Photo / Courtesy of Donna Cassese
Donna Cassese, who worked in the paper industry for years, is the SCORE Bangor chapter chair. She also chairs Maine Technology Institute’s board of directors.
Updated: August 23, 2021
Focus on Greater Bangor & Northern Main
Nonprofit startups are a growing trend in northern Maine
During a busy year for SCORE mentors in northern Maine, a growing number of mission-minded clients are seeking advice on launching nonprofits.
“The number of people who want to start a nonprofit is unbelievable,” says Donna Cassese, SCORE’s Bangor chapter chair. “They want to make the world a better place by contributing their expertise.”
Cassese, who is based in Skowhegan, has been with SCORE for about three years. A paper industry veteran, she now works as a part-time consultant for Sappi (her former employer) and for Puritan Medical Products, the Guilford-based maker of cotton swabs. She also chairs Maine Technology Institute’s board of directors.
In her role at SCORE, part of a national network of no-cost small-business mentors, Cassese is one of 28 volunteers working with clients throughout northern Maine. Nationwide, SCORE mentors have helped more than 11 million small business owners since 1964, according to the group’s website.
Cassese says that while in 2020 she and her team were mainly helping clients get business and funding support to cope with the pandemic, they’re now fielding increasing queries about launching nonprofits — two or three in the last month — and buying or selling a small business.
“We have two really solid mentors in our chapter that have owned and sold businesses, and we’re able to help people in that space,” she says. That includes helping buyers ask the right questions and understand the value proposition so that they pay the right price.
“For the sellers, it is important to have their financials up to date to be prepared for questions by potential buyers,” she says.
Another area of high demand is from people leaving a staff position to strike out on their own as a consultant in their area of expertise, as Cassese did herself when she left Sappi.
Not all clients are based in Maine, either, she says: “We have several clients right now who are out of state but want to work with us so they can transfer their businesses up here. A lot of our work on their behalf is around licensing and talking to the right contacts in the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, to get established here.”
As for SCORE Bangor, Cassese says the team can always use more volunteer mentors, particularly those who can listen without judging.
“We are looking for volunteers with the experience and perspective to help entrepreneurs to be successful,” she adds.
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