Mainebiz Giving Guide

V O L . X X V I I N O. X X I G I V I N G G U I D E 2 0 2 1 – 2 0 2 2 12 GIVING GUIDE At the Finance Authority of Maine, a quasi-independent state agency, CEO Bruce Wagner retired in February after seven years. Wagner led FAME through strategic planning and COVID-relief efforts. e interim CEO is Carlos Mello, FAME's chief risk officer and a senior member of the management team. Mello is a former president and CEO of Prudential Bank and Trust in Hartford, Conn., a certified financial planner and he holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Boston College. FAME is a key part of Maine's financing infrastructure, stepping in to guarantee loans on a range of enter- prises, from manufacturing to broad- band infrastructure to backing for the Saddleback Mountain ski area. FAME expects to fill the CEO position by late year or early next, sub- ject to approval by Gov. Janet Mills and the state Legislature. e Maine Venture Fund, another component of Maine's funding infra- structure, had a leadership change this past summer. It promoted Joe Powers to managing director, effective July 1. He took over from John Burns, who retired. Maine Venture Fund, which was launched in 1996 and is based in New- port, has invested some of Maine's best- known startups — Sea Bags, Gelato Fiasco, MedRhythms, Defendify, High- Byte, Hyperlite, Maine Craft Distilling, R.E.D.D. and Cerahelix. Maine Venture Fund is a key part of a startup's second stage of growth. A startup gets off the ground by going to Maine Technology Institute for a grant. As it grows, it may take out a loan from MTI or at some stage get a loan guarantee from the Finance Authority of Maine. "When they get to the commer- cialization stage, looking to accelerate, they come to Maine Venture Fund," Powers told Mainebiz this summer. "We are doing equity investment, for the next five to 10 years." Powers, a Vermont native, has been involved in a range of startups, most notably, Tesla Motors. He spent six years there, starting in 2006, when it truly was a startup, focused on sales and marketing and retail devel- opment. He worked directly with founder Elon Musk and was there when the company launched its first production vehicle. Powers sees the same kind of potential in several of Maine Venture Fund›s portfolio companies, including Hyperlite Mountain Gear, a Bidd- eford manufacturer, and Atlantic Sea Farms, which has been a pioneer in bringing edible kelp to the market. At Brunswick Landing, Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Author- ity announced the planned retirement of Steve Levesque at the end of 2021. He is credited with the transforma- tion of Brunswick's shuttered naval air station into a thriving business community. He is MRRA's only executive director since its formation in 2008 and was previously executive direc- tor of the Brunswick Local Redevel- opment Authority, which developed the master plan for the reuse of U.S. Naval Air Station Brunswick. Levesque will be replaced by Kristine Logan, MRRA's director of the TechPlace business incubator at Brunswick Landing. She will start in January 2022. Small nonprofits Maine Preservation, a Yarmouth non- profit, named Tara Kelly, an execu- tive with the Municipal Art Society of New York, as executive director this past summer. She succeeded Greg Paxton, who retired in June after 13 years at the helm. Kelly, who moved to Maine from Brooklyn, N.Y., has a decade of » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E Purchase a group subscription for your team or entire organization. Get access to Mainebiz for your entire team EMAIL CIRCULATION@MAINEBIZ.BIZ FOR MORE INFORMATION P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F M A I N E V E N T U R E F U N D P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F M A I N E P R E S E R VAT I O N P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F FA M E Joe Powers, who has been at Maine Venture Fund for two years, was named managing director, taking over on July 1. Tara Kelly, a New York City nonprofit leader, took over the executive director position at Maine Preservation from Greg Paxton, who retired. Carlos Mello, chief risk officer at the Finance Authority of Maine, has served as acting CEO since the Feb. 5 retirement of Bruce Wagner.

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