{"id":3253,"date":"2021-08-19T12:10:26","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T16:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mced.biz\/?p=3253"},"modified":"2021-08-19T12:13:14","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T16:13:14","slug":"tom-rainey-bullish-on-entrepreneurship-article-by-mainebiz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mced.biz\/news\/2021\/08\/19\/tom-rainey-bullish-on-entrepreneurship-article-by-mainebiz","title":{"rendered":"Tom Rainey “Bullish on Entrepreneurship” Article by Mainebiz"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

PHOTO \/ TIM GREENWAY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Rainey<\/strong>, executive director of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs<\/strong>, says diversifying and having a back-up plan are important strategies for entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Laurie Schreiber<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tom Rainey<\/strong> is executive director of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs in Portland. Through training, connections, coaching and mentorship, MCE helps innovators fill the gaps between their industry expertise and the strategic business skills critical to launching a scalable, sustainable venture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Established in 1997, the center has accelerated the growth of hundreds of businesses. It is a partner in Maine Accelerates Growth, or MxG, a network of organizations supporting entrepreneurship through collaboration. We asked Rainey to look back at the past year and what\u2019s ahead for entrepreneurs. Here\u2019s an edited transcript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mainebiz: How have entrepreneurs fared over the past year?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Rainey: It\u2019s been a mixed bag, as some have greatly benefited from the pandemic and others have really suffered. Fortunately, we haven\u2019t seen any companies in our network fail. I\u2019m impressed by how resilient they\u2019ve been. Companies hunkered down and, while some had to shed employees, they all made it through. In the case of our food and beverage clients, it forced them to accelerate online sales. Adopting e-commerce strategies to sell direct-to-consumer opened new sales channels and has been very beneficial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB: What lessons emerged from the pandemic?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TR: One of the obvious big lessons learned is to diversify and have a back-up plan. You have to be willing to adapt and pivot quickly if necessary. The other important lesson is you don\u2019t have to go it alone. There are a lot of very talented people and organizations here to help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB: What industries are particularly strong now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TR: We have 28 companies going through our food accelerator program. After the initial shock of the pandemic, quite a few pivoted and were able to grow their businesses. Seafood companies really struggled initially. Seventy percent of all seafood is sold into food service establishments such as restaurants. People weren\u2019t going to restaurants, so they had to find new ways to get their products direct to consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We worked closely with companies to help them leverage new sales channels. Telehealth, digital applications and e-learning are also areas that are coming on very strong. It\u2019s part of the major shift in how people consume products and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB: How does MCE connect entrepreneurs with funding resources?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TR: We de-risk companies by making them more sustainable and that\u2019s important to potential funders. We help them with business strategies and marketing and refine how they approach their customers. For example, our MarketShare food program helps companies find strategic trade data to inform where they invest their limited marketing dollars. By putting companies on a more solid business footing, they have a more compelling story to tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB: How does the funding ecosystem work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TR: We talk a lot about the \u2018continuum of care\u2019 we provide at MCE. While we don\u2019t provide funding ourselves, we understand the funding parameters of the organizations that do. Our client entrepreneurs are at different stages of development and our goal is to direct them to the most appropriate sources. Last year, for example, we partnered with Maine Technology Institute to provide training to 200 entrepreneurs on how to obtain federal grant funding through the SBIR [Small Business Innovation Research] program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB: How does Maine Accelerates Growth help?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TR: Maine Accelerates Growth is a consortium of economic development organizations that come together to share information so we don\u2019t overlap too much. To a new entrepreneur, all of these organizations can be confusing. The good news is that Maine\u2019s support organizations are closely coordinating our activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB: Where is Maine entrepreneurship today?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TR: I\u2019m very bullish on entrepreneurship in Maine. Whenever there\u2019s an economic disruption, you see an increase in entrepreneurship. We\u2019re fortunate that we\u2019ve been able to expand our operations to support more businesses. We have over 220 volunteer business mentors in our network now. I\u2019ve developed incubator and accelerator programs in eight states and I\u2019ve never seen a place as collaborative as Maine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

View the article by Mainebiz HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PHOTO \/ TIM GREENWAY Tom Rainey, executive director of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs, says diversifying and having a back-up plan are important strategies for entrepreneurs. By Laurie Schreiber Tom Rainey is executive director of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs in Portland. Through training, connections, coaching and mentorship, MCE helps innovators fill the gaps between their industry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"table_tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nTom Rainey "Bullish on Entrepreneurship" Article by Mainebiz - Maine Center for Entrepreneurs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mced.biz\/news\/2021\/08\/19\/tom-rainey-bullish-on-entrepreneurship-article-by-mainebiz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tom Rainey "Bullish on Entrepreneurship" Article by Mainebiz - Maine Center for Entrepreneurs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PHOTO \/ TIM GREENWAY Tom Rainey, executive director of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs, says diversifying and having a back-up plan are important strategies for entrepreneurs. 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