Nexus Maine - Summer Time

Events are back!

We are getting back to events and hoping to take advantage of the good weather! We will have a happy hour in June and a larger event in July alongside the Roux and Maine Community Bank. Hope to see many of you there, especially many of the new faces.

Thank you to our newest sponsor, Maine Community Bank! We are lucky to have their support and look forward to working with them on a number of initiatives this year - and we are kicking things off in a BIG way.

We are excited to host the Nexus Summer Social at the Roux Institute and support their $50K startup pitch competition Launchpad. This is our flagship summer event and will feature games, free drinks and water views. Sign up here

Below, we have a bunch of upcoming events, great jobs, and a spotlight on Joe Powers from Maine Venture Fund.

Lastly, if you know anyone great for this group, please send them here to apply.

Generate an image of baxter the moose enjoying the fact that he is back together at a brewery outside with his woodland friends in the style of Pixar

What’s in this newsletter

• Community Update Note

• Event Highlights

• Jobs & Talent

• Member Spotlight: Joe Powers

Okay, ONE More Community Update Reminder

With upcoming improvements to our website, bigger aspirations for events and this community, and after talking with many of you directly - we have set up a stripe link for subscriptions and are charging a subscription for new slack members who joined after May 9th, 2025.

One of the major goals of this initiative is to ensure new members are incentivized to be highly engaged. For those already in this group, you are NOT required to subscribe, but we greatly appreciate any support you are all willing to provide if you find this community valuable.

• Stripe link

Event Highlights

• June 10: Maine JS Meetup

  • Register Here

• June 10: Maine Center Awards

  • Register Here

• June 11: Maine Data & AI Meetup

  • Register Here

• June 26: Nexus Maine Happy Hour at Belleflower Brewing

  • These are coming back!

• July 15: Nexus Maine Summer Social at The Roux Institute

  • 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 Jobs & Talent

Hiring:

• Gulf of Maine Research Institute is hiring a Senior Program Manager

  • Nexus Contact: Katie Shorey

• Teens to Trails is hiring an Executive Director

  • Nexus Contact: Mike Perna

• North Spore is hiring a Retail Sales and Marketing Manager

  • Nexus Contact: Aleks Strub

• Thos. Moser is hiring a Chief Revenue Officer and a Sales Account Executive

  • Nexus Contact: Jamie Storrs

• Maine Initiatives is hiring a Director of Finance

  • Nexus Contact: Rumbi

• Loop is hiring a VP of engineering

  • Nexus Contact: Chelsea Allen

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: Joe Powers

Career/Bio overview

I lead Maine Venture Fund, which is a state-sponsored evergreen venture capital fund dedicated to supporting Maine-based companies. Before MVF, I held a variety of operational roles at venture-backed startups and had a short stint as a bootstrapped founder. I grew up and went to college in Vermont and business school in New Hampshire but spent the majority of my working career in San Francisco before coming to Maine.

Why Maine?

Like so many New England families, mine visited Maine most summers – in our case, camping at Hermit Island - and I lived in Biddeford for a short period during a gap year, so I had a sense of the quality of life here. In 2017 the FOMO of living on the West Coast while extended family kept multiplying 3000 miles away drove the decision to return to be within driving distance to the action. I’ve found Portland to be a perfect balance between the energy and creativity I love in large cities and the rural cortisol and community that grounds me as a native Vermonter.

Away from the keyboard
Outside! Depending on the season you can find me at Higgins Beach when the surf is up, the Riverside Golf Course cross country skiing with my dog Cricket, paddling around Fort Georges, puttering at home in Portland or hiking some hill depending on the season.

Let’s talk

I’m fortunate to have a front row seat to the startup community in Maine through my day job investing in innovative companies. I’m always excited to grab coffee or jump on a call with anyone who is building or considering building a company here and looking for fundraising advice.

Shoot me an email (joe@maineventurefund.com).

Thank you for making this community special, everyone! See you on Slack.

George & Jimmy

Thank you to our sponsors Maine Community Bank and Maine Technology Institute for supporting Nexus Maine.