Photo / Courtesy of FAME
Springworks Maine Inc. in Lisbon, founded by Trevor Kenkel, left, grows a variety of lettuces using an aquaponics system.
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The Finance Authority of Maine is behind many of the state’s leading businesses
Photo / Courtesy of FAME
North Spore, an urban mushroom farm in Portland, was founded by, from left, Jon Carver, Matt McInnis and Eliah Thanhauser.
By FAME staff
The Finance Authority of Maine works behind the scenes on a range of financing programs aimed at the state’s businesses. Here are a few examples of Maine businesses that have worked with FAME and banks in the state to get financing.
A ‘mushrooming’ business
North Spore, an urban mushroom farm located in Portland, FAME provided commercial loan insurance and other financing through the State Small Business Credit Initiative program in partnership with Bath Savings Bank.
Gap financing was provided for leasehold improvements when the company expanded and for a working capital line. North Spore started small and has grown in size and offerings.
The company was launched in 2014 by three college friends — a mycologist, an organic farmer, and a photojournalist. The common bond was their love of mushroom foraging.
North Spore is on a mission to disrupt the food system by empowering people to grow and harvest their own healthy edible and medicinal mushrooms. The company touts the positive environmental impacts of mycelium (e.g. soil nutrient cycling, bioremediation) and the potential for mushrooms to naturally improve health and wellness and become a key sustainable meat alternative.
North Spore is committed to the environment and sustainability and strives to provide organic, natural, non-GMO and locally sourced materials from companies that share its values.
Organic lettuce is a growing field
At Springworks Maine Inc., an aquaponic organic lettuce farm in Lisbon, FAME has supported the company’s growth through various forms of financing, including Seed Capital Tax Credits, a direct loan and loan insurance in partnership with Farm Credit East.
FAME’s support enabled the company to construct a fourth greenhouse and to support ongoing working capital needs.
Springworks was founded in 2014 and operates an aquaponics organic farm growing over 5 million heads of lettuce varieties and producing approximately 160 metric tons of tilapia fish annually.
Aquaponic farming involves the science of combining fish and plants in recirculating water-based systems. The process uses less water than traditional soil farming and is considered organic since the closed loop system it utilizes eliminates the need for chemicals.
The greenhouse system used at the farm extends the growing season in Maine as the produce can be grown and harvested year-round. Springworks has grown to become one of the largest greenhouse lettuce producers in the Northeast with facilities totaling over 170,000 square feet.
The plan is to expand in four phases of construction to 700,000 square feet on the 170-acre site.
Springworks grows a variety of lettuces, including romaine, green crispy and bibb.
Photo / Courtesy of FAME
Roselyn North Academy founder Angela Garrison. The child care provider now has eight Maine locations.
A child care site helps tackle one of Maine’s greatest needs
Roselyn North Academy is a Maine child care provider with eight locations throughout the state.
Photo / Courtesy of FAME
FAME and partners Bath Savings and Coastal Enterprises Inc. assisted with financing that enabled the company (an existing childcare provider) to acquire and operate six additional locations in central and southern Maine from another provider.
For Roselyn North Academy, previously known as Beansprouts Learning Center, FAME provided two FAME direct loans as well as loan insurance on a loan by Bath Savings Institution.
Further, FAME and CEI participated through the Grow Maine Program on a direct loan. The borrower was able to increase the company’s capacity by 524 childcare spots to a total of 636 licensed spots for eight total centers.
The financing helped to retain 77 jobs and create another 51 jobs by the end of 2024.
There is strong public benefit in this financing as there is high demand for child care services in the state. The Maine Economic Development Strategy 2020-29 calls in Action E-1 for increased investments in Maine’s child care system, so clearly this is a statewide priority as well as a priority for businesses.
A former mill has new life as salmon farm
Great Northern Salmon has given new life to an old paper mill in Millinocket.
FAME financing, including a direct loan as part of the State Small Business Credit Initiative program and seed capital tax credits, assisted this salmon stock farm located at the former Great Northern Paper site, which is now part of the One Katahdin redevelopment.
The company is building an Atlantic salmon fish farm using a recirculating aquaculture system at the One North industrial site in Millinocket. The salmon will be hatched, raised and processed on-site and sold both locally and to regional Northeast markets. The facility is projected to produce salmon by 2026. FAME funded costs for the development and site work at the former mill site.
Renewable fuel sparks economic growth at old paper mill site
Photo / Courtesy of FAME
EME Biofuels plans to produce renewable fuel oil in Millinocket.
EME Biofuels, a subsidiary of Houston-based Castlerock Biofuels LLC, the company plans to operate a renewable fuel oil facility at One North, the industrial park located at the former Great Northern Paper mill site in Millinocket.
FAME provided Maine New Markets capital investment program tax credits and tax-exempt bond financing for the project.
FAME approved the issuance of $291,000 in tax credits related to $746,123 in investments through the New Markets program and up to $160 million in conduit bond financing.
EME Biofuels is planning to construct a 150,000 square-foot biomass-to-biofuels plant. The plant will harness forest residuals waste from the commercial lumber industry and process it into high-quality biocrude to be used as renewable heating oil and as feedstock for co-processing the production of renewable gasoline and diesel. The project is expected to create 83 full-time jobs at the plant once the facility is fully operational by mid-to-late 2027. Additional jobs related to construction at the site and the forestry supply chain are also expected.
Photo / Courtesy of FAME
Tanbark Molded Fiber Products Inc. in Saco manufactures biodegradable packaging materials.
Sustainable packaging from a Saco startup
Tanbark Molded Fiber Products Inc., a Saco-based manufacturer of biodegradable packaging materials, has grown quickly from its startup roots.
It benefitted from a FAME direct loan as part of a participation loan with the Maine Technology Institute and Coastal Enterprises Inc.
The loan enabled Tanbark to purchase and install equipment for a micro-fiber manufacturing line. The company also benefitted from a FAME-administered Grow Maine/ State Small Business Credit Initiative loan.
Tanbark manufactures molded fiber packaging using wood pulp largely sourced from the Maine woods.
The wood-based products have a smooth finish and complex architecture with minimal draft angels. Additionally, Tanbark’s products are free of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water.
Tanbark’s products can be used as a substitute for single-use plastic materials, which can damage oceans and landfills, among other things.
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