Gorham Savings Bank Wants to Give a Maine Small Business 50 Grand

Gorham Savings Bank started this program back in 2013 to support Maine ingenuity, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit by celebrating the best small businesses. Whether you've just opened shop or you're looking to expand, LaunchPad has evolved to help more businesses at more stages of development than ever before.

The 2021 LaunchPad winner will get a 50,000 dollar grant from Gorham Savings Bank to buy equipment, expand or acquire space, hire employees, fund product development or meet any other business need.

But with so many deserving small businesses, how is a winner picked? Evaluating LaunchPad submissions is the job of a panel of judges. They perform an incredible amount of work in a very short time, spending countless hours reviewing applications and selecting businesses that demonstrate plans with great potential to benefit the Maine economy. There are serveral things they look at - could your business use 50,000 dollars?

Entering LaunchPad takes only an hour or two. GSB really is trying to make it as easy as posslbe. They know you have a small business to run! No formal documentation is required, and you can start your application, then stop and save it to complete later. If you applied in 2019, you can even access your application to update it rather than starting from scratch. Applications must be completed and submitted by 5:00pm on April 1. 2020 was a wash - but LaunchPad is back and better than ever!

In 2021, the LaunchPad pitch event will livestream to screens across Maine on June 1.