Mainebiz

V I E W P O I N T S W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 3 J U LY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 For a daily digest of Maine's top busi- ness news, sign up for the Mainebiz Daily Report at mainebiz.biz/enews Get Maine's business news daily at mainebiz.biz and on Twitter (@Mainebiz). Below is some of the best from our online-only offerings: Featured @ Mainebiz.biz Portland firm attracts major investment Direct Vet Marketing Inc., a Portland- based veterinary services company that does business as Vets First Choice, recently raised $52.3 million in equity funding from 33 investors. Learn more about the fund raise and what it means for the company at mainebiz.biz/DirectVet Drink beer, support island economies Monhegan Brewing Co. and the Island Institute have partnered to release a new beer that is expected to benefit Maine's 15 year-round island communities through a portion of its sales. Find out how the beer will support the Island Institute's work and where to drink it at mainebiz.biz/MonheganBeer From the Editor P eter DelGreco of Maine & Co. gave me a call early this year about a pair of fashion designers who were intent on starting a shoe brand in Maine. In March, the brand SOAK, led by Michelle Vale and Elena Corsano, raised $26,500 on Kickstarter. Some 400 people participated in the crowd-funding eff ort. Also in March, SOAK was featured in the Portland Press Herald. Michelle and Elena came into the Mainebiz offi ce recently to talk about SOAK, the shoe brand they launched in the past year. SOAK is a women's slide-style shoe made by injection molding. It's recyclable, they say, and "vegan friendly and water-happy." "SOAK is for fashionable women who are sophisti- cated, but also playful," says Vale. Vale is namesake for Michelle Vale, a line of handbags. Corsano was fashion editor at Town & Country magazine; co-founded a branding-and-marketing agency, Arsenic 9; and co-founded BFF-Best Fashion Friend, an app that gives you access to other fashion-minded friends. In an early morning meeting, they talked about the authenticity of Mainers and the sense of place you get from the Pine Tree State. ey launched the brand at the Portland Hunt + Alpine Club. "We wanted something that was made in America. at it's made in Maine was a bonus," says Corsano. "We want to reinvigorate the shoe industry in Maine," Vale adds. ey spoke highly of Gary Gagnon, owner of G&G Products in Kennebunk, where the shoes are being manufactured. e fi rst production run was 2,000 pairs, which will retail for around $70 a pair. After their visit with Mainebiz, they were on their way to see an early version of the SOAK shoe. "We want to get it right. We have little tweaks we're making. We want to make it perfect. It's made of recy- clable materials," says Vale. On Aug. 3, they plan to show the shoes to wholesal- ers. ey say they've gotten interest from some depart- ment stores. A former CEO of Havianas, a Brazilian footwear brand, has provided guidance. Vale and Corsano are based in New York City, for now, but vow that the SOAK headquarters will be in Maine. eir expectation is that manufacturing jobs will be created. How many remains to be seen. ey project sales of $5 mil- lion to $10 million within fi ve years. Not long after my meeting with the SOAK crew, I ran into DelGreco at the Yarmouth Clam Festival. He was still singing their praises and believes they will hold true to the goal of adding manufacturing jobs in Maine. "SOAK is a great story for a number of reasons," he writes in a follow-up email. " ey can impact the Maine economy in a positive way that will also help them grow here in Maine. e partners, he says, are following a "well-traveled path." ey have a design team and a concept. ey have identifi ed their market. ey were wise, he adds, to fi nd a manufacturing partner that has the most cost-eff ective methods of production. " eir sales strategy is intertwined with the idea of Made in Maine," DelGreco says. "As their company grows, they will need to grow their Maine presence in order to grow the company. Whether they increase the depth of their partnership with their Kennebunk manu- facturer or someday build their own production line, the synergy their product has with the Maine brand should lead to increased activity within the Maine economy." Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz To add jobs, you have to build companies — often from the ground up THERE IS THERE IS A DIFFERENCE A DIFFERENCE THERE IS Because Sheridan Sheridan Construction Construction www.sheridancorp.com www.sheridancorp.com Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Harold Alfond Academic Center at Thomas College An inside look Get a digest of the state's largest commercial real estate transactions, industry movers and more in our weekly Real Estate Insider newsletter. Sign up at mainebiz.biz/enews.

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