Category: Blog

In Maine’s seasonal economy, many rely on what we like to think of as the three-legged stool of seasonal work: a mixture of summer, winter, and year-round employment—or small businesses that contract and expand as the season allows. A downturn in one means that we try to increase sales in another. One leg gets a little wobbly, and we strengthen the others. We never planned for all three legs to be swept out from under us. Now, resilience has taken on a whole new meaning. It’s now about adaptation for survival.

The coronavirus, the pandemic, the lock-downs, the general disruption to our lives and those of our neighbors, the severe impact on businesses (especially the small and extremely small): all of these developments are entwined and are wreaking havoc on our communities and our ability to plan for the future. Unlike other economic downturns, the economic fallout from the coronavirus was sudden and steep. Like other economic downturns, the amount of time it will last—and which is the right path out—is unknown.

If you are a small business owner in Maine you’ve probably seen all of the emails whizzing by about the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program funds being replenished. We just wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with information and links, both new and updated, to help you navigate this new funding landscape. Details of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) listed below:

With Maine’s Stay Healthy at Home mandate and an executive order in place closing hotels except for a few very limited purposes, what do you do if you live on one of the offshore islands with limited ferry service and need to go to the mainland to get food or other supplies or visit a doctor? The co-chairs of the Maine Islands Coalition (MIC), the heads of the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce, Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, Mount Desert Chamber of Commerce, and the Island Institute recently sent a letter to Governor Mills requesting clarity on exceptions to the executive order’s closing of lodging operations.

For the fourth episode in our “Business in Uncertain Times” podcast series, we speak with Shannon Byers, a business advisor with the Maine Small Business Development Centers and the center director for the location at Coastal Enterprises, Inc. in Ellsworth. As a business advisor, Shannon has she been helping business owners navigate federal aid and also innovate and think creatively right now.

For the third episode in our “Business in Uncertain Times” podcast series, we take a deeper look into the nuts and bolts of the CARES Act with Craig Olson, senior community development officer and head of the Small Business team at the Island Institute, and in the second part, we speak with Alison Thibault, owner of WindHorse Arts in downtown Vinalhaven, a jeweler of 20 years who has been working diligently to stay on top of the Small Business Administration’s various disaster relief programs.

To better understand how our local small businesses are doing during this time of change, we are making a series of pre-recorded interviews with some of Maine’s island and coastal small businesses. These short conversations designed to check in with these businesses, understand their concerns, and hear what’s working well. This week, we talk with Gabe Pendleton of Pendleton Yacht Yard on Islesboro as he navigates the SBA relief loans and the recent CARES Act.