Media Advisory

Island and Coastal Innovation Fund Now Open for Business

The Island Institute will announce the official launch of a new $3 million economic-development tool to help island and coastal entrepreneurs access working capital to start or expand their businesses. The Island and Coastal Innovation Fund will make loans to jump-start or increase the capacity of island-based and remote coastal businesses, and take an equity position in transformative business models. The fund will also continue to purchase and hold groundfish permits, leasing them back to conservation-minded fishermen for gear research that can help protect fish stocks.

When: Friday, July 22 at 10:30 a.m.

Where: Dropping Springs Bait Co.,

6A Portland Fish Pier

(next to the Portland Fish Exchange)

Who: Senior Island Institute staff and trustees,

representatives of Olympia Snow and

Chellie Pingree, island community members

The Island Institute’s mission is to serve as a voice for the balanced future of the islands and waters of the Gulf of Maine. Specifically, the Institute partners with Maine’s 15 year-round island and remote coastal communities

to ensure that they remain vibrant places to live, work and educate children.