(Clockwise from top left) 1st photo: Sarah Guerette and Anna Ackerman of the CEI Women’s Business Center; Mary Allen Lindeman co-owner Coffee by Design, Dana Myles, Regional Vice President, Team Leader At Norway Savings Bank. 2nd photo: Amanda O’Brien, owner eighteen twenty wines. 3rd photo. Isaac MacDougal, owner, Cocktail Mary. 4th photo: Dana Myles, Lee Farrington and Bryna Gootkind, co-owners, LB Kitchen, and Sarah Guerette. November 16, 2020 (Brunswick, ME)—Thanks to a collaboration between The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Boston, Norway Savings Bank, Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) and Community Concepts, business owners impacted by COVID-19 received grant funding to help them survive the winter. The funds were distributed by FHLB Boston to Norway Savings as part of their Jobs for New England (JNE) Recovery Grant Programs. CEI and Community Concepts received $50,000 each to deploy through competitive application processes.
Category: Press Release
CEI Receives $3.3 Million EDA Award for Revolving Loan Fund to Meet the Immediate and Long-Term Economic Development Needs of Small Businesses in Maine’s Coastal Counties
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Woodforest CEI-Boulos Opportunity Fund Closes over $1.3 Million Opportunity Zone Equity Investment in Sharswood Ridge Project to Help Revitalize Philadelphia’s Sharswood Neighborhood
CEI Expands Wicked Fast Loans with Financial Assistance Award from CDFI Fund of the U.S Treasury
September 24, 2020 (Brunswick, ME)—The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund of the U.S. Treasury today awarded $600,000 in financial assistance to Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) for its lending and development services for small businesses. Specifically, $500,000 will be used to expand CEI’s Wicked Fast loans and complementary business advice, financial counseling and workforce development in Maine. An additional $100,000 is restricted for lending in federally designated “persistent poverty” areas that have had poverty rates of 20 percent or more for the past 30 years, none of which are located in Maine. To deploy the latter funds, CEI will partner with peer organizations that serve these places. In 2019, 78 percent of the people and places receiving loans or business advice from CEI had low or very low incomes.
CEI Secures Award to Advance Catalyst Fund for Early-Stage Food Businesses
September 23, 2020 (Brunswick, ME) – A new $300,000 grant award from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship will support Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) in developing its Catalyst Fund, a pool of capital for equity investments to be deployed by CEI’s lending and investment team in collaboration with its food systems program. The fund is designed to grow Maine’s food economy by offering early-stage, patient equity investments paired with business advice and technical support. CEI was selected as one of 52 award recipients out of a nationwide pool of 600 applicants.
Aquaculture in Shared Waters Course Now Accepting Applications
Free training classes to begin early November 2020 in the Downeast region
CEI Welcomes New Colleagues in Accounting, Lending & Small Business Development
September 2, 2020 (Brunswick, ME) – CEI recently hired six new professionals to join their accounting, lending and business advice teams. They include: Molly Gerencer, loan and investment officer; Mary Cay Harrington, fund accountant; Grace Mo-Phillips, business advisor; John Michael Nadeau, senior accountant; Nikki Yanok, associate loan and investment officer; and Jenn Stein, business advisor & food systems specialist with our Small Business Development advising team.
Leadership Transition at Maine-based CEI Capital Management LLC, one of the Nation’s Premier New Markets Tax Credit Firms
Charles J. Spies, III Announces Retirement; Traci R. Vaine to Succeed as CEO on October 1, 2020
Maine SBDC & Maine DECD Announce New Micro-Enterprise Grant Program
August 17, 2020 – The Maine Department of Economic & Community Development (DECD) in partnership with the Maine Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) will provide grants of up to $5,000 for businesses with five or fewer employees, with an owner whose income is in the low to moderate range as defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).The money is part of the $11 million Maine received from the federal CARES Act for its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Approximately $2 million of the allocation is being made available through the Micro-Enterprise Grant Program in partnership with the Maine Small Business Development Center. The funds for the program are being distributed through Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments (AVCOG), Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC), and Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission (SMPDC).
TD Charitable Foundation Supports Coastal Enterprises, Inc. with Community Resilience Grant
June 15, 2020 (Brunswick, ME) – The TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, recently donated $100,000 to Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) to assist in providing services to those impacted by COVID-19 in Maine.