Mainebiz

V O L . X X X I N O. X V J U LY 1 4 , 2 0 2 5 6 Snack maker takes top prize in pitch competition Singing Pastures, a Newcastle-based producer of pasture-raised meat snacks, won the $25,000 Season 10 "Greenlight Maine" cash prize. Owners Holly and John Arbuckle plan to use the money to fund a new website ahead of a rebrand and expansion. In the series finale that aired in late June, Singing Pastures beat out two other final- ists. Maine Laboratories, the state's first accredited PFAS testing facility, secured $10,000 for placing second. And Nor'Easter Oyster Co., last year's Top Gun Showcase champion in a state- wide contest by the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs, claimed $5,000 for fin- ishing third on "Greenlight Maine." N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced that five Maine airports received a total of $1.3 million from the Federal Aviation Administration's Fiscal Year 2025 Airport Infrastructure Grants program to support infrastructure improvements. Belfast Municipal Airport received $389,500; Bethel Regional Airport, $340,100; Millinocket Municipal Airport, $317,970; Eastport Municipal Airport, $150,821; and Central Maine Regional Airport, $127,870. Lobster processor will reorganize Citing financial challenges since the pandemic, Portland-based Cozy Harbor Seafood and its companies Art's Lobster Co. Inc. and Casco Bay Lobster Inc., have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. e company said it had ini- tiated the process to keep operating as it restructures its debt and pursues a court- supervised sale to a new owner. "Despite the many challenges we've faced over the last 45 years, our business is woven into the social, cultural and economic fabric of Maine — and that is worth saving, which is why we have made this difficult, yet important decision," said John Norton, the company's president and co-founder. "Chapter 11 is a proven B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E S O U T H E R N The side hustle that became a dream B y A l e x i s W e l l s A t Erin Flett Textiles & Home, a design firm in Gorham, customers are greeted by a colorful display of handmade hats, totes, clutches, pillows and accessories. Behind the scenes at the two-story, 1,850-square-foot studio and shop, five employees in an upstairs studio are working away, creating hand-printed goods and sewing, while preparing to ship or sell them. The firm manufactures bags, pillows, wallpaper and other textiles using hand-printed designs. It all starts with the creative force, Erin Flett, who hand draws each pattern by hand. Her designs are burned into sew "screens" at a local printer. The screens are then sent back to the store where Flett and her team begin the next pro- cess of actually creating the art, using a silkscreen process. "We hand print each color, we dry it," says Flett. "It's very long — it's a pretty laborious process — but we handprint each color, hang it in to dry, do another layer, let it dry and then we hand it off to the stitchers and they sew it up for us." The process takes around 45 minutes to make one piece. The firm has 20 employees, who range from printers to stitchers, and also retail employees and an assistant. The company works with Portland-based Strong Arm Bindery, which burns all of the screens. The bag inserts (or liners) come from Cuddledown in Yarmouth. All of the fabrics are sourced from the Carolinas and the zippers are made in California. All of the textile goods are shipped globally through Faire, an online marketplace that uses machine learning to match local retailers with the brands and products, as well as on the Erin Flett website. "So we're really busy on wholesale," says Flett. "We're, I would say, 75% wholesale and then the rest is retail, obviously from here and then online." Flett has grown the com- pany from an after-hours side hustle in the basement to a brand with a national net- work of wholesalers. Customers range from local boutiques to large retailers, such as L.L.Bean and Plow & Hearth, as well as trade customers, including hotels and interior designers. SP ONSORED BY P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY P H O T O / A L E X I S W E L L S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Erin Flett's firm manufactures bags, pillows, wallpaper and other textiles using her hand- printed designs. Luc Puglionesi screen prints fabric that will be used in Erin Flett hand bags. It's very long — it's a pretty laborious process — but we handprint each color. — Erin Flett

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