ROCKPORT — The Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce sponsored the Maine Made Show 2014 at the Samoset Resort Saturday, Nov. 22.  The show’s 55 exhibitors included Mainefood producers, artisans, jewelry, wineries and fine furniture makers. Part of the mission of the show was to encourage people to shop locally.

The Maine Grocers and Food Producers’ Alliance cosponsored the show. The Maine Department of Economic and Community Development collaborated with producers and sponsors to promote Maine’s small business and help make the event a success.

Maggi Blue, marketing director for the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the day was about giving Maine artisans and food producers a chance to show off their goods to consumers and other businesses that are looking to fill their stores with Maine-made products.

“This is our third,” said Blue. “The PBRCC is the third largest chamber organization in the state behind Portland and Bangor, so that is impressive. We have more than 1,000 members. We have a lot of new members here and it’s a good turnout.”

Shelly Doak is the executive director of the Maine Grocers and Food Producers Association.

“This is a great way to celebrate Maine-made products and the people who produce those products,” she said. “We are a business trade association. Our members are grocery store and supermarkets, food and beverage manufacturers, producers, wholesalers, distributors and other service companies that support those types of businesses.”

Doak said they are helping promote the value of Maine-made products to consumers.

“We hope that the people here today will see the value of these products and get to know the people behind the products,” she said. “We are a statewide organization with more than 250 members. We provide advocacy for our members at the Maine State House, the Congress level at the Washington level, and we provide educational and networking events that promote Maine based businesses.”

Todd’s Original Homemade Salsa  is based in Bangor. Eric Zola said Todd Simcox is the cofounder of the business and it’s his recipe that the business uses to market their salsa. Todd’s Original Homemade Salsa was just named one of the top 50 small businesses in Maine by Downeast Magazine.

“We were pleasantly surprised with that selection and we are looking forward to the readership response,” said Zola. “We started out in our home kitchen processing and due to demand have expanded. We produce here in the state of Maine and sell locally in the greater Bangor area. We have about 70 retailers, including Hannaford’s, and we sell online as well.”

Andrew Cook is based in Hollis. His business, Lobstering Is An Art, takes lobster and turns them into art, glassware and medallions.

“Lobstering is an Art is a take on our famous crustacean, the lobster,” said Cook. “I try to think outside the trap, if you will. I try to combine what everyone loves about the lobster with something they love about their life, or lifestyle. I have a lot of fun. I’ve been doing it about four years and I try to make fun and unique lobster designs.

The Wiggly Bridge Distillery operates in York. In business for two years now, the distillery joins the ranks of small custom distilleries that are popping up around the state.

David Woods started the distillery as a way to retire, but not retire from the business world.

“We have several small businesses that are in the process of being turned over to our children,” said Woods. “I’m too young to retire and I’ll never retire. I like the science and chemistry of distillation. We also manufacture our own stills. I like the construction aspect of that.

“We don’t sell the stills; those are for our own purposes. We started with a 60-gallon still and two months ago we put 110-gallon still into service. We’re in the process of building a 250-gallon still for as second distillery that will open up this spring.”

Wiggly Bridge Distillery offers four different types of distilled spirits, white and dark whiskey and light and dark rum. The rum carries the tag line of, “Where in the fog are we?”

Wiggly Bridge Distillery will be in New Hampshire by Christmas and hopes to be in Massachusetts by spring.  

“We just want to be a regional distributor,” said Woods. “If it’s one thing I’ve learned in business, it’s that big is really good, small is really good and middle is not so good.”

Moss and Grove is a Camden-based small business that caters to fairies. Well, people who like fairies, anyway. Founder Liza Gardner Walsh has authored several books about the subject and they are available through Downeast Publishing.

“I write books, The Fairy Garden Handbook and The Fairy House Handbook, but I’ve also written the Treasure Hunter Handbook and The Maine Coon Cat,” said Walsh. “I’ve also developed products that celebrate fairies: The Fairy Matching Game, Mini Fairy Garden Kit and The Mini Fairy House Kit. My daughter makes all the gnomes. The first book came out in  2012 and that kind of prompted the idea of the Fairy House Kit, but that really started in March last year.”

“I’ve always liked fairies and always believed in them, but when we moved to Maine my daughters discovered fairy house building. We did it as a family and they loved it so much that I wanted to share it with other children and families.”

The Fairy House Kit consists of moss, feathers, acorns, shells, sea glass, wood rounds, fairy trading cards and a twig pencil. The cards have three blank cards so kids can create their own fairies.