Katie DeLorme is a woman of many talents! She has taken her background in Integrative Physical Therapy and Health Coaching and blended it with her ever-expanding knowledge in organic gardening, permaculture principles, herbalism, and beekeeping. She brings this wisdom and passion into being a small business owner, focusing on self-care and healing. Katie has taken her blended background to develop a unique line of plant-based products for health and wellness, many from her organically grown botanicals, beeswax, and honey. Maine Sol Botanicals features small-batch, artisan, skin care creations hand-crafted with climate-friendly, ethically sourced ingredients. She offers a variety of soaps, salves, and scrubs plus other natural skin care products. Read More
Maine Sol Botanicals – Scarborough
Brant & Cochran – South Portland
Brant & Cochran is the only company in the world hand-forging Maine wedge pattern axes these days! There used to be a vibrant edge tool industry in Maine, but it dwindled to nothing in the 1960’s. Their goal is to honor that heritage by bringing quality axe-making back to Maine and there’s certainly not a lack of demand! Mark Ferguson, one of the partners behind Brand & Cochran, approached the Maine SBDC for help putting together an expansion plan in order to keep up with the heavy demand behind this heritage idea! Read More
Bare Bones Handsewn – Lewiston
Bare Bones Handsewn is a very small team of outstandingly skilled craftspeople who are working earnestly to nurture and encourage the pride, history, and integrity of Maine shoe manufacturing community. Renee Robitaille and partner Roland Gauthier love having the creative freedom to practice fine shoe-making while celebrating the skills learned from past generations of family and mentors. But like many entrepreneurs, they have found it challenging to find solutions for each small challenge that arose throughout the day. And when they quickly needed to expand to cover their new wholesale orders she reached out to the Maine SBDC for help! Read More
Evolution K9 – Sangerville
Melissa Pitcher opened her business, Evolution K9-Maine, to help guide and educate pet owners. They offer dog training and daycare services that allow pet owners to better understand and improve their relationships with their pets. Read More
Gray Urgent Care – Gray
Gray Urgent Care recently opened its doors providing non-emergent medical evaluations, unencumbered by bureaucracy. Teaming up to make it happen is Patricia Kittredge; a Family Nurse Practitioner and a local who saw the medical need in the area, and Anna Kittredge; a Physician Assistant, with 18 years experience as a PA in emergency medicine and 12 years as a medical officer in the Army. Read More
King Eider’s Pub – Damariscotta
Scott McArdle & Damon Waltz have been close friends and co-workers in the food industry for years. They’ve been building up experience in different positions at a variety of locations, but have been long-time employees at King Eider’s Pub in Damariscotta. They truly knew the restaurant industry inside & out, co-managing & growing together – but when the opportunity to purchase King Eider’s arose, it put the business in a new light. The existing owners were committed to the transition and understood the value Scott & Damon brought, but they wanted to fully understand the risks & challenges that came along with the opportunity. Read More
SerenityME – Portland
Like so many others, Greg Dulac found himself both over and underwhelmed when the COVID pandemic began. While recovering from his experience in the corporate world he developed an appreciation for mindfulness. He saw the need in the community for those dealing with stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues to access tools to help manage these challenges. And so SerenityMe was started! A mindfulness business focused on providing meditation, yoga and body work. However, they are not a typical studio/wellness facility. While individual customers are welcome, their primary focus is on businesses that want to provide their employees with access to mindfulness-based tools to improve focus and productivity. Something all Maine SBDC clients could benefit from! Read More
Rusty Bus Brewing – Lewiston
Nikki & Peter Ouellette shared both a passion for good beer and a talent for creation. Together, they wanted to share those skills with the community. However, after investing in some equipment, they had difficulty in finding a supportive location in which to invest the time, money, and energy necessary for establishing themselves and opening their doors. Installing the equipment was an expensive proposition, and fitting out the space to match their vision meant finding funding and resource partners to ensure their foundation was solid. Read More
The Osprey – Georgetown
The pandemic created an opportunity for Sarah (Armstrong) Kecskemethy, Zoli Kecskemethy, Tessa Boepple, and Dylan Boepple to come together to form the Four Cuckoo Birds, Inc. These two couples, who share vast experience in the food industry and a passion for food & community, were eager to get their dream business going and use their combined culinary skills to bring the Osprey back to Derecktor Robinhood Marina in Riggs Cove. With a strong belief in connectivity, they are fully committed to “fostering relationships within the community.” Read More
Seacoast Senior Advisors – Scarborough
Many seniors face large transitions and changes later in life and Dani Rockey loves getting to help families unravel and understand their options. So she started Seacoast Senior Advisors, a community-based organization focused on helping families navigate Senior Living options, understanding that transitions are hard enough and wanted to help make them easier. But to get started she needed some guidance herself. Read More