Aegir’s Den Meadery

Mark and Carrie Mancini both come from families familiar with fermentation and preserving, but a friendly competition leading to the accidental brewing of a honey mead made Aegir’s Den Meadery possible! After nearly a decade of experimenting and testing different meads with friends and family encouraging them, they opened their Pittsfield storefront in 2019 and gained some good traction prior to COVID shutdowns. They had a strong brand and partnerships with a local winery for bottling space and were being distributed throughout the Bangor and Portland area.

They connected with the Maine SBDC as they were getting ready to expand. They needed to grow in order to keep up with production and that meant they needed capital to hire more employees and purchase additional equipment. Maine SBDC at Coastal Enterprises (CEI) Business Advisor Peter Piconi was able to work with Mark and Carrie to understand their capital needs and provided resources that helped identify the best avenue to pursue. Together they developed financial forecast worksheets and reviewed the business plan so they could understand how grants or traditional lending would fit into their plan.

They developed short-term & long-term strategic plans and focused on refining the business plan. When a family friend showed interest in investing, they were able to work with Peter on their investor pitch. Ultimately, their hard work paid off! This investment allowed them to move into a new location and expand their production.