The Sweet Life Kettle Corn, LLC of Farmington Falls and Four Pines Painting of Poland, Maine have been selected as New Ventures Maine’s spring 2018 Western Marketing Mini-Grant recipients. They were selected from a strong group of applicants from Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford counties.
The Sweet Life Kettle Corn, LLC
Mother/daughter trio, Janice Crandall, Erica Emery, and Tabitha Mitchell, founded The Sweet Life Kettle Corn, LLC in 2015. They make small batch kettle corn stirred by hand. You can find their products at farmer’s markets, community events, music events, and festivals. They are expanding their production capacity for wholesale distribution at new retail markets. “We are so excited to be on the path to getting our kettle corn to larger wholesale accounts!” says Emery. They will use the Marketing Mini-grant to design and print new labels.
Four Pines Painting
Kyle Harrington, Josh Niss, David Muise and Mike Banaitis decided to form Four Pines Painting in 2018 after painting together for several years. Four Pines Painting provides services to both commercial and residential clients in Central, Southern and Western Maine. Together the team has over 30 years of painting experience.
They will use the Marketing Mini-grant to design and print reusable signs that will raise brand awareness. “We are grateful to New Ventures Maine for fostering the entrepreneurial spirit and awarding us this grant,” says David Muise. “The investment this grant allowed us to make was something we had wanted to do, but hadn’t. This grant kicked started the process and helped us see this marketing endeavor through to completion.”
About the Mini-Grant Program
New Ventures Maine’s Marketing Mini-Grant program aims to strengthen access to markets for micro-businesses by supporting the development of marketing tools, materials, and activities. The Marketing Mini-Grant program is funded in part by Norway Savings Bank. If you are interested in learning more about the Mini-Grant program, call 1.800.442.2092 or find contact one of our Microenterprise Specialists in your area.