For its Top Gun Rural Accelerator Network, MCED was awarded a 3-year grant of $390,000. They will use the new funds to expand the program. According to the official release, the Top Gun program has grown over the past six years to accelerate commercialization in the rural Maine economy. As part of the expansion efforts, the program will add new on-ramps and off-ramps, including two Lewiston-Auburn, and connections with USM, Biddeford, and immigrant entrepreneurs. New off-ramps include a new Equity Pathways program and research on the a potential program focused on growth strategies. In CEI’s effort to assess the feasibility of and demonstrate the market demand for a Natural Resource Business Seed Capital Fund, they were awarded a two-year grant of $250,000. CEI already currently focuses on supporting natural resource-based industries in Maine’s rural communities, and would advance their efforts with a new proposed fund. Launched in 2010 as part of the White House Startup America Initiative, the i6 Challenge is now in it’s fourth cohort. Competitors consist of businesses and entrepreneurs from around the nation, and the supportive challenge offers targeted, high-impact investments that support their creation and innovation.
