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The Shoes:Traditional handsewn footwear made by hand in Maine, both in stock and made to order, using both American and globally sourced components.
At the helm: We’re Kirsten and Kevin Shorey. Officially, we’re the owners now, but we see ourselves more as stewards for the brand, charged with keeping the company on-course and progressing. We’re proud to say that Quoddy is stronger than ever, still true to its roots, and committed to its customers and its traditions. Made in Maine, made by hand.
The Quoddy Team: At our Lewiston workshop, crafters hand-make shoes the way generations before them did. In fact, some of the same machines they use, others worked with a hundred years ago.
It’s not just their hands on the tools that make a Quoddy shoe. It’s also their eyes and their judgment. Every crafter can make a shoe from scratch, and at any point, if a shoe isn’t Quoddy quality, anyone is empowered to reject it.
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My father is a sheet metal fabricator and he helped me with my first metal fabrication for an art project I did in 7th grade. My love for jewelry fabrication began in high school. My high school art teacher held a degree in jewelry and metal smithing from Cornell and we were lucky to have classes taught by her. She recognized my passion and would invite me to her home studio evenings and weekends to teach me techniques that went beyond our classroom sessions. About the same time, I inherited a studio full of tools from one of my father’s mentors who was a jeweler as well as a metals teacher. After moving to Maine in 1990, I took classes at MCA and apprenticed with a well known jeweler in Wells, Maine. I started my own business in 1993, primarily selling on consignment and wholesale, and maintained that business until 2001 when I took a leave to start and raise a family. In 2019, I went back to my bench to pursue my passion and rebuild my business. I didn’t want to be away from my tools for as long as I was, however, I feel that time away fueled my desire to return and gave me new perspective. When I started up again I had a clear vision of what I wanted my first line to look like and how I wanted to design my website, logo, etc.
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We are a healthcare provider and a teacher with two small children. We don’t think that you should need a doctors visit and a costly prescription to get relief from Browntail Moth rash. Our soothing lotion provides nearly instant relief from the itchy rash of Browntail Moth and also eases the itch from mosquito and black fly bites.
As Browntail Moth caterpillars became more common in Midcoast Maine over the last few years, our family struggled with the itchy, uncomfortable rash. We were able to get some relief from a lotion provided by a local pharmacy. Overtime the rules changed and you needed a doctors visit and prescription to access the lotion. We knew that there was a better way!
Made with over the counter ingredients, we are proud to offer this soothing lotion without a prescription. This lotion works for our family and friends and we think yours will love it too.
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Since 1931 we’ve been creating balsam products for the world to enjoy.
Our incense is made in Auburn, Maine.
First, balsam branches are brought to us by local woodsmen, where they are then ground and dried. It is next pressed into incense molds and finally dried… That’s it! No chemicals are added to our incense, and is 100% natural and sustainable!
We also use the balsam in our pillows. We make souvenir pillows that are stuffed with the balsam fir. They are great as gifts, or an aromatic delight in a drawer, closet, or car.
When people walk through the doors of our plant they are amazed at the smell of the balsam.
We also have a sewing room at the plant. Pillows are custom made per order. The pillows are filled and stitched right here in Auburn, Maine. During our busy season it looks a bit like Santa’s Workshop, with all of the stitchers being busy elves.
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The best way to tell our story is to look at our values. We’re a human centered company in absolute love with our planet and our local community. We’re inspired to create the best and most unique solar evaporated sea salt based products while thinking critically about how our business engages with people, how it supports its community, and how it impacts the environment.
The Environment is a Stakeholder.
At Maine Salt Farm, we believe the health of our planet is up to us. That’s why we aim to bring you the best Maine sea salt imaginable using as few inputs as possible. Our salt is proudly made in evaporation houses using only the power of the sun, and nothing else. No supplemental heat from any source. This keeps the production footprint as small as it can be and gives you a product that you feel good about buying. We’re also actively deplasticizing as much of our operation as possible, though there is always more to be done!
Our Community Comes First.
Maine has an incredibly deep maritime heritage, and we’re humbled to be part of its storied Blue Economy. Our goal isn’t just to produce the best salt products, we believe businesses can have a positive community impact too. We support fellow Maine businesses by buying services and products locally, working with purposeful companies on innovative projects intended to have a positive impact on Maine, and participating in educational experiences and events whenever we can.
We Always Work Together.
Let’s face it, humans are much better at getting things done when we work together. That’s why collaboration is a core tenet of Maine Salt Farm. We’re huge fans of putting differences aside so that we can effectively work with and learn from others to improve our craft and help grow Maine’s sustainable food systems.
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Pineland Farms Dairy Company began at the Valley Farm in New Gloucester, Maine. For many decades, the state run school farmed the land and raised dairy and beef cows to feed and sustain the school’s population. Years after the school’s closure, the Valley Farm was brought back to life and reborn as Pineland Farms.
The dairy cows at Pineland Farms comprise one of the oldest registered Holstein herds in the United States. Purchased from Michael Wilson who, with his predecessors developed the “Trina” family. In 2005 we began making cheese using milk from our Holsteins and we quickly became the largest producer of cheese in Maine, winning numerous awards including several first-place honors from the American Cheese Society.
