New Business Spotlight

Lori Pecor and Heather O’Brien have extensive backgrounds in small businesses marketing, creative design and hospitality. Shortly after they met last year it became clear that they shared a passion: to help small business grow by building relationships and practicing creative ‘out of the box’ thinking. This passion soon became a partnership that is now Marketing Cents 4u.

Marketing Cents 4u (MC4U) proudly specializes in small business marketing. We strongly believe that the strength of our economy is dependent on the continued success of the small business sector and we understand the growing challenges of which these businesses face. Our mission is to help business owners create the tools they need, not only to survive, but to grow and to prosper.

At MC4U, business owners will have the opportunity to become part of a marketing team that is centered on building relationships, trust and loyalty. The MC4U team will provide the resources, the support and the personal attention their 'partners' need and deserve. And most importantly, MC4U will provide a platform for small businesses to network with other businesses who share in these same beliefs.

‘We are so excited to be working with the small business sector of our community. Our time at the chamber helped us to recognize the tremendous need for the services we are now able to provide. Our upcoming workshop will highlight the types of services we offer, as well as our plans to increase exposure to our region by building and strengthening relationships within and beyond our community. The workshop is free and everyone is welcome’.


Where: The World Is Mine Oyster
When: May 3rd 5:30pm
What: Spring Into Summer Marketing Campaign
Who: Everyone is invited and it’s free!

RSVP: Please help us to prepare by letting us know you are attending at marketingcents4u@gmail.com or on our website @www.marketingcents4u.com. The World is Mine Oyster will be offering a special entree following the workshop. Please let us know if you are interested in staying for dinner.

We wish to thank Ralph and Alena Smith for their generosity in providing the workshop venue at their awesome new waterfront establishment!

Contact Information:

Website: http://www.marketingcents4u.com/

Emails:
Lori Pecor: lori@marketingcents4u.com
Heather O’Brien: heather@marketingcents4u.com
Find us on Facebook!

Breweries of the Week: Bar Harbor and Belfast Bay

This weekly blog series will feature each of our member breweries located throughout the state of Maine. We invite you to grab a pint, sit back and relax, while we fill you in on the lively brew scene in our state.


Who:   Bar Harbor Brewing, located in Bar Harbor Maine, has been brewing gold and platinum winning brews for nearly twenty years. Their passion for their brew sums up quite well with two important acts:

1) 1)Despite their award winning recipes, they still only brew 260 barrels of bottle conditioned beer a year, which means their product line is far more important to them, than their ‘bottom line’.

2) 2)They believe this to be true about their product: ‘it’s not just beer to drink, its beer to celebrate’.

What:  The Bar Harbor brew team prides itself in producing a product line that is cohesive yet independent. By using varying amounts of the same four ingredients (water, yeast, malted barley and hops), their ales offer a multitude of flavors with a signature taste. Their Cadillac Mountain Stout, named after one of the most well known peaks in Maine, brought on a fame of its own when it was awarded the World Champion of dry stout in 1995.

Where:  Guests can visit their tasting room daily and even step into their pilot room for a close up look at their original brewing equipment. Be sure to visit their unique gift store while you’re in town, which offers a variety of local foods, local wines from Bar Harbor Cellars, and of course, plenty of Bar Harbor Brew ‘swag’ that one really should not be without!

Get to know the Bar Harbor Team:

Visit their website
Email them at info@barharborbrewing.com
Or even better… visit them at: 8 Mount Desert Street, Bar Harbor. They’re open 7 days a week!

 

Who:  Belfast Bay Brewing Company, located in Belfast, Maine, has a story that would impress even the most distinguished of brew masters. Over the past 12 years Pat Mullen has pretty much built a brew empire, if empires are measured by thousands of bottles of champion worthy beer produced (Pat says he stopped counting right around 14,000 cases). And it was not all that long ago that these beers were bottled by Mullen himself, at his dining room table. Today, Belfast Bay Ales can be found in much of the Eastern US and are exported to Canada, Finland and Norway! Mullen now enjoys spending his time traveling to new places and introducing his passion to folks who have not yet had the opportunity to taste the world class beer. Pat is not only succeeding in introducing his beer around the world, he is bringing our great state of Maine right along with it. Thanks Pat!

What:  Some of Mullen’s favorite brewing stories include Brewmaster Dan McGovern, (now of 3Tides in Belfast), and their days of co-producing 11 brews in the Searsport Avenue complex that was once home to The Barn takeout stand, a pub and the brewery. It is not surprising that one of Mullen’s World Brewing Championship winners is named McGovern’s Oatmeal Stout. Their other claim to fame is the very appropriately named (thanks to the suggestion of his wife) Lobster Ale. Naturally, Mullen chose to craft a Red Ale to give this Maine namesake its due justice.

