MOUNT DESERT BUSINESS BOOT CAMP

An intensive weekend of business skill development leading up to a public Pitch Competition for prizes up to $10,000.

Mount Desert 365 is convening the second Mount Desert Business Boot Camp & Pitch Competition, again in collaboration with the Mount Desert Chamber of Commerce and with sponsorship from Bar Harbor Bank & Trust. Read on to learn about the presenters and mentors that help make this program so successful.

Jay Friedlander, facilitator

Jay Friedlander is the Sharpe-McNally Chair of Green and Socially Responsible Business at College of the Atlantic. Jay leads the design and delivery of the Business Boot Camp drawing on two decades of experience working with more than 100 enterprises across industries, starting a natural and organic foods venture, and teaching sustainable entrepreneurship.

Jordan Motzkin, facilitator

Jordan Motzkin is an entrepreneur and consultant. He is the founder of PitchWorks, a boutique firm ensuring the success of early stage growth enterprises and new corporate initiatives. Clients range from the Fortune 100, venture capital funds, and first-time entrepreneurs. Since its inception, PitchWorks has helped clients raise over $100 million in early-stage funding.

Deb Neuman, board mentor

Deb is the President and CEO of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce. Deb has owned an Inn, tour boat operation, manufacturing business and has developed products for market. In 2006 she launched the “Back To Business” radio show on WVOM to tell the stories about Maine businesses and has also worked in other media outlets. Deb has worked with businesses statewide, serving as Deputy Commissioner for Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development, as Director of the Target Technology Incubator at the University of Maine and as a business lender and coach with Eastern Maine Development Corporation.

John Pavan

John Pavan, board mentor

Sam received his bachelor’s degree in 1994 from the University of Maine and is a 2017 graduate of Stonier Graduate School of Banking at University of Pennsylvania. He is currently a Senior Vice President at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust. He is also the chair of the Board of Directors for the Land & Garden Preserve and serves on the Town of Mount Desert Warrant Committee, the Mount Desert Community Development Corporation, and the Northeast Harbor Village Improvement Society. Sam and his wife, artist Jennifer Judd-McGee, live in Northeast Harbor. They have two children.

Sam McGee

Sam McGee, board mentor

Sam received his bachelor’s degree in 1994 from the University of Maine and is a 2017 graduate of Stonier Graduate School of Banking at University of Pennsylvania. He is currently a Senior Vice President at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust. He is also the chair of the Board of Directors for the Land & Garden Preserve and serves on the Town of Mount Desert Warrant Committee, the Mount Desert Community Development Corporation, and the Northeast Harbor Village Improvement Society. Sam and his wife, artist Jennifer Judd-McGee, live in Northeast Harbor. They have two children.

Shannon Byers

Shannon Byers, board mentor

Shannon has an MBA from the University of Maine and has been Maine SBDC Business Advisor Since 2017. She has almost 20 years of experience in the biomedical field developing new products and services. Shannon managed a team of 20+ professionals and technicians in a high throughput technical setting. She comes from a family of entrepreneurs and has a passion for entrepreneurship. She has first-hand experience starting and owning a mobile dog grooming small business.

Steve Gurin

Steve Gurin, board mentor

Steve is the Senior Vice President and Director of Community Banking at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust. With more than 25 years of experience in the commercial banking and secured lending industries, Steve is committed to the success of the people and small businesses in the local community. He has underwritten a broad mix of loan types across a diverse industry base and uses all of this experience to help small business owners reach their goals. Steve received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Denison University and his MBA in finance from St. Joseph’s University.

Earl Brechlin

Earl Brechlin, board mentor

Earl Brechlin is the communications director at Friends of Acadia in Bar Harbor. He started this position after 16 years at the helm of the weekly newspaper The Mount Desert Islander, where he was the founding editor. Earl has been writing and taking photographs on Mount Desert Island and in Maine as a journalist for more than 35 years. Brechlin is a past president of the Maine and New England press associations. He was named 1997’s Maine Journalist of the Year

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