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V O L . X X V I I I N O. X I X S E P T E M B E R 5 , 2 0 2 2 26 S TA R T U P S / E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P Knowing many people who had par- ticipated in the boot camp, she signed on this year. "I was hopeful that participating would give me more of the language and more of the background," she says. Her hopes were realized. "But the bigger thing, which I hadn't actually considered, was making connec- tions with some of the mentors," she says. "Just last week I had two Zoom calls with some of the mentors I met through the boot camp." Her goal? To build an indoor climbing wall for year-round use. Permits and plans are in place, but she needs financing. "So I reached out to people from the boot camp to talk about it," she contin- ues. "at's been a great outcome. It's super-intimidating to reach out to peo- ple I don't know. To already have a face to the name, it's not as intimidating." Her first hire Another participant this year was Lindsay Chaloux, who runs MDI Girl Pasta Co. in Bar Harbor. "I wanted to push my business into the next level and hopefully get an employee," she says. Chaloux started the enterprise part-time four years ago, while work- ing full-time elsewhere. at ratio gradually shifted. Today, she has a commercial kitchen, selling pasta at farmers markets, retail outlets from MDI to Bangor, and some wholesale. Stretched thin between production, packaging and delivery, she realized she needed an employee. "e thing I was timid about was, Do you just get an employee and hope you can cover them, or do you get the funding first and how do you make that jump?" she says. Coming out of boot camp, she real- ized she could hire her first employee. "Now I can confidently say I can hire another employee next season," she says. "At the boot camp, all of the businesses drummed up pages and pages of questions that needed answers. For me, at least, I got them all answered." Building those business skills is what it's all about, says Friedlander. "One thing I have noticed is that 'accidental entrepreneurship' is not a local phenomenon," he says. "Whether you are a local enterprise, a scientist with a startup idea, or an engineer ready to launch a new tech- nology, you are most likely facing the skills chasm. For local businesses and high-growth startups alike, getting these people business skills quickly can make a huge difference in their trajectory and the prosperity of their communities as well." Laurie Schreiber, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at lschreiber @ mainebiz.biz S P O N S O R E D B Y September 15 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm The Westin Portland Harborview 157 High Street, Portland MAINEBIZ .BIZ/W T W FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER, VISIT FOLLOW US @MBEVENTS #MBWTW22 Join us to help recognize this year's Women to Watch honorees at a special in-person networking reception and awards presentation. In addition to the awards presentation, attendees will enjoy cash bars and passed hors d'oeuvres while networking with attendees from Maine's business community. K AT E M C A L E E R K AT E M C A L E E R K R I S T I N E L O G A N K R I S T I N E L O G A N R E N E E K E L LY R E N E E K E L LY M U FA L O C H I TA M M U FA L O C H I TA M L A U R I E L AC H A N C E L A U R I E L AC H A N C E P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F M D I G I R L PA S TA C O. F O C U S » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E Lindsay Chaloux of MDI Girl Pasta Co. wanted to push her business to the next level.

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