Maine SBA 2024

Maine small business person of the year: Matthew Polstein, New England Outdoor Center

NOMINATED BY JUSTIN JAMISON, SVP, COMMERCIAL SERVICES OFFICER, KATAHDIN TRUST COMPANY While people from away might only see Maine as the place to visit the coast and get a lobster roll, Mainers and fellow New Englanders know that our state also has some of the best…

Maine veteran-owned small business of the year: Kendra Chubbuck, Shore Shop Gifts LLC

NOMINATED BY RUTH FELDMAN, WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTER It’s clear that as retail businesses have become consolidated in large companies that small businesses have difficulty competing, that’s even more so for businesses based in rural areas, and especially on Maine’s island communities where it takes a 45…

Woman-owned small business of the year: Sarah Morneault and Lindsay Levesque, Tiller & Rye

NOMINATED BY ANN MCALHANY, SBDC Opening a grocery store may seem like a relatively straightforward path to business ownership, but with Tiller & Rye there is much more to it. Owners Sarah and Lindsey came from very different backgrounds, and met while working at a local…

Maine home-based small business of the year: Studio Choo11, Kirantee Sangsap Laufik, owner

NOMINATED BY GRACE MO PHILLIPS, WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTER While many of the headline grabbing businesses tend to be large manufacturers and bring massive numbers of jobs into a town, the reality is that the overwhelming majority of small businesses here in Maine are home based entrepreneurs…

Maine young entrepreneur of the year: Candace Whitmore-Edgecomb, W.E. Family Farm

NOMINATED BY BRANDON MCDONALD, SBDC Aroostook County has been shaped by its family owned farms, and over the years the importance of preserving the farming traditions has become clear. At a time when many farms are being sold off to large companies or solar companies, W.E.…

Small business manufacturer of the year: The Good Crust, Heather Kerner

NOMINATED BY SARAH GUERETTE, CEI Starting a business at any time is an incredible challenge and a courageous act, starting a business in 2020 in the midst of the Covid pandemic even more so. That was the case for Heather Kerner with her business, The Good…

Minority-owned small business of the year: Niky Dwin Watler Amaris and Martha Leonard, owners of Maiz

NOMINATED BY GRACE MO-PHILLIPS, WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTER While Maine might not jump out as the place to find good Colombian food, Maiz and its owners Niky Amaris and Martha Leonard are proving that assumption wrong. The couple met ten years ago in Cartagena, Colombia, and in…

Maine microenterprise of the year: Graze LLC, Kate Hall, owner

NOMINATED BY NANCY STROJNY, SCORE Hearing the phrase “Maine made” or “Maine grown” tends to evoke a sense of wholesome, quality products that are good for you. Kate Hall’s business, Graze, lives up to that reputation easily. Originally operating as a microgreen farm that supplied local…

Maine small business exporter of the year: Belle Cove, LLC, Grace Phillips, owner

NOMINATED BY ZEYNEP TURK, MAINE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTER If there is one Maine product that is instantly recognizable as ours nationwide and around the world, it’s lobsters, and that makes them integral to Maine’s coastal economy. When Grace Phillips moved to Maine 16 years ago after…