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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 A U G U S T 5 , 2 0 1 9 B etsy Biemann is CEO of Coastal Enterprises Inc., a community development financial institu- tion based in Brunswick. But her busi- ness card could include a host of other job descriptions. Biemann, with CEI President Keith Bisson, leads strategy development, oversees finances, directs external rela- tions, manages a team of 80 employ- ees and works closely with CEI's board and those of its five subsidiaries. None of those duties were on the horizon when she began her career. Her father was an organic chemist who worked on the Apollo space flight missions. Growing up in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, Biemann says, she assumed she'd be a scientist too. Dinner- table conversations were a regular source of inspiration. "When other kids were talking about the Bruins, we were talk- ing about whether there was life on the moon," Biemann says, during a visit to CEI's branch office on the Portland waterfront. But after she earned a Harvard undergraduate degree in biology and the history of science, her wide-rang- ing interests and abilities led her in an unexpected direction. Specifically, to Kenya, where Biemann served as a Rotary fellow and helped with rural education projects. Along the way, she realized she wasn't cut out for life in a lab. "I discovered I prefer solving 20 problems at once rather than spend 20 years solving one problem," she says. Which is a good thing, given the diverse functions of CEI. One-stop shopping CEI was founded in 1977 with the goal of expanding economic opportunity for people in Maine. e nonprofit corpora- tion provides a wide range of financ- ing and business counseling services for entrepreneurs throughout the state, advocates about rural economic issues, and serves as a policy expert on Maine's natural resource-based industries. Community development financial institutions, or CDFIs, in more urban states tend to specialize in a particular type of business assistance, since there are more of them available. But the one-stop-shop approach makes sense for Maine, according to Biemann. "Particularly in a small-business state like Maine, business people don't necessarily have all the skills they need at the outset," she says. e impact of the work is felt statewide. "We work in Portland, we work in smaller gateway cities and towns, we work in very rural areas," says Biemann. "CEI helped finance the Farnsworth Museum and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland, and we've also worked with a Nigerian pharmacist who started a pharmacy in Eastport." A 2018 report sums up the results of CEI's work to date. rough investments, tax credits and loans, CEI has provided $1.39 billion in financing since its start. Another $2.8 billion has been leveraged through state and federal programs. e financing has fueled the growth of more than 2,800 businesses. Over 58,000 business people have received technical and management advice from CEI. Its work has resulted in the creation or retention of about 40,000 full-time jobs. New alignment, new needs Biemann took on her current role at CEI in 2016, after serving on its board. She says one of her goals is to ensure all the organization's activities are supporting its overarching mission of creating good jobs, environmentally sustainable enterprises and broadly shared prosperity. A single vision, but multiple solutions, for Maine prosperity B Y W i l l i a m H a l l C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » BUSINESS LOANS In It Together For Moments Like These Personal Banking | Business Banking Insurance 1 207-284-4591 | sbsavings.bank 207-283-1486 | insurancepc.com 1Insurance products and services offered by P&C Insurance are: Not FDIC Insured No Bank Guarantee May Lose Value

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