Aquaculture, outdoor gear companies win 2019 UMaine Business Challenge

An aquaculture company founded by a freshman at the University of Maine has won the ninth annual UMaine Business Challenge along with $16,000.

Maxwell Burtis, a mechanical engineering student, won both the first-place prize of $5,000 and the $10,000 Innovation Prize with his company, Ferda Farms LLC.

Isabel Adler and Lily Hogan, sophomores at Colby College, took home the second-place prize of $1,000 with their outdoor company, Ruggette.

The UMaine Business Challenge was founded in 2011 and has awarded more than $100,000 over the years to student entrepreneurs at Maine’s colleges. Despite its name, the competition is open to students enrolled in any Maine college or university. The competition is sponsored by Business Lending Solutions.

Ferda Farms

Burtis is currently working on a patent-pending technology that will reinvent the traditional hopper used during the oyster harvesting process. His mission for Ferda Farms is to use innovative automation devices to increase the efficiency of aquaculture operations and the quality of the product.

In addition to winning the first-place prize, Burtis also won the $10,000 Innovation Prize sponsored by UMaine alumni Bruce Fournier and the Fournier Family Foundation. The Innovation Prize is given to companies that are introducing a new innovation or technology as part of their business model. With this prize, Ferda Farms will receive $5,000 up front and then an additional $5,000 upon the completion of agreed-upon milestones.

“These prizes are huge for the expansion of our oyster farm and continued innovation along Maine’s coast,” said Burtis. “The competition is giving Ferda Farms the opportunity we have long dreamed for; to buy more cages, quahog seed, and solar panels, allowing us to continue to improve Maine’s waters, and revitalize Maine’s changing fisheries with aquaculture.”

Other members of his team include Chris Burtis, Sam Dorval, and Max Friedman, along with advisors from the UMaine Foster Center for Student Innovation, the Maine School of Marine Sciences, the Maine Sea Grant, and Mere Point Oyster Company.

Ruggette

Ruggette, a woman’s outdoor company led by Isabel Adler and Lily Hogan, took home the $1,000 second-place prize. Adler and Hogan, sophomores at Colby College in Waterville and both avid adventurers, created the company because they were sick of having to shop in the men’s outdoor gear section after not finding what they were looking for in the women’s section.

“Our mission is to support empowered women in the outdoors by providing women with the high quality, environmentally sustainable gear they deserve,” Adler said. “Receiving the support of the UMaine Business Challenge, both financially and through mentorship, will help us to scale Ruggette and grow to our full potential.”