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V O L . X X V N O. X I X S E P T E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 9 28 S TA R T U P S / E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P F O C U S Hansen, also a sophomore at Colby, focused on market research — "slowing down and getting to know the customer." His portfolio software program, Piefolio (because it makes setting up a portfolio website easy as pie) is still in development. Jones, a senior at Northwest Missouri University who came to Maine to help Rimsa with his app design, is developing her own soft- ware prototype. Kim, a senior at Colby, is developing Sklaza, a market- place for college students. Veilleux's project is the only one that's not aimed at college students. TreeFreeHeat would take unused hemp stalks left over from hemp production and process them into biobricks for renewable heating. Veilleux, a senior at omas, says if it weren't for Summer Startup, "I never would've started. It never would've hap- pened. ere were too many challenges." Hansen agrees. "I didn't know any- thing about market research, I didn't know anything about grant writing." 'The people who come back' e students say aside from learning the nuts and bolts of getting a busi- ness going, a large part of the program is the support and collaboration from Rimsa, Anzelc, and other participants. Rimsa and Anzelc say it takes a certain kind of student entrepreneur to be part of the program. "We want to see the drive from them," Anzelc says. "ere has to be a fire behind them." He says those who make progress are the ones who are "able to let go of an idea a little bit," and take feedback and constructive advice. "Just starting, just going in the right direction, it's hard," says Rimsa. "It takes a lot of hard work." e students may have different businesses, "But they all care deeply about problem solving," he says. "Everyone has good ideas," Rimsa adds. "Someone will come to me and say, 'I'm thinking about making this.'" He encourages them, but asks, "What's the first thing you have to figure out?" Many don't come back after being handed that challenge. "What we're left with are the people who come back," he says. Keeping talent in Waterville e program is also aimed at helping the community by keeping young talent around after graduation, Anzelc says. e city has a growing tech com- munity — aside from MTI, busi- nesses like Genotyping Center of America and CGI Technologies have opened offices in the city. Anzelc said the students also ben- efit from working at Bricks. "ere's now a community of people working here, and working in the community," he says. "I think we have the infrastructure. People want to be here." Rimsa is a good example. A Connecticut native, he left Maine after his 2013 Colby graduation. He came back in January to teach a product design class while working on his app, which students have helped with, but planned to eventually move to Los Angeles. Now? "I'm sticking around," he says. "I love working in this space." In August, Eariously received a $10,000 grant from MTI. Other support has come from Skowhegan Savings, Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce, the Harold Alfond Institute for Business Innovation at omas and Bill Mitchell, owner of GHM Insurance. "ey want to see it succeed," Anzelc says. Anzelc and Rimsa say this sum- mer's "beta test" was a success, and the program will grow and be tweaked, with more of a focus on grant writing and pitching. While the students credit Rimsa and Anzelc for how far their work has come, Rimsa says the young entrepreneurs are the driving force. e program only works for people who want to work. "ey give us a lot of credit, but they're the ones doing the work," he says. Maureen Milliken, Mainebiz senior editor, can be reached at mmilliken @ mainebiz.biz » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E WE CAN HELP Get You Started AUBURN - MADISON - NORWAY AUSTINPA.COM We called Austin Associates, P.A. after starting on our small business adventure, the expertise and guidance Autumn offered was invaluable. We just couldn't have known all the ins and outs on our own. Kimberly and Rick Caldwell Owners, Heirloom Arrangements LLC Construction Loans Rehab & Renovation Loans Land Development & Subdivision Loans Short Term Bridge Loans Where others see buildings, we see communities. Where others see numbers, we see people. Where others see problems, we see solutions. Maine Capital Group provides single-source lending and strategic advisory services for small to mid-sized financing opportunities in the residential and commercial real estate markets. www.mainecapitalgroup.com Mike Lyden: 207.329.2177 / mlyden@mainecapitalgroup.com Russ Oakes: 207.352.5609 / roakes@mainecapitalgroup.com I never would've started. It never would've happened. There were too many challenges. — Dylan Veilleux Founder of TreeFreeHeat

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