The Mainebiz Small Business Forum 2024
On August 7th, attendees gathered at the Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport to hear a panel of small business owners and entrepreneurs as they explored a variety of topics addressing the challenges facing small businesses and startups.
In addition to sharing their experience and expertise to help companies work through and solve complex issues, the panelists touched on topics including the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, HR innovations, and how to strike the balance between automation and maintaining a personalized customer experience.
Some of our favorite takeaways from the discussion:
If you could go back to when you first started, what advice would you give to yourself?
"Do a great job with humble inquiry and getting to know your people. If you show that curiosity as a servant leader, that's going to earn you so much goodwill and trust with your employees."
- Dottie Chalmers Cutter, Chalmers Insurance, CEO
"First to have confidence in going with your natural intuition, but five years ago, I would've encouraged myself to think even bigger. We've benefited from some incredible folks and institutions [in Maine] as we grow."
- Ben Davis, OpBox, Co-founder
On scalability and growing businesses in Maine:
"The state of Maine has the moxie. We have the dedication. We have the workforce. We have ingenuity. All those things we pride ourselves on are real and they're also scalable. We believe in the state of Maine and we want to create value in the state of Maine."
- Matthew O'Malia, TimberHP, Co-Founder & VP
"There's opportunity everywhere you look if you work hard and you're honest and you have integrity. There's the opportunity to leverage this on a bigger scale. We've got people here that deserve it and can get it done."
- Matt McGrath, Systems Engineering, CEO
"Do everything you can to help others. Share that information of the assistance you've gotten. We have a tremendous network in this state that helps small businesses."
- Diane L. Sturgeon, District Director, Maine District Office, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Small Business Administration
Join us next year to equip yourself with the knowledge and strategies needed to thrive in today's dynamic business landscape!
