Mainebiz

V O L . X X X I N O. X X V I I D E C E M B E R 1 , 2 0 2 5 22 B A N K I N G / F I N A N C E / I N S U R A N C E W hen Clint Chase wanted to relocate and build out a new shop for his solo business, Chase Small Craft, he connected with the Midcoast Council of Governments to look into gap funding. Chase makes do-it-yourself kits for customers who want to build their own small wooden boats, complete with high-quality, precut wooden parts, sup- plies, plans, instruction manuals and even personalized support and onsite and off-site workshops and classes. Since establishing the business in 2015, he's operated in a leased location at 959 Portland Road in Saco, where he produces and ships out as many as three dozen kits per year. He was ready to own a shop and wanted to be in the midcoast region. After finding the right piece of com- mercial real estate in Wiscasset, Chase contacted the council and was put in touch with Mathew Eddy, the coun- cil's executive director. "We got talking and he said, 'is is a great fit,'" Chase relates. Chase submitted his applica- tion through an online portal for the Maine Funding Network, a state program launched in 2024 to be a one-stop shop to connect businesses to financing and con- sulting services. An initiative of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development and the Finance Authority of Maine, the network hosts public, nonprofit and alternative funding and counseling agencies. e centralized platform is designed to help borrowers navigate the options. Chase's application was the first project the Midcoast Council of Governments has carried out as a member of the network. Now Eddy is finalizing loan resources for Chase that provide favorable terms such as low interest rates. "It was the first project we did through the Maine Funding Network," says Eddy. "We like it so much that MCOG is flipping the entire application process through the Maine Funding Network." Where to turn Before the network's launch, busi- ness owners didn't always know where to turn to find public and nonprofit funding and consult- ing sources. Many businesses are unaware of the many alternative funding and business counseling services available to them. Funders can connect with busi- nesses they might never have other- wise encountered. e Finance Authority of Maine administers and hosts the platform. "is first year is the foundation for what [Maine Funding Network] can become — Maine's alternative fund- ing hub," says Michael Duguay, com- missioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community One-stop shop for FUNDING P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E M I D C O A S T C O U N C I L O F G OV E R N M E N T S Clint Chase, owner of Chase Small Craft, installs a cedar side bench on a Goat Island Skiff in his shop in Saco. Chase worked with the Midcoast Council of Governments, which he said was responsive to his funding needs. I think it's a great opportunity for all of us to talk together. — Mathew Eddy Midcoast Council of Governments We got talking and he said, 'This is a great fit.' — Clint Chase Chase Small Craft F O C U S The Maine Funding Network hosts funding and counseling agencies as a platform to help entrepreneurs B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r

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