An Upstart Serving Local Ingredients

August 2014

DEAL HIGHLIGHT

It is notoriously hard to break into the restaurant business, let alone succeed in it. Melissa Coriaty has managed to do both with Verbena, a restaurant and catering business located in South Portland, Maine. Offering local ingredients at reasonable prices, Verbena has grown to a total of six employees, with another hire in the works. Support from CEI helped at a time when other restaurants were closing or just managing to survive. “We were at capacity and really had no way of expanding without undertaking considerable modifications,” said Melissa. CEI’s Women’s Business Center (WBC) identified ways to increase Verbena’s bottom line, improve efficiencies, and accommodate fluctuating expenses. A $35,000 loan enabled the renovation of Verbena’s cafe and kitchen in the historic Knightville neighborhood.

“More than anything else, in CEI I felt like I had a partner. Art [Stevens], my loan officer, was almost as happy as I was when the loan came through and Sarah [Guerette]’s expertise has enabled me to make

better business projections and decisions,” said Melissa.

PARTNER www.verbenaonline.com + LENDER www.ceimaine.org

Chef/owner Melisa Coriaty (right) at Verbena, a successful restaurant and catering business in South Portland, Maine.

Capital for Opportunity and Change

Founded in 1995, CEI’s Women’s Business Center (WBC) provides business counseling, workshops and events for women entrepreneurs at any stage. WBC counselors help women business owners develop business plans and loan applications, and access sources of funding for start-up and growth. Clients learn skills such as marketing, financial management, and effective growth strategies.

The WBC also brings sector expertise to CEI’s lending practices. Our five-year, $128MM Platform for Sustainable Lending and Investment, launched in October 2012, specifically focuses on women as a target demographic–resulting in a notable increase in support. Learn more at ceimaine.org.

Support for Women-Owned Businesses

CEI’S FIVE-YEAR PLATFORM

25% 24%

17%

21%

13%

Sector Specific with CEI’s Women’s Business Center

INSIDE CEI

How did you become a business counselor at CEI? I’m part of Maine’s reverse brain drain: after living away for several years I was drawn back to the quality of life in my home state. I was interested in CEI because of its unique mix of programs and services, and its mission of helping people of all incomes reach their full potential.

My parents owned a small business and that must have influenced my circuitous route to becoming a business counselor. I first studied to be a social worker, yet after working in the nonprofit sector, I realized I was more interested in management than case work. I got an MBA, worked in microfinance, helped start and grow a entrepreneurship-focused consulting firm, and worked in a variety of small businesses.

How does the WBC impact women business owners? We support female entrepreneurs in gaining the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to start or grow businesses by providing:

Business counseling that’s tailored to each entrepreneur’s business and life.

A safe space to grow and learn.

Guidance through business planning, funding, and growth.

Referrals and connections to other Small Business Administration (SBA) resource partners, professionals, and community resources.

What are the greatest changes you’ve seen at CEI since you started working here? What is the future of the WBC? CEI now has a range of financing products that can help Maine businesses of almost any size and type. CEI fills a very important need by being a flexible financer, and I am excited by the increased breadth of what we offer.

Current SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet defines the SBA as “Smart. Bold. Accessible.” I imagine a Women’s Business Center that prides itself on similar values: smart and modern counselors who offer bold and innovative yet prudent ideas to Maine entrepreneurs, while remaining accessible by continuing to provide free or low cost services to under-served populations.

LEFT: Sarah Guerette, Director and Business Counselor, CEI Women’s Business Center (WBC)

CEI, one of the nation’s leading community development corporations (CDCs) and community development financial institutions (CDFIs), specializes in rural business development and financing. Founded in 1977 in Wiscasset, Maine, CEI creates economically and environmentally healthy communities in which all people, especially those with low incomes, can reach their full potential.

CEI serves communities in Maine, New England, and rural regions throughout the U.S. Our development philosophy and theory of change combine the market interventions of finance, development services and policy to benefit economy, social equity, and environment, the “triple bottom line” of return on investment. CEI is Aeris rated.

CEI has financed 2,340 businesses, advised 43,082 people, impacted 28,246 jobs and leveraged $2.59 billion in financing with $1.05 billion in loans and investments.

www.ceimaine.orgP.O. Box 268

Wiscasset, ME 04578

(207) 882-7552 info@ceimaine.org

WHO WE ARE

ceimaineCoastal Enterprises, Inc.

Sarah Guerette, Director and Business Counselor at CEI’s Women’s Business Center, provides technical assistance to start-ups and existing small businesses in southern Maine, with a focus on women-owned businesses. Originally from Bangor, Sarah has worked with small business owners in Maine, Boston and in Ecuador, where she lived for nearly five years.

Women’s Business Center2012-17 Platform Impact Stats

October 1, 2012 - July 31, 2014

749 Technical Assistance Clients

$5,399,146 in Capital Formation

196 Full-Time Jobs Created/Sustained

59 Business Starts

927 Training and Networking Clients