Less is More When Mike St Pierre despaired of finding a backpack and tent that wouldn’t weigh him down as he escaped from the kitchen to New York’s Adirondacks, he did what every self-respecting high-end chef would do; he whipped up his own. Working in his Brooklyn apartment on his mom and grandma’s sewing machines, he experimented with materials, bonding and sewing to come up with backpacks and tents that were infinitely better than he could find in the marketplace. At half the weight or better, and waterproof, the material he settled on, Dyneema, was unforgiving, but made from fibers…

Biddeford’s Pepperell Mill Campus is one of the premier redeveloped mill complexes in New England.  Almost 150 businesses and over 100 residents call this sixteen-building campus home. Doug Sanford credits Southern Maine Finance Agency (SMFA) with facilitating financing with local banks and Southern Maine Planning & Development Commission to push this redevelopment project forward. “SMFA worked with us through every phase of this project to collaborate with bankers and SMPDC to get us the funding we needed to keep our development on schedule. They can be credited with providing critical financing that contributed to the success of this mill redevelopment…

Shields Meats and Produce, Inc. has been doing business in Kennebunk, Maine since 1923. In 2004, Shields added a line of hot dogs to meet market demands and needed additional financing. Southern Maine Finance Agency (SMFA) assisted the company with funding to facilitate this growth. “We determined that SMFA would be a great option for our financing needs. They really listened to our needs and matched us with the correct loan.” Dean and Greg ShieldsOwnersShields MeatsKennebunk, Maine