Immigrant Family Business Panel

Speakers: Kerem Durdag, President & Chief Operating Officer, GWI and Founder and Managing Partner, The Indus Fund and Gene Ardito, President & CEO, cPort Credit Union and The Indus Fund

Family Business Panelists: Michael Molisho, Founder & CEO, Maine Med Cleaning Services, American Diamond Cleaning Services and Lucie Narukundo, Founder & CEO, Moriah Store

The Institute for Family-Owned Business (IFOB) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the success of family-owned businesses in the State of Maine. Eighty percent of businesses in Maine are family-owned and we have over 140 family-owned businesses across the State, from all sizes and industries, who are part of the IFOB. Annually in the fall, we hold an awards program with over 400 in-person attendance and live streamed to celebrate these family businesses with the Maine Family Business Awards. At the IFOB, we currently have one immigrant family-owned business, American Diamond Cleaning Services, who is part of our organization. We’ll hear from Michael Molisho about his journey to Maine and setting up his business. We’ll learn more about how he’s been able to connect with the IFOB and what services may be helpful to him and the immigrant community.

We’ll also highlight The Indus Fund which is a community supported micro loan program for the immigrant community in Maine. Their mission is to significantly expand the available capacity and capability of bank loans to service the needs of small business owners within the immigrant community which represents 45,000 immigrants. We’ll discuss what the immigrants’ challenges and successes have been, and see how we might be able to encourage more of these family businesses to apply for the awards and/or join the IFOB. We welcome as many immigrant family businesses to be our guests at the program and help us understand what we can do to help them in their journey.

Find the event recording here: https://youtu.be/2hvAp2lA900