The Office of Community Services (OCS) is celebrating Community Economic Development Month in October 2021. Throughout the month, OCS plans to share how they are supporting community economic development efforts throughout the county. We’ll also be highlighting CED grantees on our website.
First up is a case study from Coastal Enterprises.
Coastal Enterprises ($800,000 in CED funds)
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) is using $800,000 in CED funds to support the Innovating in Maine to Create Good Jobs Initiative, which will finance two small businesses.
The first business is a wood products business, and the other is an agriculture/food systems business in Brunswick, Maine. CED funds will be used to make a loan to the businesses and to provide job specific training and project management assistance.
The businesses will create 32 high-quality jobs in rural Maine in rapidly growing business sectors. Twenty-four of those jobs will go to low-income individuals. CEI is partnering with Workforce Investment Boards, Maine Community College System Put ME to Work Program, Manufacturer’s Association of Maine, and Maine Department of Labor SafetyWorks! Program.