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,…

Hyperlite Mountain Gear

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…

Prescott Metal

Prescott Metal is a metal fabrication company located in Biddeford, Maine that has been in business for almost 100 years. When they have expanded and acquired other businesses, Southern Maine Finance Agency (SMFA) has provided them with the funding to complete these projects. “Prescott Metal has approached SMFA several times with needs for gap funding to complete an acquisition or expansion. Every time we have needed financing, they have worked with us to assure that we get the money we need in a timely manner to maintain our production schedules. SMFA has really helped our business stay on track.” John…

News