New entrepreneurs helped by program

Starting anything from scratch can be challenging. But starting a business is not only challenging, it is a daunting task. Now add a lost year due to a pandemic, followed by life slowly returning to a new normal, and one can say it's just plain scary.
Start Up Downeast (SUDE), a Sunrise County Economic Council (SCEC) program, is forging ahead in collaboration with Washington County Community College (WCCC) to make that journey for the student entrepreneur a little less daunting. Only months into its first iteration, there are eight participants looking to better themselves while pursuing their dreams of business ownership.
The free two year program based out of the new SCEC Calais office provides support to eligible WCCC students on a path from education to small business ownership. Once enrolled, students work closely with a student coach focusing on defining and achieving their business and educational goals. Students emerge from the program with a completed business plan as well as the education, skills, resources and connections needed to pursue small business ownership.
"Like a lot of people I was unsatisfied with my job and how my life was going financially, so I made the choice to go back to school and take control of my future, not only for myself but for my family," says SUDE participant Kevin Jones. "I was currently enrolled in the heating technologies program at WCCC and learned about SUDE while on a Zoom meeting where I met my coach Jennifer Eger. I don't know how many times she has asked me if there was anything that she could help me with, whether it be supplying me with tools and clothes for work or helping me pay for gas to get back and forth to school."
"Empowering individuals through college careers to employment and small business ownership is what this program is all about," says SUDE Student Coach Jennifer Eger. "I enjoy working with WCCC students with entrepreneurial goals and ... supporting them during their studies and onward to small business ownership."
Eger, a business owner herself, knows the importance of support and collaboration especially here in Washington County. "Startup businesses face many challenges," says Eger. "Given the below poverty rate and average age of Washington County residents due to outmigration, it is apparent that a focus on entrepreneurship is an arena that could have the largest positive impact on the local economy."
For Guy Woodruff, enrollment in SUDE changed his life. "I grew up pretty rough -- dropped out of high school and later got my GED, then went on to go into college," says Woodruff. "I started out in a real estate bachelor's degree program through an online university program and then tried my hand at the electrical trade. I was introduced to the SUDE program through the entrepreneurship course I was taking at WCCC. Now I am studying business management and running my own gun shop in Calais."
Jones lauds the program. "This program is great because it helped me relax and not stress over the small things, and in return I was able to spend all of my energy on my academics; and it shows as I passed with a 4.0," says Jones. Two weeks after he graduated, Jones landed a position with an East Machias heating and plumbing company.
Eger says the application process for SUDE is simple. "Just contact me through phone or email, which can be found on our website www.startupdowneast.org. The application and enrollment process is supported, and we can assist new students with the whole process of enrollment at WCCC by connecting participants with campus resources," says Eger. "We can even support people who still need to get their HiSET [high school equivalency test] before enrolling in WCCC if need be."