Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I N O. V M A R C H 8 , 2 0 2 1 10 M A N U FA C T U R I N G state flag from 1901 to 1909. Bolstered by some initial interest, Field took out a $5 ad on Facebook in late 2017 to see if they could generate some holiday sales. "We sold 35 flags in five days," she says. en a newspaper story in February 2018 generated more than 100 orders in one day. Back then, the design wasn't ubiqui- tous. "We didn't know if people would even understand what this was, or why they should buy it," Korzen says. After the newspaper article, "We realized we'd hit on something." ey launched the Original Maine brand in March 2018, aiming to pro- mote the design and develop other products with it. at's now their big- gest growth area. ey open-sourced the design and now several other com- panies are making the flag, too. Korzen says they don't have an issue with the competition. "Maine's in need of a symbol it can take beyond its borders." e Maine Legislature is considering a bill to make the design the state flag. Whether that's successful or not, Korzen says the design is here to stay. e most important thing in flag design is "that people love it and they identify with it and they want to fly it," he says. "We see the proof in our num- bers, we see the proof in the number of other companies that have run with this. People are voting with their wallets." At this time last year Maine Flag Co. was looking to bump up their wholesale accounts and Fields was gearing up for the New England Made Trade Show, scheduled for March 14-16. ey already had a strong online platform, so they focused on that, closing their retail store except for curbside. ey doubled business over the last year, with growth in both retail and wholesale. Field says that she wonders, without the pandemic, if it would have been more. ey've never taken out a loan for the business, reinvesting as they're able. Now they've outgrown their space, and are deciding how to expand to get every- thing under one roof. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY F O C U S We see the proof in our numbers, we see the proof in the number of other companies that have run with this. People are voting with their wallets. — Chris Korzen Maine Flag Co. Chris Korzen and Bethany Field, co-owners of the Maine Flag Co., in their store in Portland B y M a u r e e n M i l l i k e n Small manufacturers showcasing Maine brand as recipe for success MATTERS Making in Maine C hris Korzen, a self-described flag nerd, was looking for a Maine merchant and marine flag as a gift for a friend in 2013. He wanted something high-quality, done in the nautical tradition, with appli- ques — 13 on each side, it turns out — sewn onto sturdy cloth. It didn't exist and he had to have it custom-made by a Connecticut flag-maker. at sparked an idea for Korzen and his wife, Bethany Field, that evolved into, "Why don't we purchase some equipment ourselves and learn how to make flags? Maybe people will buy them." at was 2013. Eight years later, yes, people are buying them. Maine Flag Co., owned by Korzen and Field, not only sells nautical flags, but was the developer four years ago of the now-ubiquitous "1901" Maine flag. ey started pro- ducing it in 2017, and so far, they've sold more than 3,800, shipped to 47 states and hand-sewn by Field and four Portland-area contractors. at's in addition to nautical flags, as well as other products with the 1901 design under their three-year-old Original Maine brand. ey sell both wholesale and COVID-limited retail from their 400-square-foot retail space on Hamp- shire Street in Portland. From the start, they decided the business was going to be a Maine company, with all the work done in-state, though they get textiles and some of the apparel that they use for their products out of state. When they started, both of them still had full-time jobs, Korzen in software development, Field in mar- keting. It became Field's full-time job two years ago, when their daughter, Molly, was born. e success with nautical flags led them to try out the simple pine tree and north star flag that had been Maine's

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