Financing Options for Businesses within Maine’s Creative Sector Topic of Panel Discussion Sept. 15 at USM in Portland

Event part of the Maine Center for Creativity’s Creative Toolbox & Survival Guide lecture series for Maine’s creative community

PORTLAND, Maine (September 10, 2010) – A panel discussion set for Wednesday, Sept. 15, at the University of Southern Maine in Portland will explore financing options for businesses within Maine’s creative sector.

The informative discussion, called “Building the Bridge: Connecting Finance to Creative Business,” is the second installment of this year’s Creative Toolbox & Survival Guide lecture series offered by the Maine Center for Creativity (www.mainecenterforcreativity.org) and University of Southern Maine.

The event is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 15, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at 113 Masterton Hall on the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus. To register, contact intern@mainecenterforcreativity.org. The cost is $15 for MCC members and USM alumni, $35 for non-members, and is free for students.

The seminar will be moderated by Cynthia Thompson, owner of Transformit (www.transformit.com). Speakers will include Skip Bates of Bangor Savings Bank, Jane Harmon of Key Bank, Frederick Lipp of Bernstein Shur, Peter Moore of Corporate Finance Associates, Linzee Weld of Slow Money Maine and Nord Samuelson of North Main LLC.

The discussion will cover how to bridge the different financing options for businesses within Maine’s creative sector. Questions asked of the speakers will include:

• Where is there common ground between finance and creative?
• How does one identify what type of funding or investment that you need?
• How does the Creative prepare for Finance?
• How does Finance prepare for the Creative?
• How do you support Genius?

The event, sponsored by Key Bank, is the second in a topic-specific series of lectures for innovative individuals who work in Maine’s creative economy.

The Survival Guide series provide artists and creative professionals with essential resources, key practices and need-specific information to directly assist them to develop and grow.

About The Maine Center for Creativity
The Maine Center for Creativity (MCC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) led by a volunteer board of directors. Founded in May 2005, MCC is committed to attracting innovative companies and people to Maine by developing projects and programs that support the growth of creative industries and the arts. Among its educational and arts-related projects, MCC is organizing Art All Around™, an international design competition to paint the Sprague Energy tanks in South Portland, the Creative Toolbox Series, Pecha Kucha events in Maine as well as Painters, Players and Poets, a collaboration of 30 Maine artists, musicians and poets. For more information, please visit www.mainecenterforcreativity.org.

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