Skip to content

CEI

Innovation and investment in rural America.

  • Find an Advisor
    • For Entrepreneurs
      • Small Business Development Center
      • The CEI Women’s Business Center
      • StartSmart
      • Workforce Solutions
      • Child Care Business Lab
      • Downeast Business Boot Camp & Pitch-Off
      • Resources
    • For Sustainable Food Systems
      • Agriculture & Food Systems
      • Tastemakers Initiative
      • Fisheries & Aquaculture
      • Maine Seafood Marketing Initiative
    • For Individuals
      • Homebuyer / Homeowner
      • Financial Wellness
      • Resident Owned Communities
  • Apply for Financing
    • For Businesses
      • Make a Loan Payment
      • Wicked Fast Loans
      • Business Loans
      • Business Loans for Maine’s Coastal Counties
      • Sea Farm Loans
      • Venture Capital
      • Maine Grant Programs
    • FOR PROJECTS
      • Community Facility Financing
      • New Markets Tax Credits
      • Opportunity Zone Investments
      • Solar Energy Project Financing
      • State Historic Tax Credits
  • COVID Relief Resources
    • Maine Grant Programs
      • Agricultural Infrastructure Investment Program (AIIP)
      • SBA & Federal Relief Resources
  • Meet Our Subsidiaries
    • Bright Community Capital
    • CEI-Boulos Capital Management
    • CEI Capital Management
    • CEI Ventures
  • About
  • News & Events
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Search
Close
loading...

GWI

Putting Infrastructure into "Place"

GWI CEI Fletcher Kittridge in front of an image of the Three Ring Binder. Photo credit: Tim Greenway, Mainebiz staff photographer
"Three Ring Binder" project fiber optic Internet cable lines.
“Three Ring Binder” project fiber optic Internet cable lines.

For those of us living in urban areas, it’s hard to imagine not having access to high speed Internet services. There are still communities in Maine that lack this Internet access connecting people to economic development and opportunity. GWI’s innovative vision to create what is now called the “Three Ring Binder” project is making it possible for GWI and other Maine-owned Internet providers to bring broadband statewide. GWI is Maine’s largest independent Internet Service Provider and provides Internet access to communities all over Maine as well as enhanced opportunities for businesses in rural regions. GWI serves over 10,000 residential and business customers in 55 Maine communities through its high speed Internet, phone, and managed IT services. Fletcher_Map.pdf The Three Ring Binder network passes through approximately 172 towns in the state, including many in very rural areas.

“GWI’s core business plan, with its heavy emphasis on rural economic development, was a perfect mission fit for CEI,” said Loan & Investment Officer Mark Jennings, who oversaw a $500,000 loan to GWI. The five-year loan supplements the company’s conventional bank financing, and will provide capital for growth and expansion to GWI.

“Working with CEI proved very easy. Mark understood immediately our mission and the business opportunities for us as well as the economic opportunities our company provides across Maine.”

— PAT SWEENEY, CFO, GWI

More Stories

CEI Stories

  • Carolina’s Specialty Shop
    Bringing an immigrant's perspective to supporting locally-made goods.
  • OurShelves
    Celebrating Diverse Individuals and Families in Children's Books
  • American Unagi
    Netting the American Eel Industry for Greater Traceability and Transparency
  • Zero Energy North Avenue Affordable Housing Baltimore
    An Investment Helps Catalyze a Community Renaissance
  • Wood & Sons
    Scaling up good jobs with capital, coaching and collaboration over time
  • A group of Somali immigrant women and their families celebrate behind a table with the CEI logo
    CEI’s Child Care Business Lab
    Creating Community-Centered Child Care
More Stories

We are creating an economy that works for all.

About Us

Join Us!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • Coastal Enterprises on Instagram
  • Coastal Enterprises on Linkedin
  • Coastal Enterprises on Facebook
  • Coastal Enterprises on Twitter
  • Coastal Enterprises on Youtube

COASTAL ENTERPRISES, INC.
30 Federal Street, Suite 100
Brunswick, ME 04011
207-504-5900

Find Your Local Office

  • Advice
    • For Business
    • For Sustainable Food Systems
    • For Homeowners
    • Apply for Financing
    • Make a Loan Payment
  • CEI Subsidiaries
    • Bright Community Capital
    • CEI-Boulos Capital Management
    • CEI Capital Management
    • CEI Ventures
  • Investing in CEI
    • Donate
    • Investment Capital
    • Venture Capital
    • Solar Investments
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Our History
    • Careers at CEI
    • Publications and Reports
    • Public Policy Initiatives

© 2022 Coastal Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. is an equal opportunity lender, provider, and employer.

  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy