One participant noted, “I loved it so much.  I can’t wait to tell my family and friends about this day. I would love to come again and again.”

For more information on Totally Trades visit our webpage. Totally Trades is supported by the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Department of Education/CTE as well as local sponsors and supporters.  Time Warner Cable New England provided t-shirts for both conferences.

                          

A requirement for the applicants is to complete the financial literacy workshop offered by Women, Work and Community before the awarding of the scholarships in June.  As part of the program, the students will project their summer job earnings, personal expenses, and savings to help offset their college expenses. They will learn about ways to reduce their college costs and evaluate the pros and cons of student loans. They will research the average starting salary for their career goal, and use that figure to identify the maximum they should borrow to complete their education based on the monthly re-payments.

The program is part of a larger asset development initiative supported by the Worthington Foundation, which includes Family Development Accounts for Knox County residents.

                          

EV

As a gray-haired baby boomer, I take scant comfort in knowing I am far from alone here in the oldest state in New England, if not the nation. The U.S. Census projects that by 2015, 15 percent of the population in Maine will be 65 and older.

Much has been written about the challenges of our graying society — the costs associated with caring for all of us and the lack of younger, more energetic workers to fuel our economy. Some creative types, however, have found opportunities in designing businesses that serve this growing target market.

Deborah McLean of Freeport is one such entrepreneur. She had been working as a marketing manager for a senior care facility when consolidation within the industry led her to look elsewhere. Her familiarity with senior care helped her recognize a need: More and more adult children — baby boomers — were assuming the responsibility of caring for aging parents and were looking for a range of resources that would support a quality of life for their loved ones. That includes housing, personal and home care assistance, recreation and social interaction opportunities, and medical care.

What they needed, Deborah determined, was a one-stop resource guide to all of these services.

With a partner, Deborah launched Maine Senior Guide, an online guide of products, services and resources for seniors, searchable by geography and type of service.

“It took nine months of planning, the investment of our savings and a small loan to get the site up and running Oct. 1, 2010,” Deborah said.

Because the site is content rich — there are more than 780 pages on the site at this point — the structure of the website was crucial. Most active seniors and adult children arranging care for aging parents “want to stay close to home,” said Deborah, so finding Maine-based resources throughout the state is important.

While the users of the site are largely individuals, corporate and business representatives increasingly are looking to support their employees who are faced with caring for aging parents.

To promote the Maine Senior Guide and connect other businesses targeting seniors to their customers, Deborah and her colleagues have sponsored Maine Senior Expos in communities around Maine, with expos scheduled for July in Kennebunk, September in Freeport and October in Waterville.

As with any business, sales, in this case selling listings on the site, is a challenge and one that engages much of Deborah’s time.

Deborah knows the Internet is big and changes all the time.

“As I learned in the New Ventures class, it is never too soon to think of an exit strategy,” she said.

At the moment, she sees unlimited potential to grow the site, add staff and provide value to this growing population. She has plans to help others develop content and market similar sites in other states.

Joanne Rosenthal, owner of Aging Consultation Services of Brunswick, is another who recognized the growing needs of baby boomers. She was able to build on her background in social work and develop her entrepreneurial skills.

As a service professional, she works with individuals in the midcoast area, including those whose parents may live out of state, providing tools and resources to support boomers and their parents through life transitions.

“I can help them develop a game plan, starting with how to hire an in-home companion to planning for increasing levels of care,” she said. “I also facilitate family conversations via phone conferencing or Skype.”

As an independent consultant, Joanne is not there to promote any particular facility or agency but to help her customers find the resources they need and can afford.

“The baby boom generation is looking for more innovative solutions to aging in place, like pooling resources and even sharing housing,” Joanne noted.

David Maurice of Delar General Contracting, based in New Gloucester, has another approach. His side business, Multi-Gen By Design, will build “a home within a home,” an arrangement that can allow aging parents the benefits of both worlds — private, independent space, adjacent to family support, as needed.

In addition to specialized services, innovative products such as remote monitoring and emergency alert devices can offer the opportunity for aging seniors to stay in place and provide business opportunities for younger adults. (See Full Circle America, The Maine Approach.)

Eloise Vitelli is the program director for Women, Work, and Community, a statewide organization that has provided training and assistance to start-up entrepreneurs since 1984.

                          

By Gigi Guyton, Women, Work, and Community
As printed in the Bangor Daily News 

I had the sad task of telling an entrepreneur whom I wanted to nominate for a small business award to hold off until next year. We simply were not going to make the deadline. Often the groups handing out awards don’t give much turnaround time, and in putting together this particular nomination, the business owner just wasn’t prepared.

Based on this experience, I started thinking about an entrepreneur’s marketing toolkit. This includes items I believe every business owner should have in what Linda Varrell, president of Broadreach Public Relations in Portland, calls your “visibility kit.”

But before business owners can fill the kit, they should nail down a positioning statement, says Sarah Guerette, director of CEI’s Women’s Business Center in Portland.

“I think this is critically important because I meet many entrepreneurs who describe their marketing approach as ‘stabbing in the dark,’” Guerette said.

Being ready for anything, including a nomination for an award, can launch a business into the next level of growth overnight. When Becky McKinnell, owner of iBec Creative, was selected as one of Businessweek’s Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25 in 2009, her business took off. Today, Becky’s staff has grown to 14 employees, and she has outgrown her space twice.

Varrell was instrumental in getting McKinnell ready for the nomination process.

“We scoured the past winners to understand how they were positioned, prioritized Becky’s accomplishments and really drove home her key accomplishments without missing a beat on her personality. The nomination was limited to 1,000 characters!”

When loading your visibility kit, here are some very basic things Varrell and Guerette suggest should be easily and readily accessible:

• Logo: This would seem like a no-brainer, but, “You’d be surprised how many companies do not have easy access to a high resolution logo, in both color and black and white,” Varrell said.
• Bio: A short version (50-100 words) and a long version (100-250 words). Varrell says this should have “not only the details of your background, but a hint of your personality.” She says if you have a difficult name to pronounce, include the pronunciation in the notes.
• Photos: First, have a good headshot of yourself and your best business look. “Don’t crop a shot from your last summer party,” Varrell said. Use a professional photographer if you can, or use a plain background with no shadows. Keep a headshot in color, and in black and white (8×11 and 5×7). A good rule of thumb for a digital photo is at least 300 dpi. Next, have a few candid shots of you and your company and employees at work.
• Company Profile: “Many entrepreneurs don’t have a one-pager that describes what they do, their market area, key financial and employment stats,” says CEI’s Guerette. “This concise business summary is often needed for funding applications as well as being useful for marketing purposes.” Varrell adds that the company profile should be both in short and long versions.
• Financial Reports: Yep, the SBA is one organization that wants to see financials from each applicant to their Entrepreneur of the Year award program.  “I often find that clients don’t have their financials ready for a contest or grant proposal,” Guerette said. “Profit and loss, and cash flow statements are the two that are always missing. Many clients assume that last year’s Schedule C is enough information…and forget that much more detailed financial statements will be required.”
• Key Takeaways or Key Accomplishments: “These are the three things that if someone knows or remembers nothing else about your company, this is it,” Varrell said.
• Letters of Recommendation: Guerette says entrepreneurs can lower their stress at contest time by having letters of reference “on call” to avoid a rushed scramble about who will write the letter. “Some letters of recommendation, if written somewhat generally, may even serve multiple purposes, and are important to have on file.”

As with any good marketing plan, your visibility kit should be reviewed and updated annually.

                          

 By Jenn Dobransky, Women, Work, and Community As printed in the Bangor Daily News

Do what you love and do what you know is the starting point for any small business.

The exercise of creating a solid mission or vision statement for your business starts with this loving and knowing.

Articulating the direction and goals of your business and doing so in a paragraph or less sounds like an easy thing to accomplish. And for some it is. But for others, it is very challenging.

Don’t have a mission statement for your business yet? Chances are you may be floundering and the lack of a mission statement could very well be the reason why. If you are in operation, sit down and take some time to “noodle” what you are all about.

Your mission statement needs to be displayed on your website, your marketing collateral and undoubtedly will guide your brand; hence, it must be well-written, concise and clear.

Vanessa Bell, founder of Maine Adult Guardianship Services (MAGS) LLC, which delivers professional and customized guardianship support, services and guidance from offices in Topsham, found the process of writing the mission statement for her business demanding but rewarding.

MAGS’ mission is to “provide personalized decision-making assistance for vulnerable adults that preserves their dignity, maximizes their independence and helps them retain as many rights as possible, while making sure that they live in a safe and caring environment.”

“Writing out a mission/vision statement was really challenging for us, but we knew it was needed,” Bell said. “It is the foundation of our business.”

