Possum Hollow Farm Soaps

Organic and environmentally responsive soaps and skincare. When Robin and Jim Bedford started making soap as part of their family business, they determined to make it the best they could utilizing natural ingredients and being environmentally conscious. When their son Derek and Jennifer were married, soaps were the wedding favors. Derek and then Jennifer joined the business sometime after, determined to further develop the soap business. The business began in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania and the name Possum Hollow Farm Soap came about because there was a possum hollow behind the family farmhouse. While in Pennsylvania, Derek and Jennifer…

Blueprints Early Learning Center

Building Foundations of Love When you open the door into Blueprints Early Learning Center in Lebanon, it is clearly a place where love abounds. Some children are busy with projects, others listening intently to a story read by one of the teachers and more are just waking up from naps. The infant room for little ones has two teachers and while some babies sleep, others are awake and being cuddled and fed. It is evident that the children are enjoying every minute and the staff provides a circle of calm and caring that make this the town’s number one full-service…

The Sellam Circus School

When an international circus performer and a girl entranced with the circus since age 8 got married, it seemed natural that they would base their new Sellam Circus School in her home state of Maine. In the summer of 2015, Amity Stoddard and Sellam El Ouahabi founded the Sellam Circus School and launched their Maine Coast Summer Circus Arts day camp program. This includes a summer camp for circus arts inside a traveling big top tent, as well as weekend performances by students and professionals. The circus played throughout coastal Maine including the towns of Biddeford, Rockport and Bar Harbor.…

Kate Nelligan Design

Designing a Bright and Colorful Future “Even with an award-winning business plan, banks kept saying no.” That’s when Kate Nelligan contacted Southern Maine Finance Agency (SMFA). Kate had been turned down by a number of banks as she sought to bring her design business to the village of Kennebunkport. She had even found retail space in the super competitive Dock Square area on her own, but it was SMFA that believed in her concepts and successful track record that made the financing possible. Kate, who is a Kennebunkport native, had started her own business after working for a number of corporations and…

Fernleaf Bakery and Coffee House, Saco

A Bakery Grows in Saco How many bakers do you know who have a degree in Chemical Engineering? And a background in computer programming? Oh, as well as a degree from the New England Culinary Institute in Baking and Pastry Arts? Well if you know an international couple with that pedigree, you must know Irene Lim, who together with her husband Thys, are the owners of Fernleaf Bakery and Coffee House in Saco. When these two natives of Malaysia (Irene) and Zambia (Thys) met in Toronto they were both working in business, but both also wanted a lifestyle change and…

Biscuits and Company

Grandmother’s recipe creates a startup business. When Stacy Cooper, working in Boston, decided to move to Maine, she brought along her grandmother’s biscuit recipe and a desire to be an entrepreneur. After selling her biscuits at local fairs and the Kennebunk Farmers Market, her friends and partner encouraged her to apply for the 2013 Biddeford Main Street Challenge and fulfill her dream of opening a restaurant. After Stacy made it to the second round, she reached out to a small business coach to work on her business plan and design some market research. When she won the competition’s $10,000 prize,…

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