Inside the notebook: From 'ME-tirement' to wood-fired pizza ovens, our favorite stories of 2025
File Photo / Tim Greenway
Scott Barden, co-owner of Maine Wood Heat, next to a Bigelow 120 oven at the Skowhegan facility. The business was featured in our "Made in Maine" series earlier this year.
With 2025 coming to a close, here's a look back at some of the stories and subjects we enjoyed covering this year.
Bangor business boom
It’s always great to talk with owners of new businesses. Bangor had quite a few over the past year.
From an ice cream shop to a hot tub dealer, a wave of new businesses is opening in downtown Bangor
Inspired by strong women
I’m drawn to stories about strong women, and two in particular stood out this year: One about business and nonprofit leaders taking a career break to reset — “ME-tirement” seemed like the best way to describe the movement — and another focused on the growing ranks of female investors. I was particularly moved by Bobbie Lamont's investment backstory and Tim Greenway's portrait of the Maine Angels member on the scooter she zips around on in Portland to attend networking events.
'ME-tirement' takes off: These Maine women business leaders are taking a career break
Capital gains: How women are transforming the investment landscape
Obsessed with Maine's food scene
Since I started writing the Friday Food Insider, I have become obsessed with Maine's food scene. This year brought a lot of changes as well as newcomers — from a Portuguese-style restaurant in Portland to a mini-golf sports bar that teed up a unique offering. I’ve also been exploring the manufacturing side of food, including a trip to Grandy Organics in Hiram to see how its granola is made. Walking the factory floor — from the mixing and the baking lines to the cooling, breaking and packaging areas — was a "Willy Wonka"-like experience.
Friday Food Insider: A behind the scenes look at the world of Grandy Organics and its granola creations
— Alexis Wells
Innovative approaches to housing and construction
We’ve covered a lot of housing news over the past year and expect to do more as the state rallies to meet the growing need. It’s been exciting to see how designers, builders and municipalities are rising to the challenge, through innovative approaches in construction techniques, financing and collaboration. I looked at the housing shortage issue broadly and also detailed the evolution of the use of mass timber and panelized construction. Sharing how a trio of developers are working together to provide more homes more quickly, especially for middle-income earners, made for good news.
Housing crunch: With a need for 84,000 housing units by 2030, Maine chips away at the challenge
Mass timber expands building options in Maine
Domus development group breaks ground on its first condo project for mid-income, first-time buyers
Out and about for ‘Made in Maine’
The best part of my job is being able to get out and visit Maine businesses, and the best part of the past year was writing some of the Made in Maine columns — a feature that made its debut in 2025 (and will continue in 2026). Everyone on staff (as well as a couple freelancers) has contributed to the column, which runs in the print edition of Mainebiz. Photographer Tim Greenway has jumped in feet first to get images for the columns.
A requirement of the column is that the writer get out to visit the site, whether it’s a factory, small maker space, workshop or sewing loft. If you’re in an office most days, there’s nothing like the smell of sawdust or the whir of a power sander to convey a sense of what it’s like in a workshop, kitchen or factory floor. The sights and smells are critical to telling the story. From the columns I wrote, it’s hard to pick a favorite, but here are a handful:
Made in Maine: A Skowhegan shop fires up wood-fired pizza ovens
Made in Maine: Going with the ‘Grain’
Made in Maine: A Woolwich entrepreneur thinks out of the box
Made in Maine: Simple or complex, a midcoast manufacturer is a dual threat
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