The third year of the start-up business competition The Big Gig focused on building local networks between entrepreneurs and community members as well as business pitches from both a retired University of Maine professor and a recent UMaine graduate at its opening pitch-off on Sept. 23.
“We’re really here to encourage entrepreneurs and to remind them that they really can build a business in Maine,” said Paul Riechmann, member of the Orono Economic Development Committee.
Participants each presented a five-minute business pitch and received feedback from a panel of judges, but it was the audience that decided who would win the $250 prize. The event was held at the University Credit Union headquarters in downtown Orono and featured only two businesses; the third competitor was unable to attend due to illness.
The event is a collaboration between Orono, Old Town, the University of Maine and Husson University. The entrepreneurs at Tuesday night’s event were chosen by a panel of Big Gig staff from the “Little Gig,” a preliminary event open to the public held the previous week.
The winning pitch was presented by Emma Wilson on behalf of Zeomatrix, a startup out of Orono that engineers paper products for a cleaner environment. Wilson, who is the company’s business manager, graduated from UMaine with a dual degree in business management and marketing in the spring of 2014.
Zeomatrix recently began a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $10,000 they need to put their odor absorbing “ZeoLiter” bags into production.
“We have three weeks left, and we have to raise $9,500,” Wilson said. “The $250 will help us get that much closer to our kickstarter campaign goal.”
Wilson is confident that her company’s cat-waste bags will not only solve the odor associated with cat waste disposal, but also eliminate the harmful effects that plastic waste bags have on the environment.
“We’re trying to change the world one smelly cat at a time,” Wilson said.
Renee Kelly, director for Economic Development and the Foster Center for Student Innovation at UMaine, believes that local companies like Zeomatrix gain a lot more than just a cash prize by participating in the Big Gig.
“What we’re really trying to do through events like this is to connect students to the community and also help them not only meet other people in the community but help them understand what kind of resources there are to help support them when they graduate,” Kelly said.
In recent years, the state of Maine has been trying to address the trend of students gaining their education in-state and then moving elsewhere after graduation.
According to Kelly, networking opportunities like the Big Gig allow students to make business connections within the community and discover what resources are actually available to business startups within the state of Maine.
“Maine is a very small state, so if you know a few people in the entrepreneur and startup network, they have the ability to introduce you to everyone,” Wilson said, adding that she does want to travel out of Maine and explore opportunities in a city like Boston. “But I have made a plan that in five to 10 years, I am going to move back to Maine and start a business.”
Ed Brazee, a retired education professor at UMaine, pitched on behalf of his business BoomerTech Adventures — a program that educates people of the “Baby Boomer” generation on how to better use technological devices such as laptops and cell phones through weekend workshops and retreats.
While the business is already up and running with a workshop scheduled for Sept. 28, Brazee is looking to get his company the exposure an event like the Big Gig can provide.
“We’re doing all of the social media stuff like everyone else, but I still think there is a lot of use for person-to-person contact,” Brazee said. “The Big Gig really pulls people together to give us some human contact — I think that’s important.”
The next Big Gig will be held in Old Town on Nov. 18, followed by a third Big Gig in February. Winners from each of the three events will compete in April for the $1,500 grand prize.