In 2017, the Pineland Farms Dairy Company purchased the former Grant’s Dairy plant in Bangor, Maine. Just as it did in its original home in New Gloucester, Pineland Farms breathed new life into an old building with a rich history. The fully remodeled facility allows Pineland Farms to continue making its award-winning cheeses, while increasing production capacity and allowing for milk processing on site.
Our new location brings us much closer to many of Maine’s dairy farms, allowing the milk to travel less and stay fresher. This means that Pineland Farms can support local dairy farms, process the freshest milk in Maine and craft the best cheeses available.
MAINE COWS. MAINE MILK. MAINE CHEESE.
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I am a degreed Engineer and have worked in ship building for 36 years. Over ten years ago, I worked for a barbecue catering company and developed a love for feeding groups of people with amazing smoked meats (whole hogs, brisket, pork shoulders, chicken, turkey, etc). I fed thousands of people. I had my own sauces and rubs that family and friends raved about and told me I should sell. After I left catering, I decided to give it a try. I had always wanted to own a business and I also wanted to show my sons the power of what is possible if you work hard. In fact, I named my company after my two sons, Ross and Sam (ROSSAM). I took a class put on by the University of Maine called From Recipe to Market, and that gave me the information and confidence to move forward. My business was born and with help along the way from friends and associates, I have progressed the business to where I am expanding my wholesale distribution as well as participating in craft shows.
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My name is Meghan, I grew up in central Maine with a travel bug. I studied abroad twice in college, once in Paris on an academic scholarship my freshman year and the second time I ventured down to the south of France to Cannes. Upon finishing my college degree in Worcester, MA, I took off on a different scholarship back to Cannes, France. It was here that I lived for 3.5 years, exploring, speaking the language, studying, and hopping on the train as far as the tracks would take me. I started a Masters program at University of Nice in Art Psychology before hopping back on a plane and moving down to Sao Paulo, Brazil for 7 months. It was here I fell in love with the culture, the food, and the people despite having barley learned Portuguese. I may have never left Brazil if it wasn’t so hard for me to get a long-standing visa. I returned home to Maine for the summer of 2017 to allow my Brazilian tourist visa to reset. It wasn’t until I was home, engulfed in family and familiar smells of pine trees, that I realised I might need to return to Brazil – perhaps I had out-traveled my travel bug. Excited to be swimming back in the same lakes I grew up in as a kid, I didn’t put much thought into re-intregration. After being away, speaking another language, and normalising foreign customs for close to five years, it’s much harder than you would think. I found myself back in my home town of Readfield, Maine a little lost and confused. That’s where the art came in. As a kid, I was naturally drawn to the arts – particularly painting. Art is always has been my therapy and a kind of coping mechanism. Naturally, I turned to art at this wild intersection of my life. I had seen a video of a man doing an extra large dining room table with epoxy and decided I had to try this new medium. Without any woodworking skills, a table was too daunting so I played with the epoxy on some scrap wood my dad had in his basement. From there things took off. I moved to Portland but my tiny one bedroom would fill with smelly epoxy odors so I would drive an hour to my parents on my days off from bartending and play with epoxy. Then my boyfriend and I moved in to an apartment together – this time, I took over the loft with my epoxy projects. When my art started taking over the entire apartment, I decided to lease a small studio space downtown. Now I had a separate place to do the art, but I would still have to lug the wood back and forth to my terrace to be sanded. Finally, it was time to go full time with my side hustle – it would be scary but I was ready. In September of 2019, I decided to take my hobby to a full time business. I had been “mastering my craft for a little less than a year and I had no idea if I was making the right choice. And then there was COVID…. All the art shows I had booked, were cancelled, my two wholesale accounts were shut down and I was very scared for my very young business. I contacted SCORE who set my up with a lovely mentor and I sat down and reached out to every coastal gallery I could find. I survived that wild year (and the two following it) through wild amounts of hard work and dedication. I never set out to be a wholesaler but somehow I’m a little thankful for how COVID made me pivot my business. We have almost quadrupled our sales in 3 short years, I know employ three incredible ladies, and we run ALL the power tools. Very long story short, no one on the team has had any formal training or background in woodworking or art. We learn as we go and adjust our sails as the tides change.
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Welcome to Katahdin Collar Co., where we believe every dog is an adventurer at heart. We create dog collars that are as bold, rugged, and ready for anything as the dogs wearing them. Our collars are designed for the trailblazers, the squirrel-chasers, and the lake-swimmers – dogs who aren’t afraid to get their paws dirty.
As a retailer, you know your customers are looking for products that can stand up to the demands of their dogs’ active lifestyles. That’s where we come in. Our collars are made with durable materials that can handle mud, rain, and everything in between. But they’re not just tough – they’re also a statement piece, a badge of honor for the bravest of pups and the most daring of daredevils.
By stocking Katahdin Collar Co. collars, you’re not just adding another product to your shelves – you’re inviting your customers to join a community of dog lovers who believe in the spirit of adventure.
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Lee grew up mostly on the family farm where we live and work today. In college at the University of Maine he earned a bachelor’s degree in agri-business and resource economics and a master’s degree in business administration where his graduate project was done on the potential of a maple syrup operation located on the family farm in Knox. Almost 15 years after the graduate project was written, we incorporated almost all of it (where things had improved or modernized we incorporated the new technology) into our current operation.
Lee and MaryAnne have been married since 1995 and enjoy raising 2 children into teens and young adults who have helped along the way with almost every aspect of our farming businesses.