Bell described the process whereby she and her associates “listened and took notes on how we explained our business to others.” That exercise really helped provide a tremendous amount of clarity.

“Guardianship can be a very complicated topic, especially for someone learning about it for the first time, so our challenge was to get straight to the point in 30 seconds or less,” she said. “We are very passionate about protecting people’s rights and making certain their voice is heard.”

Jennifer Barbour, chief engagement officer for her business, another jennifer blog and writing lab, agrees with the value of the mission statement in daily operation.

Barbour, whose business is located in Brunswick, is a writer who helps entrepreneurs and nonprofits set their social media strategies.

“A mission/vision is important to keep the focus on what the business is meant to accomplish. For me, it’s helpful to know a client’s mission/vision because then I can write for them or coach them more effectively,” she said. “If they don’t have a formal mission/vision, I’ll still ask them what the purpose of their business is and where they see themselves in five years. I know it’s a tough question, but it is important.”

For Alex Forest, owner of Smart Alex Jams, a gourmet jam and jelly company in Brunswick, “the ideas behind our mission statement were very easy to come up with, but putting it on paper was a different story.”

“Smart Alex Jams’ philosophy is simple, and that is to make people smile with our products. Our intention is to provide superior gourmet jams and jellies by using the freshest Maine produce and finest ingredients available to ensure 100 percent satisfaction and indulgence,” Forest said.

Just like the other entrepreneurs, Forest agrees that “our mission statement is our everyday focus.” She explains, “I am thinking about our customers every time I am stirring a batch of jam, putting a label on the finished product and setting that product on a store shelf or show display. The smile on their face is proof in the jam.”

For those of you who already have a mission statement in your business, when was the last time you reviewed it? It is important that you periodically examine your mission statement to make certain it reflects your current goals. Simply ask yourself, “is my mission statement still accurate and does it clearly describe what I am doing in my business?”

A good mission statement provides direction for daily operations and is the passion incarnate for the entrepreneur. Doing the hard work to have a solid mission statement for your small business is well worth the effort.

Jenn Dobransky is the Microenterprise Coordinator for the Midcoast for Women, Work, and Community.

                          

Morgan

By Erica Quineaster

As printed in the Bangor Daily News

Entrepreneurs – successful ones – learn to keep an eye on the proverbial bottom-line. Mission-driven entrepreneurs often have their sights on a dual — or triple — bottom line: they see a need and want to meet it. If you want to do good and do well, how do you know what model is best for your venture?
Are you a philanthropist? You can leave a legacy through your personal and corporate giving, supporting causes that matter to you by contributing a portion of your personal income or the revenues generated by your for-profit business.
Is your business built around social purpose as much as profit? Consider a low-profit limited liability company (L3C). These hybrid enterprises enable businesses with a social mission to attract philanthropic investments as well as private capital, putting charitable purpose on equal footing with the pursuit of profit.
Maine’s Own Organic Milk Co. is an example of how mission meets product in the L3C model. Its mission is “to educate the consuming public on the value and intrinsic worth of preserving the local family farm while developing a line of premium quality milk products that support this mission.”
Like any business, MOOMilk aims to create a sustainable bottom line for producers. Its L3C status ensures that decision-making follows mission as well as money. It also opens the door to funding from foundations and endowments, sources that are typically only available to nonprofit organizations.
If your primary goal is to solve social problems and meet community needs, you may be a nonprofit entrepreneur.
“Nonprofit entrepreneurship is similar to for-profit entrepreneurship, as nonprofit entrepreneurs need creativity and a commitment to find ways to meet the needs and wants of their stakeholders,” Scott Schnapp, executive director for the Maine Association of Nonprofits, said.
The difference for nonprofits, Schnapp said, is that “the customer needs to be defined more broadly. Nonprofits have the commitment to meet the higher standard of promoting the common good.”
Danielle Ireland, founder of Silent Sidekicks, came to Women, Work and Community to develop her business idea. Like other entrepreneurs, she saw a need and a way to meet it. “I couldn’t find an organization in Maine that provided animal-assisted therapy, although it is prevalent in other areas of the country,” Ireland said. “I chose to found a nonprofit organization because I felt that it was the best way to help the most people, inspire others to get involved and volunteer to help others in their communities.”
Ireland built a board of directors, developed her business plan and launched Silent Sidekicks. “Our goal is to recruit and train a network of volunteers, then match the Silent Sidekick teams with health care facilities, hospitals, schools and libraries that would like to have animal-assisted therapy/activity programs.”
Through their “Reading to the Animals” program, children have the opportunity to improve their reading and communication skills by reading to Morgan (Ireland’s canine co-founder) and other animal volunteers. Silent Sidekick teams also visit people in health care facilities, civilian and military hospitals, veterans’ facilities, and nursing homes, and provide in-home visits for home-bound individuals.
While grants, volunteers and community support may sound enticing, the nonprofit model is not for everyone. When you start a nonprofit, your idea becomes bigger than you. Your board of directors is where the buck begins and ends, a challenging dynamic for many entrepreneurs who are used to calling the shots.
Scott Schnapp notes that “because nonprofits are relatively easy to start but very challenging to sustain in this kind of environment, we strongly encourage that all potential collaborative options be explored before embarking on starting a nonprofit.”
You can join forces with an existing nonprofit to develop programs, deliver services, and secure resources for your community project. You can ask another nonprofit to serve as your fiscal agent, accepting grants and tax-deductible donations on your behalf and administering the funds for your program.
Pursuing your mission, meeting the needs of your community, and building a business can go hand in hand. Entrepreneurship takes many forms, and finding the right fit for your idea will help you structure your enterprise for success.

