Midcoast Entrepreneurs: Bright Ideas, Creativity and Enterprise

LINCOLNVILLE—Fans of Chez Michel Restaurant on Route One were pleasantly surprised to see a new post on the restaurant’s Facebook page after more than a year of inactivity.

The restaurant, which did not reopen the summer of 2020—another casualty of the pandemic—announced on Facebook Friday, October 1, that it is now open and has transformed with a new twist: it’s now called the Beach Inn Market filled to the brim with antiques and collectibles as well as art, and wine from chef/owners…

CAMDEN — Have you ever wondered if the charity to which you are donating is actually putting your money to good work? Or, perhaps you have pondered how you can become better involved with a nonprofit and offer more to a cause close to your heart. Maybe, you are on the board of a nonprofit and contemplating how to move the charity to new heights. 

For A Good…

Painted Monarch is a relaxed salon with a cozy atmosphere and boho vibes. Quinn Bunting, a Mainer with entrepreneurial spirits, crafts experiences that allow you to express yourself as an individual, inspired by a new generation of hair that she's making her mark in.

Quinn's passions lie in bringing out the beauty in those around her. This 22-year-old owner, color enthusiast and stylist always keeps her finger on the pulse of constantly changing trends, products…

ROCKLAND — This is a feel-good story about a local business owner doing well by doing good.

Alvin Chase is the owner of Eastern Tire and Auto Service in Rockland. He has worked there for 33 years. His grandfather ran it for the original owners back in the 1940s through the 1960s, then his father worked there and bought the business. Alvin left Cornell and came back to help his father run the business when his father got sick in 1988. Later, his younger brother Aaron joined the team.…

BELFAST — There’s a new rowing business navigating the waters of Belfast Bay, launched by Nicolle Littrell. She is offering rowing lessons and guided rowing tours in the Bay, and efforts are challenging the gender status quo of rowing. 

What makes DoryWoman Rowing most unique, Littrell said, is there is no other company providing guided tours and rowing lessons in a traditional wooden boat in Belfast Bay with a Maine Guide, and perhaps even in the entire state. An individual with the…

CAMDEN— A shuttered food stand, formerly Deirdre’s Roadside Takeout, opposite of the Camden Hills State Park, has been brought back to life by Andrew Lipman in the form of a to-go taqueria.

Called Two Dudes Tacos, the funny thing is that it’s just one dude running the show.

“There was another dude, but he dropped out, so my other…

STOCKTON SPRINGS—The former private Stockton Harbor Yacht Club has been transformed into a public restaurant called The Club Marina and Bar and its quiet harborside vibe is a hidden gem.

Owner Jillian Liversidge and her husband, Sandy Liversidge, purchased the shuttered building six years ago.  First, they created the nonprofit Stockton Harbor Yacht Club, which Liversidge said brought many people together. Both she and her husband grew up on boats and envisioned a place for boaters…

HOPE—Blue Barren Distillery, formerly based in Camden, has gotten a new lease on life in Hope, and is once again, is open to the public.

Many businesses have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, but no one got the one-two-three punch as Blue Barren Distillery did back in the spring and summer of 2020 when COVID-19 not only shut down Blue Barren Distillery’s tasting room capacity but also forced the distillery’s co-owner Andrew Stewart to have to close his Scottish pub Drouthy Bear…

HOPE—Maine’s first Wild Blueberry Weekend is rolling out this weekend August 7 and 8 just in time for wild blueberry processing season with more than 15 farms and 40 businesses planning to participate over the state.

Amid hundreds of acres of rolling hills in Hope sits a new building that serves as a processing center, distillery space, and a tasting room for Brodis Blueberries, a business that has been in operation for more than 150 years.

Ron Howard is the son-in-law of…

HOPE—The Hope General Store serves as a catalyst in 19-year-old Emma Jordan’s short film The Musicbox, which won an Honorary Mention award at the 43rd Maine Student Film an Video Festival this year, run by the Maine International Film Festival.

“I had to come up with a Halloween-themed short film for a school project,” said Jordan, who studied filmmaking at the Mid-coast School of Technology through its Design/Technology program.

With an eye on submitting a short film…

LIBERTY—The quiet little inland town of Liberty certainly has it going on these days. Good Natured, a home goods and artisan shop with nature-inspired crafts and decor held its Grand Opening on July 31.

