PORTLAND, Maine - Sen. Angus King and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree were in Portland today to announce more than $600,000 in federal grants for two programs that support entrepreneurs in the state.
One of the grants from their federal Department of Commerce, for $390,000, goes to the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development. Center Director Don Gooding says it will go to the group's "Top Gun" program, with the goal of linking rural entrepreneurs with mentors.
"If you're in the middle of rural Maine it's hard to figure out where you can find the resources you need to be successfull," Gooding said. "So we kind of provide an access point to all of those resources. And some of that's people and some of it's training and some of it's figuring out where to go get the money for growing the business once you're ready for that money."
Another group, Coastal Enterprises, of Wiscasset, is receiving a quarter of a million dollars to launch a new program to provide seed capital for rural business development.