Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I N O. X I M AY 1 8 , 2 0 2 0 26 S M A L L B U S I N E S S F O C U S » C O N T I N U E D F RO M PA G E 2 4 to all of our first responders, healthcare workers, public service professionals, and EVERYONE else working around the clock in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. We truly appreciate you. Thank You! www.KennebecSavings.Bank 46 Years of Building Maine B R U N S W I C K 2 0 7-7 2 5 - 4 3 0 4 I N F O @ P O U L I N C O N S T R U C T I O N M E . C O M HOTELS RESTAURANTS ASSISTED LIVING MULTI-USE OFFICE SUITES thinking about the longer-term future after slowing down a planned move he says is still on the table. "We're in the process of trying to figure out where our members are going to be six months from now," he says. "We've got a whole bunch of unknowns, but we're still getting new members." At the same time, he says that while food is recession-proof to the extent that everyone needs to eat, it's also a high- risk business even in the best of times. "What you want to do is minimize the risk as much as possible," he says. 'The way kelp should be' If organic baby food and chicken pot pies don't float your boat, then how about some fermented seaweed salad or sea-beet kraut made and sold by Atlantic Sea Farms? e Saco-based company, formerly Ocean's Balance, sells its products — made from kelp grown in Maine—to a growing number of retailers. Led by CEO Briana Warner, it employs seven full-time and two-part time staff and works with 24 partner farmers it supplies with seed and buys from. Since mid-February, it's been work- ing with iBec Creative, a Portland- based digital agency headed by Becky McKinnell, to ramp up its ecom- merce activities. at partnership was sparked by a $15,000 grant it received from Tastemakers Initiative, a pro- gram of Coastal Enterprises Inc. and FocusMaine. "e way kelp should be," says the new and improved site, which Atlantic Sea Farms marketing director Jesse Baines says led to a 176% increase in online sales in the last two months. "Normally what we would be doing right now is in-store demos, which is the most effective way to support your products in store, especially a product like seaweed," she says. With the cur- rent shutdowns making that impossible, "we're leaning into our digital marketing in a big way." Behind the scenes at iBec, digital marketer Devin Temple set out to help what he says was a "beautiful," educa- tional website use its ecommerce plat- form to its full potential. at became even more important during the crisis. "I don't know what would have hap- pened if they didn't pivot," he says. Renee Cordes, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at rcordes @ mainebiz.biz I don't know what would have happened if they didn't pivot. — Devin Temple iBec Creative P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F N E W E N G L A N D O C E A N C L U S T E R Briana Warner Briana Warner is CEO of is CEO of Saco-based Saco-based Atlantic Sea Atlantic Sea Farms Farms, which is increased , which is increased its ecommerce business its ecommerce business during the pandemic. during the pandemic.

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