Free business boot camp in Ellsworth aims to help area entrepreneurs
Courtesy / Shannon Byers
Ellsworth will host an inaugural business boot camp March 27-29 designed to help businesses in Hancock and Washington counties.
A new business boot camp in Ellsworth is poised to help business owners in Hancock and Washington counties.
Hosted by Coastal Enterprises Inc., the free Downeast Business Boot Camp & Pitch-Off is a three-day event, March 27-29, that will consist of workshops and mentoring, followed by a pitch competition with two prizes of in-kind services.
The event, at 142 Main St. in downtown Ellsworth, builds on entrepreneurial activity underway in the region, Shannon Byers, who is leading the effort, told Mainebiz.
Partners include Heart of Ellsworth, Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce and Mount Desert 365. The event was made possible through a grant from the Maine Community Foundation and sponsorship from Machias Savings Bank.
Byers is a certified business advisor with Maine Small Business Development Centers at CEI’s Ellsworth office
“We’re seeing a lot of tourism related-businesses and food businesses, as well as some technology-related business,” she said. “About two-thirds of our clients are starting up a business, and a third are in a business. Most are looking for capital, either to start or grow a business. They want help in developing a business plan, someone to talk through their ideas with.”
The boot camp is a spin-off from the Mount Desert Business Boot Camp and Pitch Competition, organized by the nonprofit Mount Desert 365, said Byers.
As a former small-business owner herself, she said, she can attest to the concept’s helpfulness.
“I took part in a lot of business competitions,” she said. “They’re a great way to challenge business owners to think differently and there’s also free money and services. So it’s a win-win. When I started working in the Ellsworth office, I said, 'We need this in this area.'”
Any business owner in Hancock or Washington counties can apply.
The curriculum will include workshops on topics such as understanding customers, the business value proposition, telling a business "story," breaking even, financials and fundraising.
Two awards of cash and in-kind services will be given at the pitch competition, one based on an audience vote and the other awarded by a panel of judges.
For more information, click here.
Ellsworth made a commitment to entrepreneurship when the city, its development arm, the Ellsworth Business Development Corp., and community partners founded a business incubator, the Union River Center for Innovation, in 2016.
The center today houses business start-ups, including Monoclonals Inc., a biotechnology firm focused on the development of antibodies for certain strains of bacteria and viruses.
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