Greenville pushes for composite ventures

GREENVILLE – This town has rolled out the red carpet for entrepreneurs looking to develop or expand in new technology or wood products-based businesses.

Not only is the town constructing a building to serve as an incubator to hatch these new businesses, it also is holding a “lunch and lecture series” to provide developers everything they need to know to get started.

In addition, Greenville Town Manager John Simko was recently elected president of the Composite Technology Center, a state-sponsored business incubator organization headquartered in Sanford, which gives the Greenville facility a little more clout.

“Our efforts to support entrepreneurs who wish to commercialize high-technology composite products will have a healthy economic impact on our state,” Simko said recently.

He said signs of success have already been seen in incubator-supported businesses.

Gov. John Baldacci is expected to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house in January for the new Greenville Business Incubator, which will be available for occupancy in early 2005.

Municipal officials already have had contact with two potential tenants, Simko said.

Launched in October, the lunch and lecture series has thus far introduced developers to the expertise available through Eastern Maine Development Corp. and provided information about patent searching and patent protection.

The next session will feature business opportunities commercializing on new technology from the University of Maine’s Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center. This session will be held at the Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital boardroom.

In February, the series will concentrate on how the Greenville incubator can help grow new technology or wood products-based ventures.

Other sessions in 2005 will focus on business plans for technology companies, preparing for investment, and the Maine Technology Institute.

All sessions run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and cost $12 each, including lunch. The student fee is $5. Composite Technology Center tenants and affiliate members attend free. Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required.

To pre-register, contact Cindy Hamscom at 695-2421 or Cindy@GreenvilleME.com.