If you’re reading this, you likely have more than one specialty
I had an interesting conversation with another of Portland's new coffee purveyors.
Vagabond Coffee is a food truck that frequently occupies a space on Middle Street. The owner, William “Liam” Hardy, bought a 1949 International Harvester van from an old-timer in Pennsylvania. He restored the truck, adding features like hardwood flooring in the truck bed, and then retrofitted it with coffee-making equipment.
Liam, who has adapted the dress of an 19th century shopkeeper, something akin to the chocolate makers at Mast Brothers Co., is not a coffee purveyor by training. He is a fabricator — and the coffee truck could be considered a way of showcasing his skills in that arena.
But Liam is just one example of the versatility of Maine entrepreneurs.
I recently talked to the manager of a bank branch who spoke about the makeup of the customers. She wanted to show the range of businesses the bank dealt with, from loggers to those in the fishing industry. She initially used the term blue collar, but then backtracked, saying that was an outdated term and could be considered condescending.
Indeed, “blue collar” is not a term we use much at Mainebiz. For one thing, most of the businesses we cover do not have a clear divide between white collar and blue collar. In fact, with so many small businesses and entrepreneurs, there's often a murky line between the jobs handled by the owner and the employees.
I think of Carlos Quijano, president of Coast of Maine Organic Products, the subject of our On the Record feature in this issue. Quijano spent many years at Chase Manhattan Bank, but ultimately hit paydirt, pun intended, by creating compost that sells for $10 a bag in places like Whole Foods Market. He may have been a banker, but he wasn't afraid to literally get down in the dirt to find the right recipe for gardening soil.
Maine is filled with entrepreneurs who appear to be far overqualified for their jobs, yet we're the richer for their endeavors as entrepreneurs.
Our cover story about a collaboration between Twin Rivers Paper Co. and the University of Maine at Orono demonstrates how an old-school industry like paper can benefit from “cross pollination,” as Senior Writer Jim McCarthy points out in his story.
Maine business leaders continue to express a willingness to learn and that benefits all of us.
Read more
On the Record with Carlos Quijano, founder of Coast of Maine Organic Products
Twin Rivers to acquire paper division of New York's Burrows Paper
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