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.

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.

Date: Thursday, August 21, 2025
Films begin at: 7:45PM, be sure to arrive early to get a spot!
Admission: $15 per person, $50 for a family of four.
Pre-registration appreciated, but not required: Pre-registration Link
Location: Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park 9 Atterbury Cir, Winter Harbor, ME 04693
Presented by: Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park
Program Notes: The film program will last about one hour and forty minutes.
Please bring your own chair for comfort and safety. You might also consider bringing a headlamp, a brown bag lunch and bug dope.

Locally Supported by: Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park and Design Group Collaborative

Scheduled Program:

*Film Program Subject To Change*

OCEAN PURSUITS | 11.67 minutes | by Casey Nava | Maine | Short synopsis: Surfing and creativity intersect in Maine in winter.

TENDING THE TIDES | 5.25 minutes | by Trixie Betz | Maine | Short synopsis: Maine hosts the nation’s first registered Seaweed and Shellfish Aquaculture Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprenticeship programs. Tending the Tides follows young participants as they build careers on the water. Through hands-on training and mentorship, these future sea farmers gain skills to thrive in Maine’s growing aquaculture industry – while helping sustain the state’s working waterfronts.

THE SNOWY OWLS OF LOGAN AIRPORT | 8.98 minutes | by Anna M Miller | United States | Short synopsis: Norman Smith, often referred to as the “Owl Man of Logan Airport” has been relocating snowy owls from Boston’s busiest runways for the last 43 years.

YOUR LAST BEST: A MEMPHIS ROX STORY | 16.32 minutes | by Glen Janssens | United States | Short synopsis: Hope comes to a South Memphis neighborhood that has struggled with basic resources. It takes the unlikely form of a climbing gym, where Jarmond Johnson and others experience different outcomes on the wall.

2 LEGS IS 2 EASY | 6.42 minutes | by Tamara Susa | United States | Short synopsis: Steve Karczewski was born with bone cancer in his leg. After a year of chemotherapy, his leg was amputated above the knee. Nowadays, Steve is seen on the slopes of Roaring Fork Valley. He was recruited by Challenge Aspen in 2008 to join their Paralympic racing team. There, coaches trained him to ski without a prosthetic, on one ski.

FOOTPRINTS ON KATMAI | 21.83 minutes | by Max Romey | United States | Short synopsis: Following his Grandmother’s footsteps to one of the most remote and bear-strewn beaches in Alaska, painter Max Romey discovers that an ocean of problems is closer to home than he could have imagined.

ABOUT DAMN TIME | 25.9 minutes | by Dana Romanoff | United States | Short synopsis: A boatman’s tale about the women who row the iconic dories in the Grand Canyon, their struggles to break into the current, and the passing of the oars to the next generation.

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.

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.

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 JP Fortier Executive Director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce.

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!

Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Interpretation is available upon request.

The University of Southern Maine will host the inaugural Forum on American Democracy on Wednesday, September 3 with keynote speaker Eboo Patel. This event aims to engage the community in productive, thoughtful conversations around democratic society.

Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith America, will kick off the Forum on American Democracy at USM’s Hannaford Hall with his keynote, Strengthening Democracy Through Pluralism. Patel will reflect on the role that campuses, communities, and individuals can play in bridging divides and turning diversity into a civic strength.

The year-long public series, hosted by USM President Jacqueline Edmondson, will highlight pluralism’s past and future impacts on democracy, civic life, and public policy. The forum will continue to host events throughout the school year into the spring semester.

This event is made possible by the generous support of the Pond Family Foundation.

Are you one of the 11% of women in the trades field? Whether you're a seasoned pro, in training, just starting out, or part of a team - join this month's Biz Fit discussion!

Are you in HVAC, plumbing, carpentry, construction, or another skilled trade? Or maybe you're looking to hire a tradesperson?

Join us for a lively, supportive conversation where we’ll

Share challenges,
Celebrate wins,
Ask questions, and
Explore ideas for growing your career or business in the trades field.
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.

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.

Thinking of starting a business? Not sure where to begin?

