The business face of Maine
Do you know 21,000 of Maine's 40,000 businesses have fewer than five employees? Or that there are 29,672 firms with fewer than 20 employees?
That data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy tells us there's a whole lot of interest in small business news. That's why we decided to dedicate a focus section to the topic, which appears in this issue for the first time. Among the small business focus stories is a must-read by Senior Writer Jim McCarthy that lays out what you should know and do now to prepare for the Affordable Care Act. His story, “ACA primer,” starting on page 26, explains how to figure out your company size (it's not as straightforward as you'd think), notes approaching deadlines and lays out what your health insurance options are.
Not surprisingly, we have multiple stories with a connection to the SBA in this issue. The first, “A lending hand,” starting on the cover and also written by Jim, presents some new SBA financing programs and shows how one Winslow company benefited from them. We also offer a select directory of SBA resources on page 31 that only hints at the vast resources available to small businesses through that federal agency. To see the entire resource directory, go to mainebiz.biz/sbadirectory. And on page 33, we spotlight Matthew Qualey, owner of Qualey Granite & Quartz in Veazie, who is this year's SBA Small Business Person of the Year. His granite warehouse, and the way he uses it to capture a bigger slice of the construction market, is remarkable.
Our second focus section for this edition centers on northern Maine, where inventive potato farmers are using sophisticated machinery and business savvy to create specialty markets. Contributing Writer Craig Idlebrook's story, “Chipping in,” starts on the cover. And for all you art aficionados, our graphic design team personally auditioned hundreds of potato chips before finding the one worthy of our cover. (And yes, the rest of us got the spoils.)
For his story, “Sunken treasure,” Online Editor Darren Fishell trekked to Millinocket to see Maine Heritage Timber Co. staff in action. Alas, weather wasn't optimal for workers to haul sunken timber from the bottom of Quakish Lake. But the company, founded by former Wall Street trader Tom Shafer, expects to log (sorry) close to $1 million in sales this year from the high-end flooring it makes from the reclaimed wood. Check out Tom's story on page 14.
Speaking of lakes, we head to Casco and the Lakes Region on May 16 for a regional roundtable and reception. Come join us for some scintillating networking, cash bar and yummy hors d'oeuvres. Or pencil us in on your June calendar for the sixth when we head to Dedham in the Brewer/Ellsworth area for another reception. We tend to find some of our best story ideas by chatting up executives at these functions. The events are free, but you need to register. Details are at mainebiz.biz/events.
And finally, many of you know Donna Brassard, our publisher and fearless leader. Although we've always been impressed with her leadership abilities, she decided to hone them even further through the Maine Development Foundation's Leadership Maine program.
She rustled up plenty of gumption to go camping with her Leadership Maine peers; coach teammates on the zip-line; unravel the law-making mysteries of the State House, and, yes, even suspend her conservative political leanings to caucus with Democrats through the program's curriculum. Friday she graduated, and we couldn't be more proud. You go, girl!
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