malthouse featured in Maine Startup Insider!

The other thing that emboldened me to pursue this and decline graduate school was that I had come across Top Gun, I had come across the Maine SBDC. Because in November 2012 when I made the decision to pursue Blue Ox Malthouse in earnest, or with more energy and intention, I started talking to craft brewers, to people in agriculture, to farmers. I talked to business owners, too. I started doing a survey of the resources available, and through the Maine SBDC I was encouraged to apply for the TechStart grant from MTI and then I got plugged into the really strong network of Blackstone Accelerates Growth, the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development and that whole community. The other resource I took advantage of, and which provided emotional support and served as a connector, was Slow Money Maine. I had one tremendously amazing early partner named Steve Culver, who I met through the Slow Money Maine network.

That network of people gave me the confidence in the idea and the confidence that there was a support network out there that could help me realize it. And that was tremendous.

Read the entire interview with Joel here!