Coastal Enterprises - Women Business Loans

CEI targets loan funds to start-up and existing women owned businesses in Maine, and as of December, 2004, has provided $33 million in financing to over 700 small businesses partly or wholly owned by women. The application is the same as our general loan application.

For those who would like help with business planning, someone to be a sounding board or general advice, the Women's Business Center at CEI (WBC) is available. WBC staff can help you develop a business plan and put together a loan application package for CEI or bank lenders.

CEI IN THE NEWS!

U.S. Finance Expert Encourages Banking Investment in Maine Communities
At CEI's 32nd Annual Meeting, Ellen Seidman, Exec. VP of ShoreBank in Chicago, and Sr. Research Fellow with the New America Foundation in Washington, DC, urged Maine bankers and community activists to consider “greater community investment…meeting the actual needs of the community, not just counting dollars invested.” See full speech.

See annual meeting remarks by Ron Phillips, CEO, on triple bottom line investing and the next 5 years for CEI…

See the 12/14/09 article on CEI and the state of investing in communities. It’s where mission happens…

CEI Receives $125 Million in NMTC Through its subsidiary, CEI Capital Management LLC, CEI will use the allocation to attract private capital investments for primarily rural economic development projects. See press release here.

CEI Receives Investment Funds
In partnership with Manufacturers Association of Maine, CEI will receive $765,000 over from the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Community Services (OCS), to finance several job-generating small-to-medium enterprises. This funding will create 78 full-time, year-round jobs. Read press release here.

Bangor Savings Bank and CEI offer low-interest loans to small and medium-sized enterprises in disadvantaged areas in Maine. Read more here.

Maine Women Business Owners Online Directory

Visit the Maine Women's Business Owners Online Directory to meet other women business owners in the State of Maine and to promote your products and services on the Internet.
http://www.wbcmaine.org/

Working Together in the Western Mountains

Eileen Miazga owns EJ's Market in Strong, Maine, 11 miles north of Farmington. Started 18 years ago, EJ's was the local community's neighborhood store until the arrival of big box" national chain stores in Farmington threatened its arrival. Eileen turned to the Women's Business Center (WBC) at CEI in Farmington for help to get her business back on track. With the help of a WBC counselor, Eileen was able to refinance loans, cut costs, and reinvigorate the store's image. With five employees, EJ's Market is now expanding, and has just added a new line of natural foods, along with other groceries, meats, and fresh produce.

EJ's Market is one example of CEI's growing role in Maine's Western Mountains region, where CEI is part of the Western Mountains Sustainable Development Collaborative. The Collaborative is helping build a stronger regional identity and plant the seeds for a brighter economic future in Franklin, Oxford, Somerset, and Piscataquis Counties. CEI's role is to make loans to small businesses and invest in community facilities and services that contribute to a healthy economy.