                          

By Eloise Vitelli
As printed in the Bangor Daily News
Entrepreneurs are known for their optimism and can-do attitudes. They see the possibilities and focus their energies on how to get to the goal line. Sometimes though, even the most positive, creative person can be dealt a blow that shakes their confidence and sets them on a different course.
Julie Marchese is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed in 2004, and as part of her own road to recovery, Julie determined that she had to “challenge myself with something I had never done before.”
Though she hadn’t done much biking, swimming or running since her early teens, she participated in her first All Women’s Triathlon in Massachusetts in 2005.
“I was blown away by the experience, and came back to Maine wishing there was one here,” she said.
There wasn’t, so she founded and organized Tri for a Cure, raising $225,000 for the Maine Cancer Foundation in the first year, 2008.
Julie, who calls herself “chief inspiration officer,” now has her own event planning consulting company, Inspired Events, and organizes seven races for charity groups around the state. She is already hard at work putting together the second REV3 sheJAMs Triathlon, scheduled for Aug. 25 in Old Orchard Beach.
A race within a race, REV3 sheJAMs Triathlon is just for women and is the “charity arm” of the larger, nationally organized Rev3Tri. Together, the events are expected to draw about 1,500 participants.
As a fundraiser, sheJAMs runners, bikers and swimmers are expected to raise a minimum of $100 per person (entrants can do all three events or enter as a relay team of two or three); at a minimum, the 300 sheJAMs entrants will end up with $30,000 for nonprofit beneficiaries. This year, sheJAMs participants will be raising funds for two Maine groups: Women, Work, and Community and Girls on the Run-Maine.
For Julie, sheJAMs was a natural outgrowth of the growing enthusiasm among active women for staying healthy, giving back to the community and supporting each other.
Women “who run in these races are not athletes in the sense -– they are mothers, businesswomen, women in our community. They are strong and they do this for them!” Julie says.
SheJAMs offers training/coaching sessions to help women prepare and train to their own personal best. That coaching is what brought Sarah Halpin, a certified financial planner and vice president with The Danforth Group of Wells Fargo Advisors to sheJAMs.
After nearly 20 years of devoting herself to building a business in the competitive world of financial advising and raising a family, Sarah found herself at a familiar transition point: An emptying nest and a solid career meant it was finally time to focus on her personal needs and desires.
As with any new venture, Sarah gave herself a clear goal and timetable -– she would enter the Polar Bear Tri, which was eight months away — and set about planning, preparing and measuring her progress, one mile marker at a time.
While admitting nervousness as she approached that first starting line, the feeling of achievement at the end, “that I did something I wasn’t totally sure I could,” is a feeling she knew she wanted to find again. She participated in the first REV3 sheJAMs Triathlon and this year is one of the event’s sponsors.
For Sarah, Julie and more than 200 other women who are part of the sheJAMs network, the mental fitness is as important as the physical fitness. The benefits carry over into other parts of one’s life.
“I deal with pressure and challenges in my career better now. It’s all about attitude,” Sarah says.
That can-do attitude is the hallmark of the entrepreneur.
For information on participating in this year’s REV3 sheJAMs Triathlon event as an individual, relay team, volunteer or donor, go to www.sheJAMstri.com.

