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Join us every Thursday this summer for the Fork Food Lab Happy Hour Market, your weekly celebration of local flavor, community vibes, and culinary creativity! This seasonal outdoor market features a rotating lineup of Fork Food Lab members and other Maine makers offering delicious bites, sips, and one-of-a-kind products.
It’s the perfect after-work destination: grab a drink, connect with friends, and explore what Maine’s vibrant food scene has to offer. Whether you’re a die-hard foodie or just looking to support small businesses in a laid-back setting, the Happy Hour Market is the place to be!
Follow @forkfoodlab on Instagram for weekly vendor updates, or subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at www.forkfoodlab.com.
Free!
ContactJillian Brazel,
2075580881,
jillian@forkfood.com
Fork Food Lab
We’re taking the conversation north! For the first time ever, AIGA Maine’s Freelancers’ Roundtable is coming to Central Maine—and we’re diving into one of the most asked-about topics: pricing.
Join us at EMCC in Bangor for this special Design Fest edition of our popular roundtable series. This session will explore how to price your work with clarity and confidence, whether you're new to freelancing or ready to level up.
Moderated by AIGA Maine Board Member Cassie Baldwin, the evening will feature panelists:
David Aston – Artist, designer, and business owner with a thoughtful, experience-backed approach to creative pricing
Joy Sinclair – Freelance marketing strategist and founder of Joy Sinclair Marketing, with practical insights on project scopes, retainers, and communicating value
Expect a welcoming, no-BS conversation with actionable advice—and a great chance to connect with other creative professionals in the region.
Part of AIGA Maine Design Fest 2025.
$20
ContactCassie Baldwin,
207-217-1731,
cassie@maine.aiga.org
Free for AIGA Maine members; email hello@maine.aiga.org for a code.
Hosted byAIGA Maine
Join WBC Business Advisor, Jodi Cordes, for an informal networking meeting with new, existing, or aspiring female entrepreneurs from Greater Franklin County!
We meet on the first Tuesday each month for great conversation among business owners, at any stage.
We'll be joined by Ruth Feldman, Business Advisor, Program Director of CEI Women's Business Center Northeast and facilitator of the monthly Biz Fit discussions, sharing her wisdom with Franklin County!
Come together to connect, share expertise, and learn from each other about running a business.
Location: CEI Office in Farmington at 165 Front Street Farmington, ME 04938.
Light refreshments will be provided.
Registration in advance is highly encouraged.
Agenda:
7:30 am-8:00 am - Facilitated conversation/educational presentation.
8:00am - 9:00am Meet, Share, & Connect - stay and chat, depart when you need to.
Register Today!
Join us on the first Tuesday in September too – click the link to register for our next meet up!
Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Interpretation is available upon request.
FREE
ContactTara Clark,
2077510442,
tara.clark@ceimaine.org
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. Women's Business Center
Enjoy bites and beverages, network with fellow business professionals, and gain valuable insights into innovations and opportunities in the Blue Economy.
No cost to attend. Hors d’oeuvres and cash bar.
ContactMaine International Trade Center,
2075417400,
mitcprograms@mitc.com
Maine International Trade Center (MITC)
Join us every Thursday this summer for the Fork Food Lab Happy Hour Market, your weekly celebration of local flavor, community vibes, and culinary creativity! This seasonal outdoor market features a rotating lineup of Fork Food Lab members and other Maine makers offering delicious bites, sips, and one-of-a-kind products.
It’s the perfect after-work destination: grab a drink, connect with friends, and explore what Maine’s vibrant food scene has to offer. Whether you’re a die-hard foodie or just looking to support small businesses in a laid-back setting, the Happy Hour Market is the place to be!
Follow @forkfoodlab on Instagram for weekly vendor updates, or subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at www.forkfoodlab.com.
Free!
ContactJillian Brazel,
2075580881,
jillian@forkfood.com
Fork Food Lab
Join AIGA Maine for a full-day conference exploring the theme of connections across the design field—from collaborative partnerships and AI ethics to community-building through visual storytelling.
This annual gathering brings together designers, educators, and creative professionals from across Maine and beyond for a day of inspiration, dialogue, and networking. The 2025 program features presentations and panels by local and international voices working at the intersection of design, culture, and impact, including:
Anne Dittmeyer: Paris-based Creative Catalyst + Facilitator of Possibility, leading a workshop on Creative Connections through Mapping
Ryan Adams & Rachel Gloria Adams: Portland-based muralist and multimedia artist duo
Kirk Wallace & Adam Danielson: Illustrator and creative director team
Rebecca Brooker: Founder of Queer Design Club + Creative Director at Planthouse Studio
Andrew Elijah Edwards: Artist and Professor of New Media at SMCC
Part of AIGA Maine Design Fest 2025, a weeklong celebration of design statewide.
