Jordene Trueh cleans scallions while preparing her Jamaican jerk sauces at Fork Food Lab in South Portland on Tuesday. Trueh’s company, Backriver Blends, greatly benefited from assistance from the Maine Black Chamber of Commerce, which was founded a year ago. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

This week, Jordene Trueh moved production of her Jamaican jerk marinades from her certified home kitchen in Topsham to Fork Food Lab, a shared commercial kitchen in South Portland.

Almost immediately, she expects sales of her plant-based, allergy-friendly products to expand from seven stores in southern Maine to more than 10. And she sees untold potential for growth through the online platform she’s developing for her year-old company.

“It’s all happening pretty quickly,” said Trueh, 49, who was born in Jamaica and moved to the U.S. when she was 12. “We’re already starting to get inquiries from other stores. With our e-commerce platform we’ll be able to sell nationwide.”

Trueh credits a good portion of her success to the Maine Black Chamber of Commerce – also established last summer – because it helped her make important connections in the business community, secure key financing and position Backriver Blends for what she hopes will be a successful sophomore year.

One year after launching, Maine’s first Black chamber – despite an unexpectedly tight budget – has set up an office in Lewiston, established a board of directors, lobbied for legislative changes, helped businesses grow and created mentorship programs for Black youths.

“It’s been great to network and connect with like-minded individuals,” Trueh said. “When you’re starting a business, focused in your own little world, it can be insulating. You forget other people are on the same journey. It’s nice to get together and share ideas and learn from each other.”

Like Trueh, the Black chamber is aiming for continued growth.

“We learned a lot,” is the first thing Joshua Brister, a founder and president, said when asked about the chamber’s first year.

The chamber’s learning curve has included everything from grasping the basics of organizational outreach and legislative advocacy, to curbing expectations for outside fundraising and membership growth.

Joshua Brister outside of the Greater Portland Council of Governments office last summer. Brister started Maine’s first chamber of commerce for Black-owned businesses. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

“We’re only going to grow so big as an organization,” said Brister, who pegged current paid membership at about 80 Black-owned businesses and several additional supportive businesses and individuals.

Brister, a business consultant who owns the Lewiston-Auburn Maples semiprofessional women’s basketball team, wanted the chamber to be a unifying force for Maine’s Black-owned businesses – a small, scattered community that he said struggles to find support and overcome systemic racism.

To that end, it set up its office at 75 Park St. in Lewiston, launched a website and held regular meet-and-greets and policy calls to action, including one scheduled for Sept. 25 with Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.

It also lobbied for legislative change at the State House, led by its policy chair, Nolan Thompson, a retired therapist and social work policy analyst who helped members see how improving the lives of workers would benefit businesses. And it connected Black entrepreneurs with funding, consulting and other start-up support, while also establishing mentorship and internship programs for Black youths.

State Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, was at the State House last spring when members of the Black student unions at Lewiston and Westbrook high schools got to see chamber members in action.

“It was great to meet all of them and to see that leadership development taking place,” Rotundo said. “The chamber is a great organization.”

FIRST OF ITS KIND

The Maine Black Chamber is the first organization of its kind in a state where about 2% of the population identifies as Black alone or in combination with other ethnicities, the U.S. Census found. There are more than 145 Black chambers in 42 states, representing about 326,000 Black businesses nationwide, according to U.S. Black Chambers Inc.

Like other chambers, the Maine Black Chamber is registered with a 501(c)(6) federal tax status, Brister said. That means it can actively advocate, lobby, endorse and campaign for causes and candidates that support and further its purpose as a group promoting business interests.

More common 501(c)(3) nonprofits are charitable or educational entities that can advocate for causes but cannot support candidates, openly lobby for legislative change or participate in political campaigns.

A year ago, Brister anticipated that by now he would have hired an executive director and a full staff, including an office manager and directors of advocacy and communications. He also hoped to raise enough startup funding to support a yearly budget of $1.5 million to $2 million.

However, $400,000 in promised investments evaporated when potential donors learned their contributions couldn’t be taken as tax deductions because that isn’t allowed for 501(c)(6) nonprofits, Brister said. The chamber has applied for grants, but for now it relies on $33,400 in annual membership fees to pay rent and other bills.

Jordene Trueh, owner of Backriver Blends, said the Maine Black Chamber of Commerce helped her win a $25,000 grant that she’s using to develop an online shop and hire a consultant to assist with a marketing plan and business strategy. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

“We’re still all-volunteer. We’re still grass roots,” he said. “But we’re finally financially secure.”

With its finances capped, the chamber has focused on helping members develop or improve their business plans and secure bank financing or grants. It also provided guidance and opportunities to connect with mentors or access consulting services.

The chamber helped Trueh win a $25,000 federal pandemic recovery grant through the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. She’s using it to develop a website and e-commerce platform for Backriver Blends, and to hire a consultant to draw up a marketing plan and business strategy so she’s prepared for growth.

“The grant allows me to be in a strong position early on,” said Trueh, whose marinades are sold at Kennebec Meat Company, Bath; Morning Glory Natural Foods, Brunswick; Royal River Natural Foods, Freeport; Barber Bros., South Portland; Pat’s Meat Market, Portland; Poland Provision, Poland, and Maine Homestead Market, Lyman.

The chamber also helped Steven Barker resurrect a company he started in 2017 but had to pause when he ran into unexpected roadblocks. Based in South Portland, he successfully relaunched his small-business oriented Credit Card Processing Agents online last year.

“Starting out I had no help. I didn’t know how to do certain things,” said Barker, who previously worked as a financial adviser. “Through the chamber I found the help I needed to scale up. They supported me and put me in the room with banks and other resources that I probably wouldn’t have connected with otherwise.”

LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY

Brister credits Nolan Thompson, chair of the chamber’s policy committee, with helping him and other members understand the finer points of advocacy work and legislative lobbying.

Nolan Thompson chairs the policy committee of the Maine Black Chamber of Commerce. “All that we’re trying to do for Black-owned businesses really benefits all businesses,” he said. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

Thompson is a retired therapist and social work policy analyst who was the coordinator of employee and community outreach and the ombudsman at the University of Southern Maine from 1997 to 2008.

He has led the fledgling chamber’s policy and advocacy work, including support for bills aimed at raising wages, subsidizing high rents, addressing Maine’s housing crisis and providing paid family medical leave. When it’s noted that these aren’t traditional areas of concern for business groups, Thompson points out the obvious.

“If folks have good wages and benefits, they can help support businesses,” he said. “If communities have affordable housing, businesses can attract and keep employees. We’re really trying to make Maine – how does that saying go? – the way life should be. And all that we’re trying to do for Black-owned businesses really benefits all businesses.”

Trueh, who is a data analyst at Idexx, said she appreciates the chamber’s advocacy work on her behalf.

“Even though I might not make it to the State House to lobby, our voices are still heard,” she said.

Looking ahead to the chamber’s Call to Action on Sept. 25, Secretary of State Bellows will be there to explain several initiatives on the Nov. 5 ballot. Brister and other members also plan to discuss the organization’s policy and advocacy goals for the year ahead.

Their bipartisan agenda includes strengthening the education system through better pay and diversity hiring and helping to start three more Black-owned businesses by 2027.

They also plan to help Black-owned companies become certified as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises so they can better compete for state and federal transportation contracts.

The 6 p.m. meeting is a prime opportunity for anyone interested in starting, growing or assisting a Black-owned business. Take it from Steven Barker, proud owner of a fledgling credit card processing company.

“We’ll be able to put you in touch with the right people to make things happen,” Barker said.