UNE student Jillian Robillard advances to next round of 'Greenlight Maine'
University of New England student Jillian Robillard (Marine Entrepreneurship, ’20) is one step closer to achieving her business dreams after advancing to the next round of the “Greenlight Maine” Collegiate Challenge in the show’s Jan. 26 episode on NEWS CENTER Maine.
“Greenlight Maine” is a statewide collaboration of entrepreneurial catalysts and corporate leaders, designed to promote and mentor the development and growth of business in the state. The Collegiate Challenge special pits two college students against each other over the course of 13 shows in a chance to win $25,000 to kickstart their businesses.
Robillard is already the owner of Southern Maine Crabs, which buys crabs off boats along the coast of Maine.
Now, she has developed Green Bait, a cost-effective lobster trap bait developed using invasive green crabs. The crabs feed on clam beds and have been linked to the decline of the soft-shell clam industry. Worse, due in part to climate change, populations of the crabs continue to rise in Maine and New England.
But Robillard’s product aims to capitalize on the invasive crustaceans, which crop up as bycatch on commercial lobster boats. By purchasing those unwanted crabs — which fishermen by law cannot return to the ocean — Robillard is able to create a proprietary bait blend she can sell back to those fishermen at a reduced price.
Green Bait has several aims: provide a steadily reliable cheaper bait alternative, preserve the coastal ecosystem, and create and preserve jobs in Maine’s shellfish industry.
“I decided one day to take action on some problems I was seeing and started thinking of ways I could use the invasive green crab species,” Robillard said before her television appearance. “Through the Greenlight Maine Collegiate Challenge, I hope to inspire other people to see how they can take action and help our planet.”
Robillard traveled to Bangor on Jan. 6 to face the judges in the studio at the New England School of Communications at Husson University. There, she outlined her business model and how the grand prize money would help expand her business.
She received unanimous approval from judges Martha Bentley, manager of small business entrepreneurship development at the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development; Skip Bates, director of Main Street Banking at Bangor Savings Bank; and Lynne Darling Melochick, director of community relations at Darling’s Auto Group.
“I love this. You’re talking about natural resources, and this is an invasive species that doesn’t have a use,” said Bates.
“I love that sort of circular economy concept where you’re getting the raw product from the lobstermen and then you’re selling back a value-added product, which is really what we want to do with our natural resources,” Bentley said.
Despite studio lights and stiff competition, Robillard never lost sight of her goals.
“In going in front of the judges, I just had to remind myself that I am doing this because I want change and I see a solution to an otherwise huge issue that affects the lives of many Mainers,” Robillard said after her taping.
A 2018 participant in UNE’s Student Innovation Challenge — an idea-stage competition that encourages innovative and sustainable solutions to social, environmental, and health issues facing society — Robillard said she is grateful for UNE’s support as her business gets off the ground.
“UNE has given me the connections I needed to make my dreams a reality,” Robillard said. “I took a chance doing the Innovation Challenge in 2018, and I am beyond happy to have UNE backing me with my dreams,” she said.
Sunday’s episode, which is available on the "Greenlight Maine" website, also featured a conversation between show host Julene Gervais and U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine. Together, they discussed entrepreneurship and Maine’s economy.
“There’s this sea of talent in Maine called college students. Lots of them have business ideas,” King said. “Ideas and entrepreneurship are at the heart of economic development, and Maine is a great place to do it.”
Robillard is not the only representative of UNE vying for the grand prize.
Two other students, Keith Reilly (Business, ’21), and Raja Muthyam (Medical Biology, ’21) will showcase their business model on “Greenlight Maine” in the coming weeks.
Competing together, Reilly and Muthyam have developed Gait Project X, a smart shoe that collects data on gait dysfunction in real time. Their episode is slated to air on NEWS CENTER Maine on Sunday, Feb. 23, at 10 a.m.
