The Maine Center for Entrepreneurs has picked seven Maine companies for its inaugural Cultivator Food, Beverage & Agriculture Accelerator program.

As part of the accelerator, which is supported by FocusMaine, the following seven companies will benefit over the next 12 months from hands-on strategic assessments and planning sessions, tailored professional resources, and interactive business forums:

“We have selected a strong group of companies who are hungry for development and growth,” Sue Hanson, the accelerator’s program manager, said in a statement. “I’m honored to have the privilege of working with them to take their business to the next level.

MCE launched the food-focused accelerator to capitalize on Maine’s existing farming, specialty food and beverage cluster, which employs roughly 21,000 people, according to a 2015 report from Harvard University. While food, beverage and agriculture companies have a solid foundation to build from in Maine, including a growing reputation as a “foodie” destination, there are also challenges. The Harvard study found that Maine’s food cluster faces several challenges, including “a poor foundation of overall economic performance, a cluster comprised mainly of micro and small businesses that collectively exhibit below average productivity, and a large and dynamic cluster support system that lacks a broadly accepted strategy promoting business growth.”

Part of MCE’s goal in launching the Cultivator program is to address some of those issues and help drive productivity and efficiency in some of Maine’s most promising food, beverage, and agriculture companies. The organization in January hired Hanson, who brings 20+ years of food industry experience, including at Portland’s Barber Foods, to lead the new program.

The companies in the Cultivator program will also benefit from the program’s newly established Council of Advisors, whose members have years of expertise and connections in the food industry.

The Cultivator Council of Advisors:

  • Steve Culver, Two Lights Group, formerly of Hannaford Brothers
  • Taja Dockendorf, Pulp + Wire
  • Mark Dvorozniak, Marketing Strategy Decisions, formerly of Barber Foods
  • Darrell Pardy, Thos. Moser, formerly of Bristol Seafoods
  • Tony Perkins, Bernstein Shur
  • Meghan Stasz, Grocery Manufacturers Association
  • Tom Rainey, MCE Executive Director

“We continue to build our bench strength of food industry and business experts in the Cultivator network,” Hanson said. “This will be a key factor in aiding current and future Cultivator companies to reach their full growth potential.”