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V O L . X X I V N O. X I I J U N E 1 1 , 2 0 1 8 20 R yan Wilson was working for a farm and doing deliveries to restaurants, when he started asking chefs what they wanted that they couldn't get. " ey said duck," he recalls. "So I grew six ducks." Today, Wilson and Gina Simmons's Commonwealth Poultry Co., in Gardiner, processes 300,000 USDA-inspected, all-natural, additive- free, halal chickens, ducks, turkeys, rab- bits and game fowl per year, works with commercial growers throughout New England and Pennsylvania, and employs about 30 people year-round. Nevertheless, it's been learn-as-you- go since the company started in 2010. "I don't have a business background. I'm just doing the best I can every day," Wilson says. "I read everything I can. I work with the USDA. I have a system down that we repeat and repeat and repeat. And we've proved it to work over and over again." Even so, Wilson craved a better busi- ness foundation. So when he learned earlier this year about the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs' Cultivator Food, Beverage and Agriculture Scale-up Accelerator Program, for companies past the start-up stage and looking to grow, he leapt. "I'm sure I could grow more, but I want to do it correctly instead of by the seat of my pants," he says. "Okay, I'm doing it right, but what am I missing out on? What are the things that people who own this size business do, that I'm not doing? Plus I feel very responsible for my employ- ees. I value giving people jobs and I want to increase the number and types of jobs." From start-up to scale-up Starting up a company is hard. But fi g- uring out how to scale a successful start- up to a new level of growth is a whole diff erent bucket of challenges. Maine Center for Entrepreneurs, which runs the entrepreneurial train- ing program Top Gun, noticed the start-ups in that program often reach a certain level of revenue, then hit a wall in terms of growth and development, says Executive Director Tom Rainey. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY F O C U S Cultivating food companies M aine Center for Entrepreneurs' Cultivator program is spon- sored by FocusMaine and is part of its 10-year effort to grow jobs in agriculture, aquaculture and biopharmaceuticals. As part of that growth plan, FocusMaine received a $4.9 million three-year matching grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation and partnered with MCE, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Maine Aquaculture Association, Coastal Enterprises Inc. and Maine & Co. on various initiatives. MCE's Cultivator is one of those initiatives. Along with FocusMaine, the Cultivator network includes Verrill Dana, Norway Savings and business advisors. Each company pays $2,500 to be in the program. Cultivator provides: ¡ Third-party assessments to identify gaps and needs to allow business to scale-up ¡ Development of an action plan and milestone tracking ¡ Coaching and mentoring through MCE'S mentor network ¡ Connections to additional fee-based executive or consultant support ¡ Cohort workshops and learning events ¡ Increased visibility to the business community. Cultivator will culminate in a spring 2019 showcase for the businesses, investors and communities. Ryan Wilson, co-owner (with Gina Simmons) of Commonwealth Poultry Co., in their facility in Gardiner. The company works with commercial growers throughout New England and Pennsylvania and employs about 30 people. Start-up program prepares companies for second-level growth B Y L A U R I E S C H R E I B E R RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT Growing them

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