                          

Jenn Dobransky

Small business tips to sail smoothly through tax season

By Jenn Dobransky, Women, Work and Community
Featured in the Bangor Daily News, February 22, 2013

Taxes and record keeping can often be a source of confusion and anxiety for entrepreneurs. This confusion and anxiety is typically the result of a lack of knowledge that many startups have. But with a little bit of information, that confusion dissipates and the anxiety transforms into empowerment.
Learning how to create a record keeping system, setting financial goals for your business and understanding your tax obligations are all readily accessible aspects of running a business. You can be as successful in your record keeping and understanding your taxes as you are in delivering your high-quality product or service to your customers. All it takes is some time investment and willingness to learn.
The first step in preparing your taxes is having a sound record-keeping system. Ultimately, having a bookkeeping system makes the tax filing process much easier. Open a business checking or DBA (doing business as) account and use it properly. Deposit all your business income into the account, and use your debit card for business expenses only. This first step ensures that you will at least have a basic record-keeping system in place.
Tax forms for self-employed individuals ask two critical questions: How much money did you make in your business? And what were your expenses for your business in the last calendar year? If you have no way of tracking income and expenses for your business, filing taxes becomes very difficult, to say the least.
A common question that entrepreneurs ask in Women, Work, and Community’s Tax Prep for the Self-Employed workshops is about business expenses. Small business owners want to know what they can count as legitimate business expenses. According to the Internal Revenue Service, “to be deductible, an expense must be both ordinary and necessary.”
What does that mean for your business?
Each small business is different and thus will have different expense categories, so it is important to determine what categories of business expenses you have. Part II of the IRS form Schedule C is a good reference point. Typical business expense categories include rent, utilities, supplies, insurance and professional fees, just to name a few.
The IRS small business tax center is an incredible resource, packed full of all the information that every small business owner needs. The site has a thorough publication on business expenses and also specific information on important items like travel expenses and business use of the home.
In addition, there are tax changes on an annual basis that you should know about. Signing up for the IRS ’ electronic newsletter is a great way to get that information.
Shawn Savage, Senior Stakeholder Liaison for the IRS, agrees.
“Time is a precious commodity for small business owners, and the e-News for Small Businesses is a time saver. It can help in keeping up with federal tax requirements, which is sometimes not easy in today’s fast-changing business environment.”
Unlike traditional employment where your employer allocates part of your income to cover your tax obligations, self-employed individuals are responsible for paying those taxes themselves. This fact can be another source of confusion and anxiety for sole proprietors. It is important to create a plan right now for how you will save the money you need to cover your tax obligations. Making a monthly transfer to a business saving account is a good start.
How do you know if you need to pay self-employment taxes? If as a sole proprietor your net business income is more than $400, you need to complete a Schedule SE and pay self-employment taxes. If you will owe more than $1,000 by the end of the year, you need to pay quarterly estimated taxes.
For those of us who do our taxes ourselves, kudos! But for many small business owners, having a professional prepare your taxes is the way to go. If you choose the latter, it is important to find a professional that comes recommended and is a good fit with you and your business. Make sure to interview your future bookkeeper/tax preparer in order to find the appropriate professional.
Avoid the head-in-the-sand approach. Having a plan and sticking to it is the clear way to reduce your stress during tax season. Good record keeping throughout the year and proper tax preparation from the start will leave you with more time to enjoy those spring flowers — and to look forward to April 15!

                          

JoAnn Brown of Maine Traveling Chef (from left) Jane Searles of WWC and Stephanie Harp of HarpWorks are involved in Women, Work & Community.

By David M. Fitzpatrick

OF THE WEEKLY STAFF

February is Entrepreneurship Month, so it’s a good time to consider that small business you’ve always wanted to start. There are many great resources for Maine people who aren’t sure where to start with their small-business dreams; one of those is Women, Work, & Community. Serving both men and women, this organization has helped people learn about getting into business for themselves for 36 years.

Statewide, WWC, which has a Bangor office, serves hundreds of clients every year. Here are two of them who benefited from WWC’s programs and now serve as WWC Ambassadors.

JoAnn Brown, Maine Traveling Chef

JoAnn Brown underwent some life changes in 2010 that spurred her into action. In one month, she was laid off from her job of five years, got divorced, and moved out of her house. Brown had grown up in a family that had owned a restaurant, and her parents and grandparents had been bakers, so she’d always had ideas about going into business as a chef.

