Maine Center for Entrepreneurs

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Maine Center for Entrepreneurs

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Empowering and enabling Maine's most promising entrepreneurs

Over its 25 year history, MCE has accelerated the growth of hundreds of businesses, and established a mentor network of over 200 business experts.

10/16/2026

Let’s show up for Maine’s small businesses!

The LaunchPad Live Pitch Event is happening next Tuesday, October 20, and we’ll be cheering on food accelerator companies and alongside all of this year’s finalists 👏

Come make connections, hear the pitches and see who takes home the $75,000 LaunchPad grant. A separate Emerging Business Award valued at $25,000 will also be announced!

📍 UNE’s Innovation Hall, Portland
🤝 4 p.m. networking
🎤 5:15 p.m. competition
🎟️ Free to attend (RSVP to save your seat) maine.bank/launchpad/attend

Thank you, Maine Community Bank, for helping Maine entrepreneurs grow💙

10/15/2026

Growing a food business is hard enough without having to solve storage, logistics, and distribution challenges on your own.

Through a new partnership between , , the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the , Maine food suppliers now have access to affordable shared cold storage, logistics support, and regional distribution resources designed to help businesses scale more efficiently.

Program benefits include:
✅Technical Assistance for Distribution Readiness
✅Subsidized Shared Cold Storage
✅Shared Office and Meeting Space
✅Regional Distribution Partnerships
✅Logistical Support

Interested in learning more? Visit the program webpage for details, pricing, and available services.

Better yet, stop in at the upcoming Open House 11AM to 4PM on October 26th to tour the facility, meet the team, and explore whether this opportunity is a fit for your business!

🔗 Learn more: https://www.midcoastcog.com/regional-food-hub
📍North Atlantic Naturals | Cumberland, Maine

10/14/2026

Maine entrepreneurs: applications for Top Gun 2027 are now open!

Ready to build momentum for your business? Top Gun’s 15-week accelerator offers experienced mentors, practical business learning, peer connections and pitch coaching to help you grow.

Now part of the Maine Graduate & Professional Center (the Maine Center) a statewide hub for entrepreneurship and innovation, Top Gun continues to support Maine founders as they build and scale their businesses.

📅 Applications are open through November 18
🔗 Learn more and apply through the link in our bio

Know an entrepreneur who should apply? Tag them below!

Thank you to our regional partners Northern Maine Development Commission and Sunrise County Economic Council and Machias Savings Bank for helping expand Top Gun’s reach across Maine!

10/08/2026

A golden moment for Maine food🏆

Meet our 2026 Maine Golden Fork Award winners - making Maine proud and putting our food and beverage scene on the map, one outstanding product at a time!

🧀 Best in Show Savory: Haymay Creamery (Pudge)
🐟 Best in Show Seafood: Mark Foods / Bristol Seafood (Wilder Miso Sablefish)
🍯 Best in Show Sweet: molässa (Hot Molasses)
🥃 Best in Show Beverage: Three of Strong Spirits (Valley Cove Rum)

Selected through a blind tasting by industry experts, these products showcase the creativity, craftsmanship and incredible flavor coming out of Maine.

What a day celebrating these winners and the more than 70 Maine food, beverage and seafood producers at today’s Maine Food Producer Showcase!

Join us in giving these businesses a well-deserved round of applause 👏🎉

10/05/2026

From seafood and aquaculture to marine technology, there’s so much opportunity to connect Maine’s entrepreneurial community with the expertise and resources that help businesses grow 🌊

Our team was glad to be part of Maine Blue Economy Week in Portland last week, connecting with entrepreneurs, researchers, and industry partners and sharing our programs alongside The Maine Center.

Thank you to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, University of Maine, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, and The Roux Institute for bringing this community together!

10/01/2026

Hard to believe we’re just one week away from the Maine Food Producers Showcase & Maine Golden Fork Awards! 🍴

We couldn’t make this event happen without the generous support of our sponsors and supporting partners. Thank you for sharing our commitment to helping Maine’s food, beverage, and seafood businesses grow and for bringing our food community together.

There’s still time to join us! If you’re a buyer, distributor, retailer, foodservice professional, investor, or industry partner, come discover Maine products and connect with the people behind them.

📅 Thursday, October 8
📍 Holiday Inn By the Bay, Portland
🔗 Register through the link in our bio.

09/29/2026

What could you build from the skills and experience you’ve gained on the water?

Fishing Plus is for Maine lobstering families and commercial fishermen interested in developing another source of income. Through learning, mentorship, practical tools, and connections, the program helps participants explore ideas and take steps toward a coastal business.

You don’t need to have it all figured out. If you’re just beginning to think about what’s possible, join us for the Diversification Pathways workshop on Saturday, October 24, from 2–4 PM at in Rockland.

Explore Fishing Plus or register for the workshop through the link in our bio. Questions? Contact program manager Laurie Johnson at [email protected].

09/28/2026

Scenes from the Maine Organic Farmers Common Ground Fair.

The MCE food accelerator community showed up (as did the stunning sunset skies 😍). Thank you MOFGA for producing such a great fair!

09/24/2026

Two weeks away!

Are you a retail/grocery buyer, category manager, or foodservice distributor in the food and beverage industry? Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind B2B trade show and awards ceremony, celebrating Maine’s iconic and emerging food producers!

✔️ Meet: Maine’s renowned food producers
✔️ Taste: Innovative, exciting products
✔️ Discover: New opportunities to grow your business

Join us for the Maine Food Producer Showcase and Golden Fork Awards on October 8th and unlock new sourcing and selling possibilities!

Please note that this is an industry-only B2B event.

Register today - 🔗 in BIO!

📽 O'Maine Studios

09/23/2026

A great morning in Bangor with Maine’s entrepreneurial community at the UpStart Maine Blitz conference!

It’s always worth the trip to connect with founders and fellow supporters from across the state.

Thank you to the UpStart Maine team for inviting Terry on a panel to share his perspective on helping entrepreneurs find the people and resources they need to grow! 🙌

Address

68 Commercial Street , Building C
Portland, ME
04101

Website

http://www.mced.biz/, https://linktr.ee/MCED_links

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