Owner Kate Meadows, a maker and artist herself, had been wanting to open her own shop for two years after moving to Liberty with her husband from Pennsylvania.

The shop is a rustic combination of repurposed vintage items and nature-made art. Inside, one can find old bottles,…

WISCASSET—Lobster. Blueberries. Beer. Maine’s most well-known fare is synonymous with the state. But, what about sea salt? Seaweed? Kombucha and Jun? The native products that can be derived from Maine’s land and sea are so much more and Maine Tasting Center aims to educate the public about it, while providing a brew-pub style space to taste all of it.

Sara Gross, general manager, and her parents Andy Gross, president, and Elizabeth Gross, chef, opened the Center the first of July,…

ROCKLAND—A wild idea turned out to be the smartest thing that Richard Curtis, a lobsterman out of Friendship, ever had.

He’d never run a food truck before. “One day, I found a truck for sale in Newcastle and I thought, ‘You know what? I’m gonna go buy that tomorrow,’” he said.

His new food truck, Mac Attack, just opened this past week.  The business run by his fiancée Siearra Cook and his sister, Elizabeth Main, has been only been open a week but is attracting long lines just…

UNITY—The rolling vineyards and farmhouse that once was the site of Clem and Jeri Blakney’s Younity Winery have gotten new owners and a new business. Now called Stone Tree Farm & Cidery, the small-batch winery and cidery opened June 12.

Owners and life partners Brian Erickson and Frank Haferland were in touch with the Blakneys years before Blakney was…

CAMDEN—Two new businesses have filled the vacant storefronts left from the pandemic in Camden and two stores have re-opened. All of these businesses opened after we published our annual Midcoast business round-up story, “Welcome back to the Camden area, Snow Birds 2021!”

New in Camden

BELFAST—Restaurants and businesses in Belfast are going toe to toe and pun to pun with an emerging sign war.

As we reported on a story in May, central Maine businesses got a chuckle from launching into a sign war, where the name of the game is to be cheeky, use puns, and lob a good-natured diss.

We’re not sure why the…

BELFAST—Shaved ice, a treat once popular with surfers in California in the 1960s, has made a comeback in 2021 in the form of Belfast Shaved Ice & Provisions, a family-owned concession stand in the heart of Belfast City Park.

Run by Ashley Messner and Rick Strout who live in Brooks, the family leases the food stand from the city and has help from the children, Lennen Ewald and Camille Ewald.

There are 25 all-natural flavors of shaved ice.

“We were vacationing four…

WISCASSET—Ironically, Wiscasset’s first brewery is named after the nearby town 10 minutes away, but there’s a story for that. On Route 1, opposite from the Shaw’s Supermarket, Bath Ale Works, co-owned by Pepper and Jean Powers opened its brewery and taproom Memorial Day Weekend.

Powers, who arguably has one of the coolest brewer’s names ever, said, “We had the idea to open up in Bath several years ago, but we never found the right building at the right time, and then when we did, we…

BELFAST—The retro hobbies of knitting and sewing came roaring back during the pandemic for many people new to the craft, but Julz Larrabee, a sewist in Stockton Springs, has steadily stitching along all of the years, regardless of what’s going on outside her doors.

Her small shop, Julz Makes LLC, recently moved into the former “Maker Space” of…

NORTHPORT—A new small press has launched in Maine called Toad Hall Editions and its purpose is to give a platform to writers who don’t get noticed in the more traditional publishing arenas.

Founded by Amy Tingle, Liz Kalloch and Maya Stein, the trio all have skills in the publishing and design industries. The idea for the small press came out of years of collaboration on their own various projects. Their collective work on Stein’s latest book, The Poser: 38 Portraits Reimagined by…

ROCKLAND—Trees talk; scientists have been telling us that for years. But what you didn’t know is that they are particularly good at speaking to artists.

Roger Barry, a woodworker and artist, whose work is currently showing at Art Space Gallery in Rockland, has a connection to trees that goes back to his great-grandfather, the publisher of The Lumberman’s Actuary…

CAMDEN—Health seems to be on the minds of many businesses moving into downtown Camden this spring. The Mill Nutrition, at 25 Mechanic Street, is an herbal tea /shake shop that offers sugar-free Herbalife products with vitamins, protein boosters, and other nutritional add-on enhancements in custom drinks.

