{"id":246848,"date":"2025-10-23T19:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T19:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/246848\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T19:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T19:48:09","slug":"yarmouth-small-businesses-look-to-the-future-through-roux-institute-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/246848\/","title":{"rendered":"Yarmouth small businesses look to the future through Roux Institute program"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Alicia Gaiero, founder of Nauti Sisters Sea Farm, presents on the business plan she developed with Venture Forward Yarmouth at the Roux Institute in Portland on Oct. 22. (Sophie Burchell\/Staff Writer)<\/p>\n

Ten Yarmouth small businesses successfully completed Venture Forward Yarmouth, a new small business development initiative headed by Northeastern University\u2019s Roux Institute in Portland. The Yarmouth entrepreneurs are the first to participate in the program, which numerous Maine communities are interested in replicating.<\/p>\n

From coffee roasters to primary care providers, the 13 entrepreneurs representing the 10 businesses learned how to scale and modernize their operations and expand into new markets. Over eight weeks, the business owners attended trainings and workshops, and they met with a personalized mentor and Roux Institute staff to develop their business strategies.<\/p>\n

Bonnie Freitas and Danielle Gaglini opened River\u2019s Edge Acupuncture in May and heard about the launch of the program months later<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re a new business. We want to be open to any and all, and let\u2019s see how we can possibly collaborate with local businesses in our community,\u201d said Gaglini.<\/p>\n

The business partners and acupuncturists said the program gave them confidence in their business plan and an opportunity to slow down and focus on their vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like a little gift. We just started. We hit the ground running, but it was nice to get some guidance,\u201d said Freitas.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 22 at the Roux Institute\u2019s campus in Portland, the Yarmouth entrepreneurs presented their business strategies and takeaways from the program, followed by a catered lunch from program participant Maggie Mae\u2019s<\/a>, a grab-and-go restaurant that developed its catering strategy through the Roux Institute program.<\/p>\n

One more established business to participate in Venture Forward Yarmouth was Estabrook\u2019s Farms and Greenhouses Inc. A giant in Yarmouth\u2019s relatively small business sector, the garden center and nursery, which operates a second location in Kennebunk, is on track to celebrate its 75th anniversary next year. The company\u2019s success further motivated its president Tom Estabrook to participate in this future-oriented program.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re not growing, you\u2019re dying,\u201d said Estabrook, who is the third generation to run the company.<\/p>\n

Over the eight week course, Estabrook developed plans for expanding the company\u2019s online shopping and consumer education, and hopes to launch an AI chatbot that provides gardening advice next year.<\/p>\n

Other program participants included the snack company Diggables Buckwheat Puffs, the financial consultants Shepard Financial, the restaurant Gather and the oyster farm and experience company Nauti Sisters Sea Farm.<\/p>\n

Venture Forward Yarmouth was sponsored by Yarmouth\u2019s Economic Development Advisory Board, which used $40,000 of tax-increment financing for the Roux Institute to provide the free training for Yarmouth business owners.<\/p>\n

Tori Hill, Yarmouth\u2019s director of community and economic development, said the partnership with the Roux Institute expanded the capacity of the town to support the local economy. Unlike more typical business development programs for small towns, Venture Forward Yarmouth was not centered around attracting new business to set up shop in the area, said Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis program was really exciting because it\u2019s taking care of the businesses that are already here and saying, \u2018We\u2019re here for you, we support you, and we\u2019re excited for you to grow here,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The local focus of the program also lent itself to businesses collaborating, thinking about how they could promote each other\u2019s services or offer joint products.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tightened the weave of the small business community,\u201d said Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the town being at the heart of the program made it so that there was that much more willingness to collaborate,\u201d said Anna Ackerman, entrepreneurship program manager at the Roux Institute.<\/p>\n

Both Hill and Ackerman have heard from other Maine municipalities since the Venture Forward Yarmouth was announced this summer about possibly bringing the program to their towns. Ackerman said that 15 towns, such as Falmouth and Bath, have indicated interest and six towns are in more serious conversations about having a Venture Forward program run next year. So far, Venture Forward Rockland is officially happening in 2026.<\/p>\n

While the Roux Institute has offered entrepreneurship programming in Maine since 2020, the focus was on startups in climate and health care technology as opposed to established small businesses. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaine is a small business state, and we thrive on our small business community, and I think we just want to enhance what\u2019s already happening through the resources that the Roux Institute has,\u201d said Ackerman.<\/p>\n

With a passion for being outdoors and fishing, Yarmouth resident Bryan Deerwester began sewing durable gear pouches in his basement as a hobby. After selling some creations on Etsy, Deerwester\u2019s participation in the program prompted him to view Royal River Threadworks as a real business. His website selling the handcrafted pouches, cut and sewn in Yarmouth, debuted the day of the showcase.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a very conservative person, I\u2019m not a great risk taker. I needed a push to get over that,\u201d said Deerwester.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019m at a point where this feels like a real thing. It\u2019s an awesome program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alicia Gaiero, founder of Nauti Sisters Sea Farm, presents on the business plan she developed with Venture Forward…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[28,158],"class_list":["post-246848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-business","tag-entrepreneurship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}