The 2026 NVME Marketing Mini-grant Call for Applications closed on January 30, 2026. 

Thank you to all of the 2026 applicants!

We will post updates on the 2026 contest here when we have news of the winners. Best of luck to everyone who applied this year!

Background

Many small businesses have benefited from the NVME marketing mini-grant program since its launch in 2010. NVME marketing mini-grants are awarded annually through a competitive application process and support the development of marketing tools, materials, and activities. NVME awards cash mini-grants (up to $1,000 per region) to small businesses for current marketing projects.

Eligibility

Applicants include individual microbusiness owners, business partners, or groups of business owners. Businesses apply for the region in which they are based.

Contest Criteria

– five or fewer full-time equivalent employees

– gross annual sales of no more than $150,000 in the previous calendar year

– sales within the last 12 months

Use of Funds

New Ventures Maine’s mini-grants support new or expanded business marketing and promotion.

More Information

View the rubric our panel of judges will use to review and score applications.

Apply

The next call for applications will open in the fall of 2026.

Contacts

If you have questions, please contact the NVME microenterprise staff person in your area:

• Aroostook County – Destin DeCambre, 207-768-9468, destin.decambre@maine.edu

• Kennebec & Somerset Counties – Alicia LaFosse, 207-621-7457, alicia.lafosse@maine.edu or Gina Platt, 207-753-6581, gina.platt@maine.edu

• Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox & Waldo Counties, including the towns of Brunwick and Harpswell – Alicia LaFosse, 207-621-7457, alicia.lafosse@maine.edu

• Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock & Washington Counties – Banjo Ogunlela, 207-262-7842,
oyebanjo.ogunlela@maine.edu

• Cumberland & York Counties – Martha Leonard, 207-245-3663, martha.leonard@maine.edu

• Androscoggin, Oxford & Franklin Counties – Gina Platt, 207-753-6581, gina.platt@maine.edu