Nexus Maine - Soaking Up Summer

August in Maine

Aug 18, 2025

We hope everyone is soaking up every last ray of sunshine as we get to the second half of August. It’s exciting to see the constant hum of this ecosystem while still mixing in well deserved relaxation in the great Maine outdoors.

Now that applications for the the LaunchPad $50K pitch competition are in, we invite you to join us on October 21 for the live in-person pitch competition. Early registration is here.

This week we have more events added to the calendar, super-spicy job listings, and a member spotlight of VP of Product at Looma - Denny Cmeil

Lastly, if you want even deeper connections and direct access to everyone in the Nexus community please apply here to join us in the Nexus Slack group.

Wide-angle Pixar-style scene of a lake in Maine. A small motorboat driven by Mr. Raccoon is in the foreground, with a rope pulling Baxter the Moose waterskiing behind. Both the boat and Baxter are fully visible in the same frame

What’s in this newsletter

Event Highlights
Swag
Jobs & Talent
Member Spotlight: Denny Cmiel

Event Highlights

August 21: Summer social at the Roux Institute. Presented by the ClimateTech Incubator at Northeastern's Roux Institute and Startup Maine
- Register here
August 26: Thermoformed molded fiber symposium
- Register here
September 10: Bios & Brews
- Register here
September 10: 2025 Mainebiz Outstanding Women in Business Reception
- Register here
September 18: Headshot Happy Hour
- Register here
October 21: LaunchPad $50K Live Pitch Competition
- Register Here

Check out our Events Calendar Link in Notion for more. Are you an event owner? Submit your event here to be added to the calendar!

Nexus Swag

If you are looking for stickers to add to your Yeti cooler, the coziest hoodie you’ve ever worn, or to band together against the isolation of remote work, then we got you covered.

Nexus Swag Store

Nexus Jobs & Talent

Hiring:

A nexus member is looking to hire a CEO/GM
- Nexus Contact: David Engle
Minnow is hiring a marketing manager to drive growth and lead social/marketing campaigns
- Nexus Contact: Yona Belfort
Thos. Moser is hiring an E-Commerce Manager
- Nexus Contact: Jamie Storrs
Junior Achievement of Maine is hiring a Development Director and Events & Partnerships Manager
- Nexus Contact: Katie Shorey
Curastory is hiring a Senior Full Stack Machine Learning Engineer, AdTech Infrastructure
- Nexus Contact: Nate Dionne
An opening for a Director of Marketing and Communications, Program Manager, or Executive Director
- Nexus Contact: Frank Gruber
Sekond is hiring a Platform Engineer
- Nexus Contact: Waldron Faulkner

FYI - There are more postings in the #Nexus-Jobs channel in slack. If you are looking for great talent or considering your next move please reach out to Jimmy and George and we’ll help connect you!

Member Spotlight: Denny Cmiel

Career Bio

I currently lead the Product / Engineering team at The Looma Project. I’ve spent the last 4 years working on our platform for In-Store Digital Media, focused on creating more moments of connection, discovery, and inspiration in physical grocery stores. At my heart I’m a problem solver, and working at the intersection of shopper, brand, and retailer, with a combination of hardware, software, and services, yields a never ending stream of problems that keep me on my toes.

Before Looma, I grew up in North Carolina and studied Computer Science as a Tar Heel. In my sophomore year of college I caught the start-up bug and spent a humbling 18 months trying to build a social media app focused on creating a better experience of sharing high-quality content with your friends and curating content for others. If anyone’s reading this and working on finding PMF for a social app — my heart goes out to you :).

Why Maine

My girlfriend and I share our North Carolina roots. We both grew up in NC, went to college in NC, and spent 4 years post-grad in NC. About 6 months ago we started to talk about wanting to get out of our comfort zone and start a new chapter together. We didn’t really have a catalyst for making a big move, so we just decided to go for it. We bought last minute plane tickets for a long, rainy, April weekend in Portland, toured an apartment, put in an application, signed a lease, drove up two U-Hauls with our stuff, and here we are!

Clearly I’m late to the party, but I’ll briefly say — WOW — we can’t believe it took us this long to discover this breathtakingly beautiful place, and this community of incredible people with all sorts of inspiring visions for how they want to make their home an even better place.

Away from the keyboard…

I’m my best self when I’m doing one of the following:

Playing sports and board games. Basketball, golf, chess, catan, and pickleball are my current top picks.
Planning “crowded table” dinners. Working with friends to plan nights with communities of good people, tasty food and drink, and thoughtful conversation.
Serving in the community by building things in the real/physical world, supporting schools, and playing sports with kids.

Oh, and I spend most of the day pacing back and forth looking at my Fiddly Fig and wondering if it’s ever going to grow back all the leaves it lost in the UHaul on the way up here. TBD.

Let’s talk

If you want to help me plan a “crowded table” dinner this fall, if you have a great service opportunity that needs an extra hand, or if you need a 4th for Catan. We’re so excited to meet new people here, so if you’re thinking about reaching out for any reason, I hope you do! Email me at denny.cmiel@gmail.com or find me on LinkedIn.