The Greater Good

Accelerating out of the curve - How startups are driving their own pandemic recovery

Amidst the flurry of efforts to keep small businesses open and their workers employed, how have Maine startups been navigating the Covid-19 pandemic? To answer this question, we invited two entrepreneurs and a business professor with deep roots in Maine’s startup community to discuss today’s startup landscape and share their perspectives on the last seven months. We talk about changing customer needs, pivots, access to capital, hiring talent, and how people are emerging from the first waves of the pandemic with new ideas and businesses. Featured guests are Brian Rahill (CourseStorm), Patrick Breeding (Marin Skincare), and Prof. Jason Harkins (Associate Dean of the University of Maine Business School + Co-managing Director of Scratchpad Accelerator). (Note: With our recording studio on the University of Southern Maine campus closed, we are posting episodes using the “live” audio from our new Covid-19-focused webinar series, the Greater Good Webinar/Podcast Series. This episode used the “live” audio from our October 7th webinar.) *** Connect with Us Website: umainecenter.org/greatergood Twitter: @greatergoodpod

Covid-19 in Rural Communities: The emerging story

Media headlines are often centered around large urban areas, but rural communities are facing unique challenges in combating the pandemic. To discuss these challenges, three main healthcare and public health experts with a longstanding interest in revisioning Maine’s public health and rural health systems join us on the podcast. We discuss the rural health challenges before the pandemic hit, what is happening now in rural healthcare and rural economies, and where we can go from here to create a brighter future. (Note: With our recording studio on the University of Southern Maine campus closed, we are posting episodes using the “live” audio from our new Covid-19-focused webinar series, the Greater Good Webinar/Podcast Series.) *** Connect with Us Website: umainecenter.org/greatergood Twitter: @greatergoodpod Produced by the University of Maine Graduate and Professional Center, with help from WMPG

The Pandemic Pivot - Corporate Social Responsibility During a Pandemic

Welcome to the Greater Good Webinar/Podcast Series! With our recording studio on the USM campus closed, we will be posting episodes using the “live” audio from our new Covid-19-focused webinar series. In this episode, we chat with leaders at L.L. Bean about how they successfully pivoted manufacturing and operations capabilities to protect and support employees, healthcare workers, and Maine residents at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our guests shared their experiences making face coverings, procuring PPE by leveraging their supply chain, and boxing food for Good Shepherd Food Bank. Discussion topics included the decision-making process, the manufacturing transition, corporate social responsibility, and the impacts to employee morale.

The Innovation Cohort Part 2 - Talk to strangers

Part two of our conversation with Dr. Jennifer Monti focuses on how we can increase the speed of medical innovation, better serve rural populations, invest in public health, and the importance of building partnerships between medical professionals, universities, and the private sector to solve critical problems in healthcare. Dr. Monti asserts that the best medical ideas can come from anyone and anywhere: patients, medical professionals, and even complete strangers. Dr. Monti is a general cardiologist most interested in the intersection of medicine, public health, and entrepreneurship. She developed the Innovation Cohort at Maine Medical Center in response to her experience as an inventor and entrepreneur moving an idea from scribbled drawing to working prototype, company formation, fundraising, and clinical trials. She firmly believes good ideas come from every corner of an organization, and that Portland, Maine should be the easiest place in America to learn to invent and to be an inventor. She received a degree in biochemistry with honors from Harvard College, as well as degrees in medicine and public health from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Jenn's favorite lunch spot is LB Kitchen, her favorite place for dinner is home with her kids, and her favorite local business is Print Bookstore on Congress St. in the East End. She is a huge college basketball fan and is still upset that the Big East fell apart.

The Innovation Cohort - Inventing with Empathy

The American healthcare system has an urgent need to develop innovative ways to care for patients and communities. Workers in every corner of a health system- from administrators to physicians to custodial staff - have unique and important insights. The Innovation Cohort at MaineHealth is designed to turn these insights into transformative medical care. Join us for a conversation about healthcare innovation and collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Monti. Dr. Monti is a general cardiologist most interested in the intersection of medicine, public health, and entrepreneurship. She developed the Innovation Cohort at Maine Medical Center in response to her experience as an inventor and entrepreneur moving an idea from scribbled drawing to working prototype, company formation, fundraising, and clinical trials. She firmly believes good ideas come from every corner of an organization, and that Portland, Maine should be the easiest place in America to learn to invent and to be an inventor. She received a degree in biochemistry with honors from Harvard College, as well as degrees in medicine and public health from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Jenn's favorite lunch spot is LB Kitchen, her favorite place for dinner is home with her kids, and her favorite local business is Print Bookstore on Congress St. in the East End. She is a huge college basketball fan and is still upset that the Big East fell apart.