Bath manufacturer named Maine’s Small Business Persons of the Year
Bath’s Custom Composite Technologies won Maine’s top SBA small-business honor, spotlighting 25 years of steady Midcoast manufacturing and about 10 local jobs.
A Bath manufacturer with deep roots in the Midcoast was named Maine’s Small Business Persons of the Year, putting Custom Composite Technologies and the Hassett family in the statewide spotlight as National Small Business Week approaches. The honor went to Maureen, Steve and Nate Hassett, and for Bath it signaled something bigger than a trophy: a locally owned shop that has held on for 25 years, built its own facility in 2003 and kept hiring in a sector where steady work is hard to sustain.
Custom Composite Technologies has grown by taking on specialized composite projects for customers in renewable energy, transportation, robotics and drones. That mix matters in Sagadahoc County because it shows Bath’s manufacturing base is not limited to the waterfront industries most people associate with the city. The company now employs about 10 people from around the Midcoast, a small payroll by big-company standards but an important one for a regional labor market that depends on experienced trades, recurring contracts and firms that can turn technical work into year-round jobs.
The company’s rise also reflected years of support from the Small Business Administration, including loans and business counseling that helped the owners expand as demand changed. That backing helped the Hassetts move from survival in the early startup years to steady growth as they adapted to new industries and kept local workers on board. In a county where economic headlines often center on shipbuilding, tourism or municipal budgets, the award offered a different message: smaller manufacturers can still anchor investment, training and business confidence in Bath.
The Hassetts were scheduled to accept the award in Washington, D.C., on May 3 and 4 alongside winners from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam. For Bath, the recognition arrived as a reminder that the city’s industrial identity is still being shaped not just by history along the waterfront, but by family-owned firms building specialized work for customers far beyond the Kennebec.
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