Starting a business can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re not sure what steps to take first. Should you register your name? Get a license? Write a business plan? What if you miss something and end up in trouble with the IRS?

In this webinar, Maine SBDC Business Advisor Vien Dobui will walk you through a comprehensive Startup Checklist that covers key legal, financial, and logistical steps to launching a business the right way.

We’ll focus on:

- Registering your business and choosing a legal structure
- Understanding what licenses, permits, and insurance you may need
- Navigating taxes and financial basics
- Building a foundation with tools like market research and a business plan

We’ll leave plenty of time for Q&A, and you’ll walk away with the confidence to take the next steps toward becoming a legitimate business owner.

This is Part 1 of our three-part Startup Series, designed to guide aspiring entrepreneurs through the key fundamentals of starting a business. Upcoming sessions will cover:

- Business Planning Tools
- Financial Forecasting

Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. SBA. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact mainesbdc@maine.edu

In this 1-hour workshop, Marissa Henkel, Procurement Counselor at Maine APEX will present on the Women Owned Small Business Certification.

Join this session to learn:

What are the benefits of being a certified WOSB?
Who is eligible?
How do I apply for the certification?
There will be time for Q+A, come with questions!

Register Today!

Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Interpretation is available upon request.

Why do some brands feel instantly magnetic while others fade into the background? It’s not luck—it’s clarity of character.

In this 2-hour workshop, Emily Willis of Modment Studio will dive into the power of brand archetypes: timeless personality frameworks that help businesses connect emotionally with their audience.

Discover which archetype aligns with your business, how it shapes the way you communicate, and how to harness it to create a more cohesive and authentic brand experience.

In this 2-hour session, you will:

Learn what brand archetypes are and why they resonate across industries

Take a simple quiz to help you uncover your brand’s primary archetype

Learn how to apply your archetype to your messaging, visuals, and customer experience

This is an interactive small-group session designed for small business owners who want to stand out by being more themselves. Through guided exercises and group discussions, you’ll gain practical insights into using archetypes to craft stronger emotional connections with your audience.

You’ll leave with a mini guide of tone words, content prompts, and brand alignment tips tailored to your archetype — giving you a clear path to infuse more personality into your brand.

Stop guessing how to “stand out.” Start showing up as the brand you were meant to be.

This program is meant for Maine-Based business owners who are currently in business.

Seats are limited, secure your spot today!

Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Interpretation is available upon request.

Join us on September 17th as we kick off our Morning Menu Breakfast Event Series with an overview of Key Tax Provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill.

This event is sponsored by Norway Savings Bank.

A practical, three-part webinar series designed to demystify search engine optimization for small business owners and DIY web designers. Each session provides actionable insights to help small business owners improve their online presence—whether you're building a site from scratch, trying to attract more local customers, or crafting content that gets noticed. Learn how to build a strong SEO foundation, boost your local visibility, and create content that ranks and resonates. No tech background required!

In the first part of this series, you'll learn how to optimize a website from the ground up. We’ll cover how search engines work, what affects rankings, and which elements are most important to get right early on.

Bring your questions for a dynamic Q&A session!

This is a free webinar put on by Maine SBDC and WanderWeb!

Corey Daigle is the founder and CEO of WanderWeb, a Maine-based boutique agency (est. 2019) specializing in SEO-first web design for health, wellness, nonprofit, and MedSpa clients. She also leads DIY SEO workshops for small business owners, sharing practical guidance to improve Google visibility and website performance.

Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. SBA. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact mainesbdc@maine.edu

Sign up today to attend the Innovations in Early Education Showcase, a virtual resource fair designed specifically for child care providers who are looking to enhance their programs for their children, families, and employees! This dynamic session will feature local entrepreneurs and community programs who offer innovative strategies aimed at creating healthy spaces and engaging young learners in creative ways.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with industry experts and passionate advocates for early childhood education from right here in Maine! All child care providers, teachers, and community members are welcome and will leave equipped to incorporate new practices into their routines.

Click here to RSVP: https://www.ceimaine.org/event/child-care-business-lab-innovations-in-early-education-showcase/