Mainebiz

V O L . X X I N O. X X I I I O C T O B E R 5 , 2 0 1 5 8 B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S N E W S F RO M A RO U N D T H E S TAT E N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N Just Write Books in Topsham pub- lished "Life Is a Project: How Are You Managing?" a personal productivity book by Portland-based consultant and Mainebiz contributor Jim Milliken. The book offers suggestions for time and relationship management and how to make progress toward longer- term goals with an emphasis on the realities of regular family life and work- place situations. Future of food co-op in fl ux e future of the downtown Waterville food store Barrels Community Market is uncertain. e store is operated by the Waterville Food Cooperative. As reported by the Kennebec Journal, the store closed at the beginning of August for a month to restructure. However, the cooperative's board of directors notifi ed members on Sept. 16 that the store will not reopen as planned and that the cooperative itself might dis- solve. David Shipman, executive direc- tor of the board, told the paper that doesn't necessarily mean the store will close permanently. He said the board still hopes to reopen, even if it is in a diff erent location or on a smaller scale. Barrels started six years ago as a project of the downtown economic group Waterville Main Street. e co-op was formed in 2013 and took over the store. "People are aware there have been challenges," Shipman told the paper. " e challenges are there and we're going to see if we have a way to work through them." One of the main challenges of reopening has been com- ing up with a business plan. Shipman said the co-op is working with Colby College on a plan. Advancing security, life safety, and communications. www.norrisinc.com Maine Accelerates Growth consortium to spur entrepreneurship Maine Accelerates Growth, a new con- sortium aimed at building on earlier work by Blackstone Accelerates Growth to promote entrepreneurship in Maine, was announced Sept. 17 by its coordinators. The Maine Technology Institute, Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development and the University of Maine's Innovation Programs are the founding advisory orga- nizations that will work on Phase 1 of a new fund partnership with the Maine Community Foundation. MxG, as it is called, is a 10-year effort to facilitate infrastructure investment, programs and events to help high-impact entrepreneurs grow. The program already has a $200,000 MTI challenge matching grant, Jess Knox, MxG statewide coordinator, told Mainebiz. He added that the Blackstone Accelerates Growth program, known as BxG, program will run through the end of the year. Knox also headed that program. BxG, as announced in October 2011, involved a $3 million grant from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation to create innovation hubs throughout Maine and grow the state's entrepreneurial ecosystem. The initial organizational partners for the new MxG program include Greenlight Maine, Maine Startup & Create Week and Our Katahdin. MxG's coordinators said the group aims to build on BxG's efforts to accelerate the growth of companies, communities and talent by funding, creating and lever- aging entrepreneurship and innovation programs and events through a collabora- tive and complementary network of organizations and individuals across Maine. MxG will fund, create and leverage programs and events statewide. Phase 1 focuses on building stakeholders and resources and recruiting additional match- ing investments, advisory partners and governing board members. "MxG will … allow for new ideas to be tested over a sustainable and predict- able period of time," Knox said in a statement. — L o r i V a l i g r a , w i t h c o n t r i b u t i o n s f r o m L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y J E S S K N O X Jess Knox is the statewide coordinator for a new, 10-year Maine Accelerates Growth project for entrepreneurs. C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N

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