Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 25 S E P T E M B E R 2 , 2 0 2 4 F O C U S S TA R T U P S / E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P Hiltz personally invested $10,000 in the overall business, which includes an Amish-built farm stand, Das NiederHiltz Haus, that sells handcrafted products. Of that, $5,000 has been for Chapped Hide, along with at least 2,000 unpaid hours over the last three years through R&D, advertising, sales and travel. "I financed the company's start- up during the first few years through the small amount of sales I brought in," she says. A $10,000 block grant went to scale up the business, including professional branding, packaging, website, trade- mark, LLC registration, ingredients and merchandise. A second, $25,000 grant project is in process that would increase sales in Maine and beyond. is year, Hiltz was in the Top Gun business accelerator program. Press has generated buzz for her e-com- merce store. Retail, fair and market sales are increasing. Production is done at Hiltz's 40-acre homestead, where a workshop is packed with ingredients, inventory, shipping and handling supplies, print- ers and office supplies. e plan is to continue to attend shows in Maine and hit the Ultimate Woman's Expo in Edison, N.J., on Nov. 9-10. "I have a few other shows I want to hit before the grant end date on December 2025," she says. Although small-retail and in-per- son farm stand sales are doing well, a key insight has been that e-commerce outshines everything. "I am working on our internet expo- sure at this time," Hiltz says. New use for an age-old forest product Pen & Cob Farm, in the Washington County town of Pembroke, produces dairy, beef, pork, produce and an unusual value-add product — spruce syrup. Five years ago, Katherine Swann and her family sold their suburban New Jersey home, drove north in an old camper, started farming in 2019 and for- malized as a business in January 2021. e first syrup launched in November 2022. "We were interested in growing our own food," says Swann. "When we looked at it from a business perspective, we realized we needed to figure out what we were going to do to earn a living." ey realized they needed to create products that would sell beyond their rural area. And they wanted to make a product from inputs already abundant on their property. "I stumbled upon foraging websites that talked about how to create spruce syrup," Swann says. "So I tried it." You have big dreams. We have advice and capital to help you succeed. ceimaine.org Jay Stern (United States, born 1991), Green House and Table, 2023, oil on canvas, 40 x 45 inches. Courtesy the artist. © Jay Stern. Image courtesy the artist Join us FOR OUR NEXT PMA BUSINESS PARTNERS EVENT: MORNINGS AT THE MUSEUM, FEATURING October 16 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Come explore the museum's newest exhibition of Maine- based artists and start your morning with a little coffee, networking, and art. Visit www.portlandmuseum.org/business for more information. Corporate Sponsors: C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » We see spruce as being an untapped specialty crop for Maine. — Katherine Swann Pen & Cob Farm P H O T O S / C O U R T E S Y O F P E N & C O B FA R M Katherine Swann is growing the market for an unusual value-added product — spruce syrup — at Pen & Cob Farm in Pembroke.

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