Owned by Marlene and Zac Cohn, the take-out shop opened in early April.

While the menu might be a lot to digest at first, especially for people not familiar with all of the…

Elizabeth Stanley is the last person who wants to be in front of the camera, which has noticeably given her insight when it comes to being a portrait photographer.

“I’m kind of an introvert, so I completely understand why people are hesitant to have their picture taken,” she said.

The Rockland-based artist-photographer got her start early on. Remember in the early 1990s when Kodak sponsored a group of 7th-grade CRMS students, giving them all a camera and instructing them to go…

ROCKLAND — A spate of new businesses are opening up all around the Midcoast this spring, following a tumultuous year for shops and stores struggling during the pandemic. One of the newest is a curated vintage shop owned by David Robichaud called Ollie and David’s—with Ollie as a tribute to his dog, an English Springer Spaniel.

It is located on the first floor of the Thorndike building at 385 Main Street, once the great Thorndike Hotel. This overlooked building is often thought to host…

TENANTS HARBOR—Logan and Hannah Rackliff, co-owners of The Rope Co., have fostered a unique home decor business around an unlikely source—float rope, used by lobstermen to attach to lobster traps to the buoy and from trap to trap.

Logan, a fifth generation lobsterman, comes by the profession naturally, both as a working lobsterman and as the descendant of entrepreneurs who started rope companies in Maine.

His grandfather started Crowe Rope which…

ROCKLAND—As mud season is full underway, little pops of color in nature are turning up on roadsides and gardens. As part of Artists & Makers Week hosted by the Island Institute’s retail store Archipelago, little pops of color also appeared in artist Kim Bernard’s email inbox—the result of daily art prompts she put out to Maine’s communities and beyond last week.

Each day had a different directive and she encouraged each participant to spend no more than 15 minutes on each prompt…

BELFAST—Think you’re being a good consumer by dropping your plastic recycling off at a Transfer Station each week? Well, don’t wipe your hands and be on your merry way, yet.

ROCKLAND—Take a walk through the cavernous welding/fabrication shop at the newly built Midcoast School of Technology and you’ll be surrounded by industrial machines, tools, workbenches, and vices. For some students, it might be intimidating. But 17-year-old Mikayla Tolman feels right at home.

The senior at Zenith Alternative School takes a welding class at Midcoast School of Technology every other day and is one of two female students in the welding/fabrication program.

“When I…

CAMDEN—Restaurants operating in a pandemic have had to make enormous changes in order to stay afloat. Gabriela Acero and Derek Richard, a couple featured in our recent story “wolfpeach, a new chophouse with a Maine twist, to open in Camden,” have reviewed their original restaurant plans under these circumstances. Their…

Winona Elmore just opened her dream shop in Rockport, a farmhouse decor boutique called Gathering Thyme, opposite of Midcoast Recreation Center on Route 90. Her grand opening was Saturday, February 6.

“I had a vision of a place where people could come to find beautiful things for their home,” said Elmore, whose business is a family venture with help renovating the shop from her husband, her daughter, and her son-in-law.

Elmore’s shop is filled with dried flowers, wreaths, and…

WARREN—With the deepest part of winter upon us and a heightened societal need to stay healthy during a pandemic, a new energy drink bar is set to open in Warren.

Elev8 Energy and Nutrition, owned and operated by Hunter Grindle with assistance from his operations manager, Richard Eaton, plans on opening the first week of February.

Grindle, who also owns Hybrid Fitness, a fitness center in the same building, came up with the idea of a new energy drink bar, after brainstorming…

ROCKLAND—When creative improvisational master Ryan Jackson gets down to serious business, there are going to be a lot of laughs.

The Rockland native is hosting a series of virtual improv workshops for adults through the Farnsworth Art Museum through April. The class, titled “Improv Reprise! Making it up as you go with Ryan Jackson”, is meant to loosen people up and get them to experience new sides of themselves.

A graduate of the University of Maine with a bachelor’s degree in…

The typical mainstream Valentine’s Day cards you find in supermarkets and stores and on TV commercials generally present a heterosexual angle to the holiday, which doesn’t represent other populations in love. One Greene, Maine couple, Lewis Alessio, and his husband, Jim Shaffer, have been producing creative variations of vintage photograph stationery that tell another visual story.

