Building on life’s goodwill Millinocket woman saying ‘cheese’ over new business

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Carla Portwine never dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur. It wasn’t that she hadn’t enjoyed work she had done in doctors’ and lawyers’ offices, at McDonald’s and at an insurance agency. But why would she want to work for herself?

After all, her husband, Peter, had a lucrative job at Great Northern Paper Co., they had a house she loved and she enjoyed being a mother to two sons and entertaining friends.

But then came December 2002.

Peter Portwine lost his job at the failing Great Northern. Life got even more complicated some months later when Peter developed serious heart problems.

Not one to get mired in self-pity, Carla took action. She says her company, Portwine of Maine, based in Millinocket, came from two sources: her passion for cooking and “necessity spawned by desperation.”

Whatever the reasons, they appear to have worked.

Portwine of Maine now provides livelihoods for four employees, including Carla, and is growing rapidly.

One of the employees is Brandon Portwine, Carla’s son, who had been living in New York City and working for companies such as AOL-Time Warner, a health insurer and a company importing seafood from China.

But when it seemed appropriate, he defied demographic trends, moved from the Big Apple to Millinocket, and became part of Portwine of Maine.

He hasn’t looked back. Brandon acknowledges there have been difficult moments working with his mother, but he also says the rewards have far outweighed the difficulties.

“We’ve made it this far,” Brandon said, “I see no reason it won’t work out.”

So what does Portwine of Maine produce? Carla took her love of cooking and has found products she enjoys and that others enjoy and, more importantly, will buy.

First there is her cheese spread. It contains five cheeses: portwine, tangy cheddar, crumbled feta, crumbled blue cheese and cream cheese. These are seasoned with fresh, minced red peppers, green peppers and onions, along with four spices. It has been a great success.

One of the retail outlets selling the spread is McLaughlin’s Seafood in Bangor. Kimberly McLaughlin, one of the owners, says it has “zip but is sweet.” It goes well spread on celery or crackers and as a topping on baked haddock.

“It’s the multiple uses that make it popular,” McLaughlin said. “And it is presented very nicely in a black container.”

Another product is granola with cherries. It can be used as a breakfast cereal and is also good with yogurt or fruit.

“I even use it as a topping on a salad,” Portwine said.

White granola, another product, is a “satisfying, heavenly and healthy snack,” she said.

Last, but certainly not least, is a nutritional bar made with grains, nuts, moist pumpkin seeds, sweet wildflower honey, peanut butter, almonds, walnuts, banana puree, coconut, and chocolate mini morsels, all designed in the shape of a cookie.

“It is the perfect meal, snack or breakfast that will appease the most ferocious appetite,” Portwine said.

Soon Portwine hopes to offer the bar in dough form so that health-minded parents can bake them.

As an example of the detail Portwine has considered in developing her products, she says she decided to make the nutritional bar in the shape of a cookie for two reasons.

First, it would make it “easier to go to a manufacturer if it really got rolling” and second, because it might encourage children to eat something healthy and nutritional.

So where does all this food production take place? Portwine took over a 33-foot-by-88-foot space previously occupied by a video store at 245 Aroostook Ave. in Millinocket. She was given a discounted rent for the first year and a half.

She also got great deals on flooring, countertops, a mixer and dishwasher. And she got a lot of volunteer labor from friends.

Brandon points out that Carla has always done a lot for the community, taking food to shut-ins, families that have lost a loved one, graduations, birthday parties and community events.

And Peter also was active in the town, perhaps most notably as a Little League baseball and youth hockey coach.

This goodwill paid many dividends, Carla Portwine says.

“I couldn’t have got this off the ground without the volunteers,” she said. “I soon hope to employ more of them.”

She also has many more product ideas, such as different flavors, like crabmeat, for the cheese spread.

Portwine also hopes to open her own retail outlet in Millinocket.

Portwine of Maine products are now sold in about 15 places, including Freeport Cheese and Wine; Jonathan’s, a restaurant in Ogunquit; Meadow Mere, a resort in Ogunquit; and some IGA stores.

Portwine also ships to buyers in other states.

Starting a food production business isn’t easy and involves more than quickly meets the eye. For example, Portwine had to determine how long the cheese spread could be frozen. Alfred Bushway, a food and science nutritionist at the University of Maine, was helpful in these areas. Another resource was a U.S. Food Service branch office in Bangor.

A private company in Massachusetts helped her determine cholesterol levels, fat content and other important information.

Carla Portwine has become somewhat of a how-to resource on starting a business.

She knows all the ins and outs on shipping. And she has developed some unlikely networks. For example, a friend who works in Bangor often drops off items at Federal Express in Bangor so they can be delivered overnight to places all over the country.

In fact, Portwine sees an opportunity in helping Maine small businesses get off the ground.

But most of all, she wants to do it from Millinocket.

“We want to keep it in Millinocket because this is where people need jobs,” she said.

Carla Portwine is quick to credit others with the success she has had to this point. First the family, foremost Brandon but also Bryant, her other son, who lives in Portland. She and Peter have had to be constantly supportive of each other, him needing help with his health problems and Carla needing support in her business endeavor.

And Portwine also lists scores of others, including a nurse, bakers, plumbers, electricians, flooring people, an accountant, many individual friends and even the “Rite-Aid Girls.”

But a few hours with Carla makes one realize that she is a vital ingredient herself.

She clearly knows hard work. A Millinocket native born in 1952, she didn’t always benefit from the Great Northern connection. When she was 15 years old she worked 32 hours a week while attending high school to help support her single mother and three siblings.

Carla Portwine might just be the best economic development engine in Millinocket. Or at least one to reckon with.