$90
ContactEmily Foran,
415-722-8513,
hello@maine.aiga.org
Open to the public. Registration required. Discounts available for AIGA members, students, and educators—contact hello@maine.aiga.org for a code.
Hosted byAIGA Maine
Are you preparing for the Common Ground Fair or other fall fairs in Maine? Whether you're a seasoned vendor or just starting out, join us to share tips, lessons learned, what to expect, and how best to prepare for fall events.
Fall vendor registration deadlines are just around the corner, so let’s tap into our collective wisdom to make wise decisions about fall business opportunities.
Bring your coffee or tea and join us to listen, share, and learn from one another in curious conversation. Biz Fit is an informal, confidential, and supportive gathering of entrepreneurial women where we exchange ideas and share insights!
Register Today! Invite a friend!
Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Interpretation is available upon request.
FREE
ContactTara Clark,
2077510442,
tara.clark@ceimaine.org
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. Women's Business Center
This 8-hour ServSafe® Course from 9:00am - 5:00pm helps prepare you for the ServSafe® Food Protection Manager Certification exam.
The course covers these topics:
-The Importance of Food Safety
-Good Personal Hygiene
-Time and Temperature Control
-Preventing Cross-Contamination
-Cleaning and Sanitizing
-Safe Food Preparation
-Receiving and Storing Food
-Methods of Thawing, Cooking, Cooling, and Reheating Food
And more...
The exam will immediately follow the course.
Students will receive the ServSafe® Manager Book 7th Ed. revised, diagnostic exam, and practice exam approximately 2 weeks prior to the course.
Registration fees for this class are non-refundable.
When: Monday, Aug 11, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Location: Double Tree by Hilton, 363 Maine Mall Road, South Portland, ME-04106
If companies are registering multiple employees, they need to ensure to provide employee-specific registration information such as email, address, and phone number.
& 150
ContactKathy Savoie,
2073305239,
extension.rlreception@maine.edu
Registration closes July 28, 2025
Hosted byUniversity of Maine Cooperative Extension
Are you ready to take your social media presence to the next level but feel intimidated by Instagram Reels? You’re not alone! In this workshop, we’ll break down everything you need to know to create engaging Reels that boost your brand.
We’ll start with the basics of marketing and strategy, showing you why Reels are a powerful tool for growth. Then, we’ll get hands-on with the technical process of making them. If you’re not super tech-savvy, don’t worry! We’ll show you that it’s much easier than it looks.
You’ll learn how to select music, cut clips, add text, filters, and effects, and use Instagram’s in-app tools to create polished, dynamic Reels. By the end of this session, you’ll have the confidence to create content that stands out and grows your audience—whether you're a beginner or just looking to sharpen your skills.
Join us and start making Reels like a pro!
Free
ContactSCORE Maine,
2077721147,
scoremaine@gmail.com
Register for this free, online workshop here: https://www.score.org/centralmaine/event/reels-stories-modern-marketing-social-0
Hosted bySCORE Maine
Join us every Thursday this summer for the Fork Food Lab Happy Hour Market, your weekly celebration of local flavor, community vibes, and culinary creativity! This seasonal outdoor market features a rotating lineup of Fork Food Lab members and other Maine makers offering delicious bites, sips, and one-of-a-kind products.
It’s the perfect after-work destination: grab a drink, connect with friends, and explore what Maine’s vibrant food scene has to offer. Whether you’re a die-hard foodie or just looking to support small businesses in a laid-back setting, the Happy Hour Market is the place to be!
Follow @forkfoodlab on Instagram for weekly vendor updates, or subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at www.forkfoodlab.com.
Free!
ContactJillian Brazel,
2075580881,
jillian@forkfood.com
Fork Food Lab
Thinking about applying for a business loan? Whether you're just starting out or expanding an existing business, this workshop will help you understand what lenders are looking for—and how to prepare a strong application.
You’ll get straightforward advice from a commercial loan officer who’s worked with both startups and seasoned entrepreneurs. Learn how to present your business clearly, calculate how much funding you need, and avoid the common pitfalls that lead to denied applications.
What You’ll Learn:
How to prepare your business and personal financial documents
The difference between funding a startup vs. an established business
What to include in your “Ask” and how to present it
How personal credit affects your application
What lenders look for in financial projections and business plans
Register now for this free webinar and learn what it takes to approach the bank with confidence.
