Three chosen for Top Gun entrepreneurial competition in Lewiston

LEWISTON — An oyster farm in South Bristol, a lavender farm in Appleton and a gardening services business in Sabattus were select the top three Tuesday in the annual Top Gun LA Regional Pitch-Off at The Public Theatre in Lewiston.

Each of the eight contestants had five minutes to make their pitch before judges Jay Brenchick, director of Economic Development for the city of Auburn, Danielle Snow, co-founder of 75 Park work space company in Lewiston; and Amanda Karomba, CEO of Happy Haven, an Auburn company that provides direct support to Maine adults with intellectual disabilities.

Judges chose a first-place, runner-up and alternate for a chance to win a $25,000 top price May 16 in Portland.

The competition is organized and led by the LA Metro Chamber of Commerce and its president and CEO, Shanna Cox. It comes after five months of mentoring, coaching and practice to sharpen their business skills.

Selected for first place was Nor’Easter Oyster Co., based in Brunswick with an oyster farm in South Bristol. Owners Jacqueline Clarke and Sean Corcoran, who have a combined 25 years in the seafood and oyster business, established the business in 2022.

Nor’Easter Oyster Co. is a regenerative aquaculture business looking to capture and take advantage of what they say is an untapped segment of the market on the East Coast — the value-added market, which are oysters that aren’t sold on the half shell, and in many cases are bypassed because they are not pretty or are irregularly shaped. Think chowders, tinned smoked oysters, dips and frozen oyster foods.

Clarke said if they win the overall competition, they would use the $25,000 to help defray the significant costs of getting Food and Drug Administration approval for their products.

The runner-up, who will also re-pitch at the Portland competition, is Glendarragh Lavender owned and operated by Lorie Costigan. Her farm is in Appleton, where she and her family grow European varieties of lavender on 27 acres and has a seasonal retail store. Costigan has another store in Camden.

The lavender is oil rich, disease, deer and drought resistant, and the end products are mostly balms, soaps and lotions. Her lavender is also used in a Maine gin, Maine chocolates and by higher-end restaurants.

Glendarragh is a regenerative farm and a tremendous habitat for pollinators.

Costigan makes most of her money from retail but has been growing her e-commerce business and wants to focus more on that to grow it further.

The alternate is Sarah Chadburn’s company Garden Bevy in Sabattus, which she described as fine gardening services. She started the company six years ago and has six employees.

Chardburn said she has two types of customers — retirees who want a nice garden but don’t want to do the work, and first-time homebuyers who want a garden and are willing to do the maintenance but don’t know where to start.

She said she wants to start growing and packaging her own perennials.

The other five competitors were Upta Maine/Shaun Hadlock, DELTACOM Coffee/John Nelson, Alchemize Coach/Christine O’Connell, Soverign Women’s Health/Shea Donovan, and MAC’s Gourmet Popcorn/Erika Moore.

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