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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 9 F E B R UA R Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 6 HOSTED VOIP CAN CHANGE HOW YOU DO BUSINESS – AND WHERE. YOU'RE ON, 21 YOU'RE ON, 21 ST ST CENTURY. CENTURY. ST CENTURY. ST ST CENTURY. ST OFFSITE CAPABILITIES | LOW CAPITAL EXPENDITURES | ONE TRUSTED PROVIDER With FairPoint's Hosted VoIP, you can work and access your phone from anywhere, increasing fl exibility and productivity. Because the business world is no longer confi ned to the walls of your offi ce – and your phone system shouldn't be, either. Learn what else Hosted VoIP can do for your business at fairpointcom/VoIP. Services may not be available in all areas or at the speeds generally marketed. Uninterrupted service not guaranteed. Services and pricing subject to change. Terms and conditions apply. ©2015 FairPoint Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. MCED, CEI get federal innovation awards The Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development and Coastal Enterprises Inc. are among 25 awardees nationwide sharing $10 million under the Economic Development Administration's 2015 Regional Innovation Strategies program. MCED will get $390,000 for its Top Gun Rural Accelerator Network expan- sion, while CEI will receive $250,000 for the CEI Natural Resource Business Seed Capital Fund. The grants required matches in the form of both cash and in-kind services from all awardees. The awards were announced Feb. 8 at a press conference at MCED's head- quarters in Portland. In attendance were U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Jay Williams, U.S. Sen. Angus King, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, Kate Norfleet (representing U.S. Sen. Susan Collins), MCED Executive Director Don Gooding and CEI's senior vice president of corporate development, Keith Bisson. "Our grant requires matching funds [and in-kind services] up front. MCED matched $453,000 and CEI is matching with $250,000," Williams told Mainebiz in an interview. "It's important for them to have skin in the game." That brings the total funding to $843,000 for MCED and $500,000 for CEI. MCED's matches came from itself, the University of Maine, Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council, Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, Maine Angels and the Maine Venture Fund, according to Julie Lenzer, director of the Commerce Department's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. CEI's matches came from itself, the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments and the Environmental Health Strategy Center. The grants support entrepreneurship and job creation by spurring capacity- building and access to capital for innovators and entrepreneurs, according to the EDA, which is part of the Commerce Department. "We've appreciated the support Sen. Collins, Sen. King and Rep. Pingree have shown for innovation and entrepreneurship. They've been supportive of [President Obama's] agenda with respect to providing resources and opportuni- ties for small businesses," Williams said. "And we have two outstanding grant- ees, MCED and CEI. They certainly stood out and underscore the importance of these investments here in the state of Maine." He added that it's important to have a bipartisan congressional delegation that understands the importance of making strategic investments that are lev- eraged by private investment. Williams said that MCED stood out because of the breadth of its partner- ships across the state, and the fact that it is scaling an approach that's already proven to be successful. "And they're looking to expand opportunities to entrepreneurs and innovators in the rural economy of Maine," he said. "That supports the president's efforts to engage and lift up the economy of rural America." He said the two things that are critical for businesses are programmatic support and access to capital. CEI is going to be engaging in a feasibility study for potentially setting up the Natural Resource Business Seed Capital Fund. "Our funds won't go to capitalize that seed fund," he said, adding: "But if they do establish it, they will make equity investments in promising farm, food, fisheries and bio-based businesses with potential for high growth. That notion of access to capital is so critical to allow those businesses to survive and to ultimately be scaled up." — L O R I V A L I G R A Jay Williams, assistant secretary of commerce for the U.S. Economic Development Administration, was in Portland to announce innovation awards. P H O T O / L O R I VA L I G R A

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