When: Although the brewery is not open for tours, the brew team has made sure their fans know how to connect with them! Every bottle of Lobster Ale and McGovern’s Oatmeal Stout has their phone number listed on the label. So after you finish a bottle, be sure to give them a buzz and let them know what you thought!

Get to know the Belfast Bay Team:

Follow them on facebook
Visit their website

Plant a hop, grow a community

Those of us who live here know the feeling well…

That ‘breath of fresh air’ that follows a quiet winter, when life begins to sprout up again and ever so gradually the refreshed and friendly faces of our community appear and begin to busy themselves with preparations for the upcoming season.

That was definitely the scene last weekend at Boothbay Region Greenhouses in Boothbay Harbor.  A passerby might have been intrigued to observe an otherwise uncommon group of folks gathered together on a sunny Saturday afternoon to play in the dirt.  The ‘players’ represented pretty much every sector of business in our community: A town official (Boothbay Town Manager, Jim Chaousis), an Excavating Contractor (E.M. Wood), a Resort owner (Spruce Point Inn), specialty shop owners (Oak Street Provisions and Eventide Specialties), gracious hosts, Boothbay Region Greenhouses and ‘Project Hop’ organizers, the Boothbay Craft Brewery.  Heather O’Brien of Marketing Cents 4u was also onsite as project cheerleader, whose sole purpose was to spread the ‘dirt’ around town.

This otherwise uncommon group had come together to plant 500 baby hops; for the eventual purpose of growing their business and more importantly, growing community relationships.  Many of these baby plants will remain under the generous care of the expert growers at Boothbay Region Greenhouse until they are adopted by their future hop families. 

The hops arrived last week, traveling all the way from the west coast and landing at Boothbay Craft Brewery in anticipation of their upcoming debut at the Hop Swap Event scheduled for June 2^nd.  The Hop Swap is one of several festivities planned for the weekend of June 1^st-3^rd, which will include a golf tournament at the Boothbay Country Club, ticket holder specials at McSeagull’s restaurant, Eventide Specialties and Oak Street Provisions.  Area businesses are encouraged to jump on board by offering additional reasons for folks to visit the region in conjunction with these already made plans.  Participating businesses have partnered with Marketing Cents 4u to assist in getting the word out to potential vacationers during the decision making season.   The Marketing campaign will also consider in state visitor potential, due to the rising trend in local travel.

Project Hop is one of many exciting efforts happening around the region for the purpose of increasing exposure to potential visitors by combining resources and sharing costs.  As demonstrated by its participants, businesses need not be tourism related to take advantage of community efforts intended to grow the economy of our region.  

In need of ideas on how your business can generate sales by participating in these efforts?  Attend a free community workshop being held on May 3^rd at 5:30pm at The World is Mine Oyster or contact Marketing Cents 4u at: marketingcents4u@gmail.com /http://www.marketingcents4u.com/ 671-7676/380-7580

Interesting Facts about Hops:

Did you know that Hop farming in Maine dates all the way back to the 1800’s?  Once a viable commercial crop in our state, hops were harvested for reasons far beyond making beer.  An ingredient in products such as natural deodorants, body and face lotions, shampoos, stress relievers and countless food recipes, hop growing is clearly not just for beer lovers!  Old folk remedies report the use of hops for healing wounds, jaundice and even cancer.  How about inexpensive landscaping ideas?  Hops are a vine plant, which means they are the perfect natural privacy fence or the solution to hiding unsightly yard items such as a propane tank or the hubby’s pile of junk covered in blue tarp.  In a community so rich in creative, artistic minds, hop growing could become yet another reason folks visit the region.  Not to mention the potential opportunity in yet another Maine made product line!  Move over salt water taffy! 

Hops are available at a bulk rate or in conjunction with the Hop Swap Event which gets you a plant and a ticket to the event on June 2^nd for just $10.   Tickets are being sold at the following  partnering businesses:  Boothbay Region Greenhouses, Oak Street Provisions, McSeagull’s Restaurant, Hammond Lumber, Grovers Hardware, Southport General Store, BBHR Chamber of Commerce, Spruce Point Inn, Blissful Touch, Yoga Firm Studio, Eventide Specialties, Salon Capella, Sewell Auto Parts, E.M. Wood Construction, Video Loft and Marketing Cents 4u, in conjunction with several area lodging packages.

FMI contact the Boothbay Craft Brewery at 633-3411 or visit any of the aforementioned local businesses.