Don Gooding, the man who has been at the forefront of entrepreneurial development in Maine for the past six years, is stepping down from his post.

According to a resignation letter obtained by the Maine Startup Insider, Gooding notified the board of the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development on Tuesday morning that he intends to resign as executive director effective June 17.

MCED is at the hub of innovation and entrepreneurship in the state. It provides assistance, mentoring and education to help entrepreneurs launch startups, and resources to help those startups grow. It is the organization that oversees the state’s Top Gun five-month entrepreneurial training program from which more than 115 entrepreneurs have graduated since it began in 2009.

In his resignation letter, Gooding notes that the funding challenges confronting MCED will dominate his successor’s time.

“It will require someone to give their 110 percent at fundraising and committing to execution of a long term new vision,” he wrote. “I have learned in the last year that fundraising isn’t how I want or like to spend my time.”

Jess Knox, founder of the business development firm Olympico Strategies and creator of the popular Maine Startup & Create Week, said late Tuesday he was surprised about Gooding’s decision. “Don and the team have positioned MCED in a strong place,” Knox said. “I think it will be exciting to see what he does next. I don’t have any doubt he’ll continue to be involved with startups and entrepreneurship. It’s in his blood.”

Sandra Stone, who worked closely with Gooding on the leadership team of Maine Angels, a network that pools members’ money and directs that financing to early stage companies throughout Maine and New England, was surprised as well.

“He has so much energy,” Stone said. “He’s just one of those people. A real connector.”

Like Knox, Stone said she doesn’t expect Gooding to disappear. “I think what he does well – find those startups that deserve attention and capital – he’ll continue to do,” she said.

MCED is facing a $130,000 to $150,000 shortfall this year, and filling that “is a tall order,” Gooding wrote in his letter. The organization benefited from a three-year, $3 million grant from Blackstone Charitable Foundation, which has drawn to a close. The money was used to expand the Top Gun program from its Portland roots throughout the state.

Gooding also acknowledges that MCED is moving toward focusing more on helping young companies grow, rather than launch. “And as the board has emphasized scale-ups – which I agree is the right next step for MCED – my enthusiasm has waned, because I really am most passionate and skilled at startups,” he wrote.

Gooding has had a long career as an entrepreneur. He started Mainely A Cappella, the predecessor to Primary A Cappella, the organization featured in the Pitch Perfect movies, selling recordings and sheet music. A talented singer, Gooding often takes the mic at entrepreneurial events like pitch contests and entertains the crowd.

He also spent 10 years as a research partner at a venture capital firm Accel Partners, focusing on the telecommunication and networking markets.

He maintains his investment work as a member of Maine Angels. In 2015, Maine Angels closed 23 deals totaling $2.3 million in investments, one of the most active angel investment groups in the country.

Gooding doesn’t say in his letter what he intends to do next, but offered to help MCED through the transition to a new executive director. “I’m proud of our accomplishments over the last five and a half years, and appreciate your own volunteer contributions,” he writes of the board. “I’m sure that I will continue to interact with many of you as I move into the next phase. I won’t be disappearing, just stepping back a bit.”

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