“I had all this change going on,” Brown said. “And I said, ‘If I’m going to try this business idea, now is the time.’”

She took her first WWC class in January 2011. While selling her goods weekly at a farmer’s market, and landing her first jobs, she continued learning through WWC groups. Of key importance was doing a business plan; she’d never done one, not even at another small-business course she’d taken. Despite having degrees in business and education, it was new territory for her.

“Even with all that background, the class was still very helpful,” Brown said.

Her business, Maine Traveling Chef, is gaining steam. Her first big job was catering the Bangor Symphony Orchestra dinner at the Collins Center for the Arts, which she’s now done twice. Joining the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce helped her network with the business community.

She also cooks at Avalon Village retirement community in Hampden, which gives her the use of a commercial kitchen. And after attending Weight Watchers, she came up with the idea to make meals, portioned into servings with Weight Watchers points, for fellow members.

Brown still attends WWC classes, and she loves the networking and sharing she gets there — because, she says, it can be lonely out there as a small-business owner.

“It’s really helpful just to have that time every week where you have people that you’re checking in with and you’re commiserating as well as giving people ideas, brainstorming,” she said.

Stephanie Harp, HarpWorks Writing Services

Stephanie Harp had a similar situation, with a divorce and life changes, and with family obligations that meant she needed a flexible schedule. With a 25-year background in journalism, public relations, arts administration, history, and education, she knew there was a self-employment opportunity there.

“I’ve always written in some portion of every job I’ve had,” Harp said. “I felt, ‘Well, this is a skill that I have, so what can I do with this?’”

She got her first job writing grant proposals for the UMaine School of Economics for about six months. She did writing and editing jobs here and there, but in 2009, she knew she had to get serious.

“I needed to do some real outreach efforts,” she said. “Even though I’d lived here a long time, I had not been in the business community at all.”

She signed up for the WWC New Ventures class in 2010, and the experience was just what she needed.

“It was perfect timing,” Harp said. “It made me realize, ‘Okay, this really is a business. I’m not just doing this some; I can do this is as a business, I can focus on what I want.’”

She came out of the course with a clearer understanding of her business, called HarpWorks Writing Services — complete with her elevator speech and all the marketing materials she needed. Better yet, she had a key “Aha!” moment: She’d priced her rates typical of someone just starting out, but realized that wasn’t the case.

“I suddenly said, ‘Wait a minute, I’m not just starting out — I have 25 years of experience. I’ve been writing professionally since I graduated from college,’” she said.

She increased her rates, and nobody blinked. It seemed to affect how the business community perceived her.

“If you don’t  take yourself seriously, other people won’t take you seriously,” she said.

Women, Work, & Community

Women, Work, & Community’s nine centers and eight outreach sites statewide work towards “Helping Maine people achieve success in their workplace, business, and community,” according to its mission statement. The nonprofit, founded in 1978 originally to help displaced homemakers, offers free classes, workshops, and guidance in career building, starting a business, managing money, and becoming a leader.

“All the services are free, and it offers a lot to the community — and not just for women,” Brown said.

“It’s an extremely supportive environment,” said Harp. “Everybody, from the director on down, are extremely supportive of whoever you are; they can help you wherever you are, at whatever point in your life, in your business.”

Some WWC alumni, like Brown and Harp, return the favors they received by serving as WWC Ambassadors to help promote the program. And Harp also serves on WWC’s statewide Advisory Council, appointed to that post by the governor.

“We really wanted to bring some of our graduates into the fold to give us feedback, to represent us, to advocate for Women, Work, & Community, [and] to help us with fundraising,” said WWC Regional Manager Jane Searles, who works out of the Bangor office. “In every class, I [identify] who has leadership skills… I pick the best.”

Ambassadors advocate for WWC by writing letters to editors, state government, and legislators, and talking about the program to anyone who will listen.

“[Our Ambassadors are] women who represent our program in a way that we find very helpful, and they’re already leaders,” Searles said. “We’re hoping that this process allows them to expand even more with their leadership skills. Part of our mission is to help people become leaders in their community, because that’s a way in which we make change.”

You can get your own home-delivered or home-prepared meals through www.MaineTravelingChef.com, and hire an experienced writer/editor through www.StephanieHarp.com.

                          

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