{"id":1938,"date":"2022-11-08T13:50:26","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T18:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/innovation\/?page_id=1938"},"modified":"2025-10-17T16:30:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:30:46","slug":"black-bear-consulting-corps","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/innovation\/black-bear-consulting-corps\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Bear Consulting Corps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">We\u2019re excited to announce that we&#8217;ll be hosting our <strong><em>seventh<\/em>\u00a0cohort<\/strong> of <strong>Black Bear Consulting Corps<\/strong> during the winter\/spring of 2026! This program provides support to Maine companies that are bringing new innovations to market, and it gives students much-needed professional experience to build their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s. BBCC pairs each company with a small team of vetted college students who can assist with key business projects for five weeks <strong>during the academic year<\/strong>. The Corps is designed for rapid response on short-term project opportunities. Students are assigned to project teams based on how well their skills and experience align with project needs.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The Black Bear Consulting Corps is funded through the support of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development and is intended to support the long-term growth of the many Maine startups and small businesses. <strong>Services are offered at no cost or a low cost to the company.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Example Projects:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"JsGRdQ\">Market Research<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"JsGRdQ\">Competitive &amp; Data Analysis<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"JsGRdQ\">Web Design &amp; Improvements<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"JsGRdQ\">Copywriting<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"JsGRdQ\">Graphic Design &amp; Marketing<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Coding (300 hr projects)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>(This is not a comprehensive list &#8211; if your company has different needs, please reach out to us!)<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>For Companies:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h4>Do you have a long list of important projects that you don\u2019t have time to complete or that are outside your team\u2019s skillset?<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Requirements for Winter\/Spring 2026 (subject to change):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>For-profit<\/strong><\/em> Maine company with a meaningful project\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Companies with &lt;50 employees qualify to work with us <em>at no cost.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>Companies with &gt;50 employees qualify to work with us at <em>half the cost ($1500)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">150-hour project to be completed during Spring\/Winter of 2026<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Projects must be clearly defined and allow students to start working without deep industry\/company knowledge (ex: market research, web projects, copywriting, data analytics)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>Availability to meet with the student team at least once a week via Zoom during the project<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>How Will It Work?<\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Complete project form<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Company\/project vetted by program<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Program determines student availability and timing<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Project added to queue for completion (projects begin in late January &amp; early\/mid-March)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Engage with student team for 5 weeks while they work on the project (unless computer science)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h4><strong>We will have a rolling application deadline, but if you\u2019re interested in applying to have a project started during Winter\/Spring 2026, please complete the application linked below by November 16, 2026<em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/umaine-innovation.startuptree.co\/event\/s\/YSRy7Qz9vUGg68rWtVXnBU\/Black-Bear-Consulting-Corps---Company\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>APPLY<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>For Students:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h4>Are you looking for a paid position to gain real-world experience with Maine companies and build your resum\u00e9 during the school year?<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>\u00a0General Details &amp; Requirements\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paid $18.50\/hr by 91¸£Àû<\/li>\n<li>Attend a two-day training session before classes begin (unless you&#8217;ve already participated in BBCC or Innovate for Maine<\/li>\n<li>Work the first week of classes through the week before final exams<\/li>\n<li>Able to work an average of 10 hours\/week for 10 weeks at least partially during business hours (8:30AM &#8211; 5PM on weekdays)<\/li>\n<li>Currently matriculated in a degree program at 91¸£Àû (unless a former Innovate for Maine Fellow)<\/li>\n<li>Willing to work in a group with 1-2 other students<\/li>\n<li>Located in the United States (exceptions may be made for students studying abroad in certain countries)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>How Will It Work?<\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Complete program form<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>Interview with our team (unless a former Innovate for Maine Fellow)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Program determines if there are projects that fit your skillset<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Select companies\/projects that you would prefer to work with<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>Attend our two-day BBCC training session (unless a former Innovate for Maine Fellow)<\/li>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Assigned a team of 1-2 other students to work on projects<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Engage with first company and your team for 5 weeks while you work on the project<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Work with second company for 5 weeks once first project is complete<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h4><strong><em>Unfortunately we are not accepting new students for Winter\/Spring 2026<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h4>If you have any questions, please reach out to Emma Wilson at <a href=\"mailto:emma.wilson@maine.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">emma.wilson@maine.edu<\/a>.<\/h4>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><em>Subsidies are available with the support of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019re excited to announce that we&#8217;ll be hosting our seventh\u00a0cohort of Black Bear Consulting Corps during the winter\/spring of 2026! This program provides support to Maine companies that are bringing new innovations to market, and it gives students much-needed professional experience to build their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s. BBCC pairs each company with a small team of vetted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1653,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Black Bear Consulting Corps supports Maine companies that are bringing new innovations to market and that faced challenges and delays due to the pandemic.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1938","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"ewilson","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/innovation\/author\/ewilson\/"},"comment_info":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1938"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2457,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1938\/revisions\/2457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/innovation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}