The couple created In Your Own Words LLC in 2013 to creatively augment vintage photographs into cards…

CAMDEN—Many wondered what would become of the classic Scottish pub Drouthy Bear after owners Andrew and Shannon Stewart announced last May that the COVID-19 virus restrictions on their beloved pub had forced them to permanently close.

The Midcoast community will be happy to know that the building has been purchased and is currently being renovated by Camden newcomers Gabriela Acero and Derek Richard to become a new restaurant. With a new aesthetic and flair, the restaurant will be…

MONTVILLE — Leslie Woods, a Montville artist, has a unique approach to why she paints sport figures that encourages viewers of her work to place themselves within the portrait. 

“Sport is where people can be totally absorbed physically, mentally and emotionally, where people function at the essence of being human,” Woods states on her website. “I paint figures in sport because our bodies…

ROCKLAND — Affinity Nutrition, a new nutritional business, opened Friday, Jan. 22 in the Rockland Plaza, edged between Hannaford and Planet Fitness in the space formerly occupied by Green with Envy Hair Salon. The owners aim to provide nourishment to Rockland and the greater Midcoast community. 

The business is owned by Jessica Ripley, of Washington, and Lisa Ladd, of Owls Head,…

WARREN—It’s been just over a year that Corinna Whitehill started her personal cab company called Corie’s Rides. It’s a service that has been fundamental to the Midcoast community in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when people are at risk of losing their homes and their cars.

Whitehill got her start in the driving business as the owner and a driver for Mid-Coast Connector, a MaineCare non-emergency transportation broker. It’s a service she still operates, along with eight cars and…

DAMARISCOTTA—Faced with the food limitations necessary for their own family, a baker and her husband have decided to open a completely gluten-free bakery and cafe at 77 Main Street in downtown in mid-January named Butter Up Cakes.

Candice and Patrick Brady have three children.

“Two of our children have celiac disease, are lactose intolerant and can’t have high fructose corn syrup, and my husband is the same way,” said Candice. “So, I make all of their food from scratch, anyway…

NORTHPORT — Jason Thurston is a Northport artist, using his drawing skills to draw Midcoast scenery on shells. 

The idea to create art on shells came a few years ago when Thurston’s wife, Hana, was in the process of making Christmas wreathes to generate some additional holiday income. 

“We had some clam shells sitting around, and she said, ‘Hey, draw something on those shells. They'd make nice ornaments.’ I think I drew a random lighthouse, the Mount Battie Tower and a lobster…

NORTHPORT—Back in April, The Atlantic magazine wrote a story about how making old-fashioned crafts during the pandemic could ease anxiety. Millions of crafters took that to heart, and with the COVID-19 virus still raging on nine months later, many burgeoning creators have taken to Instagram, YouTube, and other online resources to make…

NORTHPORT — The next time your child or grandchild asks you for sports apparel, it might not be of their favorite sports team. Rather, the apparel might be coming from the online clothing store, TheGolfBoy.com, launched by 11-year-old Jason Thurston, Jr., of Northport. 

Thurston put his newfound entrepreneurial skills to work when browsing options for golf clothing and realized the options were not…

NORTHPORT — Hana Thurston has been baking cakes for the last eight years, and formally launched her Hana Cakes business two or three years ago after always wanting to launch a cake business. 

The Northport resident, at long last, discovered a way to launch her business when a memorable creation of hers, a two-tiered realistic diaper cake with an edible fondant diaper that was “soiled” with melted chocolate acting as poop running down the side of the cake for her sister’s third baby…

ROCKLAND—A fast-casual lunch and dinner spot opened this week called Maine Kebab, and owner Shane McGarvey and his executive chef, Ken Hynes, are already ahead of the curve in terms of issues that have plagued restaurants since the COVID-19 virus hit back in March.

