Members of the public & businesses who applied to the Downtown Grants Program attended the Downtown Grant Awards Ceremony on March 25th, 2025. See below for award announcements!
From L to R: Zelli of Zi Photography, Jaime Lynn Parent of Ghost Rose Tattoo, and Jesse Steiger of Conscious Cafe.
We’re thrilled to share the results of this year’s Downtown Grants Program! A heartfelt thank-you goes out to all of the incredible applicants who applied. Your passion, creativity, and commitment to shaping downtown Ellsworth is truly inspiring. We’re excited to announce this year’s grant recipients: Zi Photography, Ghost Rose Tattoo, and Conscious Cafe. Congratulations!
Zelli - Zi Photography
For the past 13 years, Zelli has been a dedicated Newborn and Family Photographer, serving the Downeast community and beyond. What began as a small dream has blossomed into a thriving business. Specializing in Newborn Photography, Zelli is passionate about documenting all stages of life and love.
Capturing the tender moments of brand-new babies has been the heart of her work since the very beginning. Every session is an opportunity for Zelli to connect with families, build lasting friendships, and create timeless images that tell their unique stories.
Jaime Lynn Parent - Ghost Rose Tattoo
Jaime Lynn Parent has been an artist her entire life and began her tattoo career around nine years ago in Ellsworth under the legendary Tom Murphy of Tom’s Terrific Tattoos. After the pandemic, she took a leap and opened Ghost Rose Tattoo in the historic Luchinni building.
Since then, she has built a strong reputation, expanding her business to include a variety of artists and styles, all dedicated to providing beautiful body art in a memorable, therapeutic space. Jaime has also earned awards for her vibrant color work at conventions such as Maine VillainArts and Keystone State Expo, and continues to create alongside the talented artists at her shop.
Jesse Steiger - The Conscious Cafe
During a transformational period five years ago, Jesse Steiger began working at the Steamy Buddha's Cafe and Yoga Studio in Ellsworth, an opportunity that set him on a path of healing and growth. Today, he is the owner of The Conscious Cafe, a new lunch spot in downtown Ellsworth (next to the Steamy Buddha Yoga Studio).
Jesse’s culinary background includes working under a collaborative of female chefs in Boston and running a twenty-seven-room bed and breakfast in Vermont, where he also grew two acres of organic vegetables. At Conscious Cafe, his mission is to build community and connection through conscious food and living. The menu features local, seasonal produce from farms like Root Power Farm and is inspired by Ayurveda, celebrating food as medicine and prepared with love.
Heart of Ellsworth is excited to announce a Seaweed Evening Market & Art Show as part of Maine Seaweed Week.
Thursday, May 1st from 4:00 - 7:00 PM
16 State Street, Ellsworth, ME
This evening market will feature nine local artisans and businesses. Vendors will be selling seaweed related products, from artistic prints to seaweed body products to smoked dulse & more. Artists will be showcasing their seaweed-inspired installation art pieces.
This will be a fun, unique community event -- come support your local makers!
On Thursday, May 8, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM at the UpStart Center for Entrepreneurship, the Top Gun Bangor Regional Pitch Showcase will bring together local entrepreneurs to present their innovative ideas to a panel of judges.
The event will feature pitches from the 2025 Top Gun – Bangor cohort, including:
Buba OG LLC – Jessie Muhlin
Bytesum Technologies – Austin Wickett
Chickadee Facilitation – Meg Hegemann
Haymay Creamery – Kate Turcotte
Red Kettle Foods – Ger Liang Tysk
The showcase is a chance to celebrate the creativity and passion of the region’s emerging business leaders. Community members are invited to attend, network, and support these entrepreneurs as they take the next steps in their journeys. If you've ever been interested in pitching for Top Gun, check out this event and get a sense of how it's done.
Barbee Business Services, owned by Kitty Barbee, is offering two sessions of QuickBooks Essentials + Online Course. In 6 weeks you will gain essential training hand-on experience, and valuable techniques to leverage QuickBooks Online as your go-to financial tool.
The Union River Center for Innovation, based in Ellsworth, ME., offers entrepreneurs and startups the opportunity to grow their companies by providing the resources necessary to get a business up and running.
There are still two workshops in the Entrepreneurial Exploration workshop series coming up at the Union River of Innovation.
April 23rd, 6 - 8 PM: "Starting a Business? So, What's the Plan?" with Alison Lane
April 30th, 6 - 8 PM: "Starting a Business? Let's Dy-mystify the Financials!" with Kitty Barbee
Mass MoCa's Assets for Artists is a program by artists for artists. They provide professional development workshops, coaching, capacity-building cohorts, community building, artist residencies and more.
Find a list of all their upcoming workshops & programs here.
The CEI Women’s Business Center is a home for women who want to start or grow their own business in Maine. They offer courses, cohorts, workshops, and events which encourage peer-to-peer learning and community building, as well as 1:1 business advising support.
Spokeswoman- a facilitated peer group designed to help female entrepreneurs become more persuasive and effective communicators for a wide range of situations. Cohort starts April 29th, facilitated by local entrepreneur Hazel Stark from Maine Outdoor School. Tuesdays from 4 - 6 pm.
SCORE Maine hosts affordable small business workshops -- both online webinars and live, in-person. You can find everything you need to know to start a business or discover tools to help your small business grow.
Maine Accelerates Growth (MxG): is a network of organizations and individuals committed to building an inclusive ecosystem to support innovators and businesses to scale in Maine and beyond. They offer:
✅ Monthly collaborative sessions connecting entrepreneurs, investors & support organizations
✅ Dynamic platform for sharing resources & opportunities
✅ Proven track record of catalyzing initiatives like Top Gun & Innovate for Maine
✅ Commitment to building an inclusive, statewide innovation network
Join them on Zoom every third Thursday at 11 a.m. to be part of Maine's innovation conversation!
Center for Maine Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the jurors and application guidelines for the upcoming 2025 Biennial exhibition. The CMCA Biennial is the longest running statewide juried exhibition in Maine and highlights current developments in contemporary art by Maine-based and connected artists. The CMCA Biennial has a long history of recognizing established artists’ work and discovering new and rising talents. We invite all artists to apply!
Artist submissions will be accepted via Submittable from February 20 to April 20, 2025.
The Maine Entrepreneur Summit is happening on May 16th at the USM Abromson Center in Portland, Maine. This one-day event is your ticket to dive deep into entrepreneurship and boost your business. Join the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs for workshops, networking opportunities, and the Top Gun Showcase Pitch Competition. See you there!
Thank you for reading this edition of the Ellsworth Business Pulse!
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