Growing big ideas: MaineCF research, advocacy, and grants
support Maine’s entrepreneurial spirit

Maine has long flourished with hard work, practicality, and imagination – from Leonard Norcross of Dixfield who in 1834 patented the first practical sealed diving suit … to Chester Greenwood of Farmington who designed ear muffs at 15 and built a factory that by 1936 produced 400,000 pairs per year… to Charles Forster of Strong, who produced 95% of toothpicks made in America – more than 75 billion a year.

Many decades later, Maine’s entrepreneurs and innovators are still making their mark:

In 2018, Maine led the nation for first-year survival rate of new start-ups at 88 percent
From 2007 to 2018, Maine ranked first in the U.S. for both revenue and job growth among women-owned businesses.

“We have such a long history of people working two or three jobs, running small businesses at roadsides … ideas abound,” says Senior Program Officer Maggie Drummond-Bahl, who leads MaineCF’s strategic effort to help entrepreneurs and innovators bring their big ideas to life. “Most importantly,” she adds, “we have the Maine ‘brand’ that people across the world associate with quality, ingenuity, and a pristine natural environment.”

When MaineCF’s staff held community conversations across the state, they heard time and again how start-ups are invigorating communities and more young people are moving here to take the helm from retiring business owners. We considered ways we could help build on Maine’s rich traditions to support a new, innovative future.

In 2018, MaineCF:

Launched the Downeast Innovation Network with more than 30 partners and awarded grants to nine projects that will help budding entrepreneurs – from pitch competitions to apprenticeships and support for community working spaces. We will award a second round of grants this fall and are exploring the possibility of more regional or community-based pilot programs.
Launched a connectivity initiative with a new community broadband grant program that awarded $130,000 to 11 projects, with more grants coming in October. In addition to the grant program, the initiative includes support for public policy and advocacy work, a pilot project to help several communities participate in a national feasibility study, and multi-year support for the statewide digital literacy program.
Produced a report that explores rural entrepreneurial networks and will launch research into best practices for coworking, makerspaces, incubators, and accelerators in rural communities.
Sponsored the Startup Maine conference in June, training for women investors, and other events.

Maine is a natural magnet for new businesses with its abundant natural resources in traditional industries, world-class institutions, and critical state supports such as a strong seed capital tax credit. But for all those advantages, start-ups still face challenges: ready access to collaborators, limited access to capital, lagging broadband connectivity, and equity for entrepreneurs of color, women, and rural residents. MaineCF is working toward addressing those barriers with partners that include the Maine Technology Institute, the National Digital Equity Alliance, the University of Maine, the Broadband Coalition, Coastal Enterprises, Inc., the Maine Accelerates Growth network, UpStart, Startup Maine, and many more.

We hope you’ll join us November 13, 2019, in Bangor when MaineCF hosts a statewide summit focused on entrepreneurs and innovators.

Photo: Max Friedman, Sam Dorval, and Max Burtis - friends since middle school - founded Ferda Farms, an oyster farm. See story, below. Photo Jill Brady

Oyster Farm Propels Friends’ Education Plans

Three Brunswick teens who forged a sports bond in secondary school and made summer money digging clams have moved on, to college, pitch competitions, and an oyster business that’s expanding with youthful innovation and energy.

Ferda Farms – as in Fer Da Sea – is the brainchild of college sophomores Max Burtis, Max Friedman, and Sam Dorval. Max’s dad, Chris Burtis, had dreamed of starting an oyster farm and supplied his 2013 blueprints to create their business on the New Meadows River. Today he’s their director of operations.

“Coming into oysters, we didn’t have much of a clue on what to do,” admits Dorval; their knowledge was limited to how tides work and tying a few knots. But they learned fast, tapping their former football coach – who co-owns an oyster farm – and the University of Maine Sea Grant for guidance. “Without the generosity of the oyster community in Maine, we wouldn’t have made it this far,” says Dorval.

They started small last year with 50,000 oysters, and in coming weeks will have 325,000. With growth came cash demands, so Max Burtis entered several pitch competitions hoping to raise funds or snag grants. Earlier this year he won the $10,000 UMaine Business Challenge and was runner-up in the Greenlight Maine start-up competition.

All three are tailoring their college studies toward Ferda Farms’ future. Friedman is studying aquaculture at the University of Rhode Island with a minor in business that will help inform their supply chain tactics. Max Burtis, a mechanical engineering major at the University of Maine, is reinventing their oyster tumbler with a laser counter and solar panels – they hope to become the first all-solar, 100% sustainable oyster farm in Maine. Dorval, a UMaine marketing major, is using his skills to reach consumers and expand their market throughout New England to New York.

“As a waterfront community, the oceans are what we were born and raised on. The resources they provide are monumental, and growing oysters has so many environmental effects to revitalize our oceans,” says Dorval. “We felt like this was the perfect way to give back and replenish what helped us so much as kids.”