Free
ContactSCORE Maine,
2077721147,
scoremaine@gmail.com
Register for this free, online workshop here: https://www.score.org/southernmaine/event/business-bank-loan-application-tips-4
Hosted bySCORE Maine
Join us every Thursday this summer for the Fork Food Lab Happy Hour Market, your weekly celebration of local flavor, community vibes, and culinary creativity! This seasonal outdoor market features a rotating lineup of Fork Food Lab members and other Maine makers offering delicious bites, sips, and one-of-a-kind products.
It’s the perfect after-work destination: grab a drink, connect with friends, and explore what Maine’s vibrant food scene has to offer. Whether you’re a die-hard foodie or just looking to support small businesses in a laid-back setting, the Happy Hour Market is the place to be!
Follow @forkfoodlab on Instagram for weekly vendor updates, or subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at www.forkfoodlab.com.
Free!
ContactJillian Brazel,
2075580881,
jillian@forkfood.com
Fork Food Lab
What business structure is best for your venture? How do you legally set up your small business as a specific entity?
In this 1-hour webinar, WBC Business Advisor, Grace Mo-Phillips will review the differences between Sole Proprietor and Limited Liability Company (LLC) business structures.
Grace will demonstrate:
What the benefits are to Sole Prop vs LLC
What you need to have to formally set up your business structure
How to legally formalize your business
Come with questions!
Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Interpretation is available upon request.
FREE
ContactTara Clark,
2075045900,
tara.clark@ceimaine.org
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. Women's Business Center
Join us every Thursday this summer for the Fork Food Lab Happy Hour Market, your weekly celebration of local flavor, community vibes, and culinary creativity! This seasonal outdoor market features a rotating lineup of Fork Food Lab members and other Maine makers offering delicious bites, sips, and one-of-a-kind products.
It’s the perfect after-work destination: grab a drink, connect with friends, and explore what Maine’s vibrant food scene has to offer. Whether you’re a die-hard foodie or just looking to support small businesses in a laid-back setting, the Happy Hour Market is the place to be!
Follow @forkfoodlab on Instagram for weekly vendor updates, or subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at www.forkfoodlab.com.
Free!
ContactJillian Brazel,
2075580881,
jillian@forkfood.com
Fork Food Lab
Do you spend time thinking about how there “has to be an easier way”, there “has to be a more effective way”, or there has to be something that can “do this thing better and faster than me”?
As a small business owner, you most likely think about this a lot but may not know where to start to figure it out!
In this 8-week cohort, facilitated by Tara Servilio, we will work from the point of view that implementing some targeted technology-based changes can support our business goals. We will also work from the point of view that we have limited resources, including time, capacity, and financial means to do this with.
Your goals may be to streamline, create efficiencies, focus your time differently, increase awareness and sales, organize your finances better, or just generally increase your capabilities to run the business from end-to-end.
Our objective is to:
Identify areas that could benefit from technology, and define what that technology is,
How technology will work within your business,
Focus on both front of house (customer experience, processes, and accessibility) and back of house (business and offering processes and administrative tasks).
We will alternate between Workshop Sessions, where we learn and discuss concepts and tools, and Lab Sessions, where we spend time focused on applying the learning to our business.
You will leave the cohort with a support network, as well as, a clearly defined end-to-end view of what, where, why, and how you want to implement technology into your business.
This program is for Maine-based female business owners who are currently in-business.
Program Outline:
Define End-to-End Operations: We start by mapping out our businesses current end-to-end operations, and the most important points of action within those. We will focus on identifying manual actions, and if those should stay as is, or evolve into a more standardized or automated action.
Identify Areas of Opportunities: Through the definitional work done above, you will identify where there are pain points, constraints, and opportunities for technology to support these activities. Again, keeping in mind if that activity is best supported by being manual, standardized, and / or automated in some way.
Plan and Budget for Change: Having clearly understood what you need to focus on, we will work to identify technologies and options to fit your needs, and begin to plan the time, and resources required to make it happen, including vendors, money, and knowledge / information.
Session Dates:
Monday, September 8th, 9:00am-10:30am
Monday, September 15th, 9:00am-10:30am
Monday, September 22nd, 9:00am-10:30am
Monday, September 29th, 9:00am-10:30am
Monday, October 6th, 9:00am-10:30am
(No Session October 13th)
Monday, October 20th, 9:00am-10:30am
Monday, October 27th, 9:00am-10:30am
Monday, November 3rd, 9:00am-10:30am
Register Today!
Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Interpretation is available upon request.
FREE
ContactTara Clark,
2075045900,
tara.clark@ceimaine.org
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. Women's Business Center