Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1535385
V O L . X X X I N O. X I M AY 1 9 , 2 0 2 5 4 A division of New England Business Media LLC C E O / GROUP PUBLISHER Peter Stanton P R E S I D E N T Tom Curtin DIGITAL DIRECTOR Jan Holder SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGERS Ken Hanson, Kerry Rasor, Betsy VanderPloeg ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Michelle Phillips EVENTS & MARKETING DIRECTOR Samantha Elliott OPERATIONS AND ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER Allison Spies AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST Leah Allen CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mark Jeanneret Carrie Yardley RESEARCH DIRECTOR Stephanie Meagher RESEARCH ASSISTANT Heide Martin ART DIRECTOR Matt Selva HOSPITALITY Buster HOSPITALITY EMERITUS Malcolm, Zoey PUBLISHER Andrea Tetzlaff EDITOR Peter Van Allen DEPUTY EDITOR Renee Cordes DIGITAL EDITOR Alexis Wells SENIOR WRITER Laurie Schreiber STAFF WRITER Tina Fischer P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R C O N T E N T S Filling a niche Sparked by an idea, small business owners go all-in to build their enterprise Trouble in Toyland Trade tensions, rising costs threaten to upend small toy businesses in Maine 24 16 30 Largest Finance Authority of Maine loans Ranked by FAME loan amount, then exposure 32 How To Do branding on a budget to make your small business stand out S M A L L B U S I N E S S F O C U S S M A L L B U S I N E S S E S P OW E R I N G M A I N E ' S E C O N O M Y, PA G E 1 5 ยป Blacksmith Kiran Chapman, owner of Soma Metalwork, uses a hammer to forge a chef's knife in his Portland space. 16 24 P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Naulia Bennett sorts a new shipment of toys at Island Treasure Toys in the Freeport store Eleda Towle, owner of Triple Mountain, a Hiram toy store specializing in horse figurines. She is shown outside the store with Treasure, a life-size model horse, and her foal Jewel.