Midcoast Entrepreneurs: Bright Ideas, Creativity and Enterprise
From restaurateurs to artists, and everything in between, the Midcoast is beaming with creatives and innovators in all mediums.
Since the inception of PenBayPilot.com, a collective goal of our writers has been to spotlight entrepreneurs and their creativity. Now, we have established a hub for our stories about the Midcoast’s entrepreneurs to permanently reside.
We encourage our readers to support as many local business owners as possible across as many industries as you can. Our neighbors need our support, so please browse through this hub for potential purchases or places to eat.
Wollfie’s Wheels rolls out new taxi service in Camden
CAMDEN – A new private car service has been established in Camden. Called Wollfie’s Wheels, it is a collaboration of Chris Wolf and Joe Harris. The Camden cab company offers private car service around the immediate region, as well as to state airports and transportation hubs.
Wollfie’s Wheels quick cab service for trips in town and outlying areas. Car service to restaurants is a specialty with pick up and a return trip tailored to reservation times.
The cab service also… Read more
Street Food 330 is new on the Rockport food scene
ROCKPORT – Street Food 330, where southwest meets southeast. But what does that mean?
This new small eatery, at 330 Commercial Street (Route 1) in Rockport, is a collaboration between two women, each with a particular culinary expertise. They are serving delectable and eclectic food to the general public.
The name tells you where it is. It is not hard to miss the… Read more
Michael Hampton Design opens retail store in Rockport Village
Well-known interior designer Michael Hampton, who has led projects all over the United States, is opening a shop in Rockport Village under the name of Hampton & Co. The shop, at 25 Main Street in the heart of Rockport Village, will feature antiques, collectibles, fine art, and other objects of beauty from national and international sources. It will also serve as the office of Michael’s interior design business.
Michael worked for nationally-renowned designers Steven Volpe and… Read more
Steel-Pro to move Rockland business to Union, construct new facilities
Steel-Pro Incorporated, currently based in Rockland, has purchased approximately 12 acres in Union and intends to relocate its manufacturing business there for increased production space.
“We are excited to bring our company and employee-owners to the town of Union and look forward to building our new, state-of-the-art, facility in the near future,” said Steel-Pro President Steve Ladd. “Our goal is to increase… Read more
Freya’s Ice Cream carves out a sweet spot in Rockport
ROCKPORT—Put together a rich, dark chocolate gelato in a handmade waffle cone and a beyond beautiful deckside view of Rockport Harbor and you’ve got yourself a sweet little business.
Entrepreneur Therese Inman and her husband, Garett Reppenhagen, moved to Maine from Colorado last year, had a vision that Maine would be the place for their dream job.
In Colorado, Inman worked as a CNA in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) but baked on the side.
When they got to… Read more
Blue Barren Distillery is home again at new Camden wharf location
CAMDEN—It has been a twisty, tumultuous path for Blue Barren Distillery’s owners Andrew Stewart and Jeremy Howard. When they first opened on the “quiet side” of Camden in 2019, little did they know the business’s direction would be anything but quiet.
After a June 2020 fire that partially destroyed buildings in the Lyman-Morse boatyard, which forced the distillery to move its operations to a Hope blueberry barren in August 2021, Stewart and Howard had their sights set on eventually… Read more
Grasshopper Shop comes full circle with latest store opening in Belfast
BELFAST—She barely remembers it, but nearly 47 years ago Sierra Dietz, the owner of The Grasshopper Shop, used to play in a playpen in the window of The Grasshopper Shop’s original Belfast location on High Street.
“I don’t remember anything about the first store, but I definitely remember being in the store’s second location where Chase’s Daily is now,” she said.
Dietz, whose parents, Johanna Strassberg and Ken Schweikert, founded The Grasshopper Shop in 1975, is the current… Read more
Sweet Monkey Business micro-bakery takes off in Belfast
BELFAST—Matt Burke and Jim Thompson, who moved to Midcoast Maine four years ago, have been working toward taking their cookie and granola company, Sweet Monkey Business to its fullest potential—and now they’ve done it with a production facility on Main Street in Belfast.
“I’ve always been a contractor/builder, but I was looking to do something different,” said Thompson. “We’d always wanted to do some kind of small business around food, maybe a café or something. We loved to bake and… Read more
Salt Wharf, Lyman-Morse’s anchor restaurant, opens on Camden Harbor
CAMDEN—In little more than a year and a half, Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding, Inc has transformed the east side of Camden Harbor into a modernized marina. On Tuesday, June 12, Lyman-Morse celebrated its re-introduction to the community with the launch of its anchor restaurant, Salt Wharf.
Five hours before showtime, the finishing touches of construction in and around the restaurant were taking place as the general manager was busy making calls and the chefs prepped in the kitchen. The … Read more
Laurel’s Dolce Vita Bakery and Café is Thomaston’s newest business
THOMASTON – Laurel Cristopher is business owner, baker, dishwasher, and as it turns out, she’s a good carpenter to boot. Christopher is from Winthrop; she was scouting places where a small specialty bakery would fit in. That’s when she found an old firehouse at 350 Main Street in Thomaston, right next to the Prison Showroom.
“I was originally looking for a house in Rockland,” said Christopher. “I drove by this place and there was a for-sale sign out. I checked and found I could fit… Read more