Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 1 6 "I thought it was a crazy idea," she says, "but, at the same time, I got excited, and started playing around with my grandmother's recipe." She got a license to sell out of her home, and opened the phone book to fi nd her fi rst store, College Carry Out in Augusta. "When the owner says 'Sure, bring them over,' I thought I'd made it," Bouchard says. "I had my baby in one arm and whoopie pies in a basket on the other." What she didn't have was a receipt book or even know what one was. " e owner was so kind, and showed me how to write out a receipt," she says. By the time she got home, all her whoopee pies had sold. "I made $12 and was on Cloud 9," she says. en she started thinking about selling ten dozen a week. With $24,000 in sales her second year, she out- grew her home kitchen, and had to decide to either completely stop or move to a commercial space. A loan from the Small Business Administration made possible a move to a 1,800-square-foot bakery in Richmond. Eventually she moved to her current 18,000-square-foot facility in Gardiner. She also has a retail store in Farmingdale, buying the building in October. In 2013, the SBA recognized her as a success- ful woman-owned business. Bouchard has 30 full-time employees and oversees production of 10,000 whoopie pies a day. In peak season, when production can increase to 12,000, her full-time crew works overtime. She doesn't believe in seasonal help. "I want to take care of them throughout the year," she says, which fi ts her comment that "You can't be more Maine than me." Wholesale is the mainstay of her business. She works with Associated Grocers of New England and ships product to Hannaford for distribution throughout New England and New York. Gardiner-based Pine State Convenience is one of her biggest distributors, getting Wicked Whoopies into 500 convenience stores in Maine and a total network of seven states. It began in 1995, when Pine State Trading Co. Managing Partner Gena Canning reached out to Bouchard. Canning says sales were $16,000 the fi rst year of working together and $200,000 in 2015. "Amy was a good fi t and grew with us," Canning says. "She is her brand and brings all her enthusiasm and her family to every trade show. She is part of the community and works so hard." L J , a w r i t e r b a s e d i n F a l m o u t h , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t @ . Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew Amy was a good fit and grew with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and with us. She is her brand and brings all her enthusiasm and her family to every trade show. She is part of the community and works so hard. — Gena Canning, Pine State Trading Co.

• Cover