The menu is very simple: Mediterranean and Turkish flavors. Main dishes include Tumeric rice bowls, flatbread sandwiches, falafel and hummus box, and a salad box all serve as the main ingredient dishes, to which a diner has…

THOMASTON—Like so many enterprising crafter/artists before her, Jo Ann Hoppe, an artist and entrepreneur from South Thomaston, has made a career from her hobbies. Refusing to let a pandemic dictate her direction, she’s lifting up a dozen or so local crafters, who are selling their consigned items in her newly opened shop, Blueberry Moose at 166 Main Street in Thomaston.

 “I’ve always been artistic, but in 2007, an artist told me I should be showing my stuff at craft fairs,” she said…

SEARSPORT — Louise Seekins possesses enthusiasm for sewing — expected when one has been sewing for more than five decades — and uses her affinity for the craft to spread cheer and love to her customers, and through donations of profits towards organizations supporting those with Alzheimer’s. 

She has sewn an array of items such as quilts and memory T-shirt quilts, items for her children and costumes for the 15 children’s community theater plays she has directed, and has taught the art…

SOUTH BRISTOL—Many Maine artists use the concept of lobster in their art, but Tenley Seiders, an artist from South Bristol, actually uses lobster claws, tails, and other parts of the shell in her elegant jewelry and ornaments.

Born in California, she was first inspired to create jewelry from the abalone shells found on Pacific beaches.  From there, she delved into working with pearls and semi-precious gemstones. After spending countless summers in Maine, an “a-ha” moment occurred when…

VINALHAVEN — When Vinalhaven’s An Hanna was searching for collars for the sight hounds she raises, she looked for the best, highest quality collar possible that looked good and would keep the dogs safe. Unable to find collars that dazzled her, she opted to create her own collars now sold through her online Etsy store, The Royal Hound, which boasts handmade martingale collars.

“I've…

OWLS HEAD—Bill Clifford, a chef who once ran Bill’s Original Kitchen in Kittery, has revived his one-man operation and recently opened his new kitchen at Knox County Regional Airport.

Originally from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Clifford has worked as a chef at multiple venues in Maine, including his last stint at Point Lookout in Lincolnville before it abruptly closed.

The plan was in place since mid-October to take over the space, once occupied by the Salty Owl Cafe. He decided…

FRIENDSHIP — Duff Powell, a resident of Friendship, has been an artist and craftsman his entire life, and is sharing his creations made from driftwood found on Maine’s islands and coastlines through an online Etsy store, Driftwood Treasures. 

“Everything that I have done in my life has led me to this passion of making beautiful handcrafted tables and furniture from ocean…

ROCKLAND — During fishing season, Rockland’s John Coppola can be found on waters from Casco Bay to Penobscot Bay chartering fishing trips for striped bass, bluefish and bluefin tunas. 

When he is not at the helm of a boat, wood turner Coppola is in his workshop crafting wooden handmade segmented bowls, bottle stoppers and ice cream scoopers. 

Coppola opted to begin selling his Northeast Woodworks products…

For the holidays, we’re continuing our series to shine the spotlight on Maine craftspeople. It’s important to shop locally and support innovators and entrepreneurs who keep the creative economy alive in this state. So each week, until Dec. 25, we will bring you this series until you can’t take it anymore. Ready. Set. Go.

“Jellyfish’ Airplant Holders Made From Urchin Shells

…

APPLETON—Maine Cater, a recruitment company dedicated to serving New England’s food and beverage industry, has come up with an idea to provide local “restaurateurs, employers, job seekers, and FOH/BOH” with an economic lifeline during a pandemic that shows no signs of stopping.

Husband-and-wife team, Daryle and Orianna Degen launched  Maine Cater in Camden in 2017 as a way to supply temporary employees to restaurants suffering from immediate gaps in employment.

“We’ve both…

Given that so many artists were hard hit economically over the COVID-19 virus, Penobscot Bay Pilot puts a spotlight on the hard-working artists and entrepreneurs in Maine. So each week, until Dec. 25, we will bring you this series until you can’t take it anymore. Ready. Set. Go.

The Original Lobstah Trap Beer Caddy

Cumberland, Maine

The back story: The Lobstah Trap Caddy is…

THOMASTON—Back in March, 29-year-old Carly Laughery, of Thomaston, had her hands full with three kids and a job at Staples. With so many people around her losing jobs, childcare, and their financial security due to the COVID-19 virus, Laughery looked at ways she could possibly help.

She heard about a mysterious nationwide group called “…