Building a Brighter Future
The MSBB team provides – at no cost to you – business coaching, career development resource, technical assistance, help with finding and winning federal contracts, technology advising, diversifying income streams, and more. We can also provide assistance with gap loans and micro-financing. Contact a member of our team today!

Denise Cilley
Associate Director, SCEC
Denise joined SCEC in April of 2019 and currently serves as the organization’s Associate Director. As part of the executive leadership team, she helped lead SCEC through a period of rapid growth and innovation. Denise provided critical leadership and staff support for the community input gathering, capital campaign, construction, and launch phases of MSBB and helped establish and grow SCEC’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship team, which she currently leads.
Email | (207) 259-5103

Jessica Crowley
Maine APEX Accelerator
Jessica can work with your business to find, win, and perform on government contracts. Through Maine APEX, businesses can also receive training and technical assistance.
Email | (207) 620-2273

Dodie Emerson
Downeast Community Catalyst
Dodie helps Washington County businesses and communities by providing connections to business coaching, education, workforce, and career development resources. She also serves as the Business Advisor for the Washington County Recovery Friendly Workplace Network.
Email | (207) 271-2132

Susan Hatton
Loan Program Manager
Susan oversees various gap-financing microloan programs for qualifying businesses, including a program for the unorganized territories of Washington County, and agriculture- and fisheries- based businesses.
Email | (207) 949-0336

Geoffrey Lagat
Client Technology Advisor
Geoffrey works with businesses to leverage technology to drive business growth and innovation, which includes determining the right hardware and software solutions.
Email | (207) 259-0105

Peter Piconi
Business Resilience Advisor
With over three decades of diverse business expertise, Peter assists aspiring entrepreneurs, small business owners, and employers in the region. He also leads efforts to connect business owners within industry clusters and provide personalized one-on-one business advising.
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Peter comes with a diverse background and skillsets to support Maine’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. His formal background in wildlife management, and his training and practice as a biologist/researcher inform his unique perspective about designing successful business eco-systems. As an entrepreneur, he launched and managed an outdoor retail waterfront business and charter service in a highly competitive San Diego market. His business experience led him to the Midwest where he was a key lead for a start-up regional fishery (RAS) within a budding network of investors.
This work brought him to Maine to manage the Aquaculture Business Development Program for the Island Institute, successfully establishing key partnerships in support of island and coastal fisherman while building a collaborating network of aquaculturists throughout Maine. During this tenure there, he implemented the first seaweed market analysis for a nascent Maine seaweed industry. His most recent work was as a business advisor for Coastal Enterprises Inc and the Maine Small Business Development Center in mid coast Maine. He focused on serving small businesses through all phases, including startup, scaling and maturity.
Peter’s work in the last decade has focused intensively on economic development and community advancement by providing support in the following areas: business start-up, strategic planning, marketing, promotion of specialty retail, network and community building, stakeholder education and engagement, eco-tourism, aquaculture, and viniculture.
Email | (207) 271-2085

Amanda Smith
Coastal Opportunities Advisor
Amanda works within coastal Washington County towns to assist small businesses and entrepreneurs in identifying and pursuing ways to diversify their income.
Email | (207) 259-0755