Entrepreneurs completing Venturing Forth, NVME’s comprehensive business planning class, gathered last month for their final presentations. Ten of the new business owners presented their business plans to friends and colleagues at UMA’s Klahr Center in Augusta.
Plans for new businesses that will launch across the state in the coming months include:
- Wildwood Meadows – B&B & event center (Laura Bogardus & Thomas Sorenson)
- TBC Creations – kitchen lab and desserts (Rebecca Andrews)
- Birch Haven Art Studio (Lynn Cote)
- Funky Neenie – print & fabric design (Deneen Stambone)
- Home of the Domes – affordable housing (Nichole Rivers)
- Rebel Heart Homestead & Rescue (Carrie Schaeffer)
- Insani Tee’s printing business & food truck (Danielle Alley & Sterling Nichols)
- Lobster picking tool (Lisa Archer)
- The Bright Day Project – child-centered nonprofit (Ellie Larrabee)
Completing the class required 60 hours of business planning covering customers, competition, marketing, record keeping, taxes, financing, legal aspects of running a business, and much more.
Graduates are pictured with NVME microenterprise specialists Destin DeCambre and Oyebanjo Ogunlela, who co-taught the class.
The next Venturing Forth class starts online on January 13. An application, attendance at the orientation session, and an interview are required to attend the class. The application deadline is Friday, January 2 at 12:00 p.m. noon.
Venturing Forth is funded in part by the Maine Technology Institute.