Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I N O. X M AY 1 7 , 2 0 2 1 14 S M A L L B U S I N E S S F O C U S up the story of many small businesses around Maine over the past year. From locally sourced lumber to schooner charters and island bakeries, some business owners were just getting started a year ago. Others are long-tim- ers trying to get through. We checked in with six businesses to see how things were going. Common themes? ey're doing okay and some have surprisingly strong trade. All received strong support from local com- munities that wanted to see them suc- ceed through uncertain times. CAPE ELIZABETH The Lumbery Friedland also has a handyman business, Willard Square Home Repair. Since he had to stock his own wood, he saw an opportunity to open a store to sell lumber and building supplies to other small businesses and also leverage the local-sourcing movement. Friedland and his partners renovated a former Cumberland Farms, invested about $700,000 and sweat equity, and developed relationships with family- owned mills in all corners of Maine. "We're the first place in Maine where you can actually buy Maine wood," he says. He says he's been contacted by state forestry officials interested in the program. e UMaine System has expressed interest in sourcing cedar products there for its gardening program. It has gotten noticed in Maine pub- lications, web searches and social media (including its Instagram feed, @lum- bery_me). "I think we'll have a banner summer and fall," he says. SMALL BUSINESSES SMALL BUSINESSES keeptheir cool Across Maine, small businesses are dealing with the negative and looking for the positive B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY It's not the best time to start a new business in a pandemic in the winter. — Michael Friedland The Lumbery FROM LEFT: Michael Friedland and his partners Alex Bettigole and Ryan Holland opened the Lumbery in Cape Elizabeth to sell Maine-sourced lumber. I n 2019, the owner of a handyman business in Cape Elizabeth had an idea to open a building supply store that sold lumber produced only in Maine. Michael Friedland opened the Lumbery last November. e timing wasn't the best. "It was a slow winter," Friedland says. "It's not the best time to start a new business in a pandemic in the winter." Still, a slow start wasn't the worst thing. It allowed Friedland and his partners to get a handle on how to run a retail business, which they'd never done before. With springtime, they discovered new niches, such as making raised cedar bed kits, which were so popular that he recently had 20 on back order. Dealing with the negative and look- ing for the positive just about sums

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