BIDDEFORD — Time and Tide coffee is the newest business on Main Street in Biddeford and the locally owned coffee shop, across the street from the Pepperell Mill campus, focuses on sourcing specialized coffee blends and making its customers feel comfortable and relaxed.

Since the shop’s opening on Nov. 18, Time and Tide co-owners Briana Campbell and Jon Phillips have kept their shared goal of a comfortable, easily accessible coffee shop.

“Our main goal would be to have better coffee for everyone,” said Campbell. “(We have) the highest coffee sourced, but made available to all our customers.”

The dream of opening a coffee shop has been one they’ve shared for a few years, but once they discovered the intrigue of the ever-changing Biddeford, it was time to make that dream come true.

“We came to Saco to visit family in 2017,” said Campbell. “We were walking around Biddeford, and we saw a lot of interesting things, and some empty storefronts.”

With help from the Heart of Biddeford and the Small Business Administration, the business has been able to prosper.

“(We saw Biddeford) as a place to be a part of a community,” said Campbell. “We were so pleased with how easy everything was to move forward (with the business).”

Currently, Time and Tide works with a partner roaster, Dallis Brothers Coffee, for their unique blends. Soon however, Campbell said, they hope to be able to roast their own blends themselves.

“We are really hoping to be a wholesale business,” Campbell said.

Overall, Time and Tide is a place that strives for a community appeal and customer’s well-being.

“We never want our customers to feel overwhelmed when ordering,” said Campbell. “We are hoping to make this a place for good conversation and good coffee.”

On Dec. 20, Amy Bassett, the U.S. Small Business Administration Maine District Director, joined Time and Tide Coffee’s owners Campbell and Phillips, as well as representatives of Maine’s Senate delegation, the Maine Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Bangor Savings Bank, the Biddeford Saco Chamber of Commerce and the City of Biddeford for a grand opening and ribbon cutting for their business.

The business used the business counseling services of Maine SBDC and obtained an SBA-backed loan through Bangor Savings in order to start operation.

“Businesses like Time and Tide Coffee provide great draws to their local downtowns,” said Amy Bassett, SBA’s Maine District director. “We wish Briana and Jon much success and we are pleased that SBA programs and services were utilized to help them start and those programs will be there for them as they grow in the future.”

Campbell and Phillips say that they’re grateful for the help in launching their new business.

“The resources made available to us through the SBA and their partner programs were integral to us getting our business off the ground,” they said. “We’re very happy to be building our business in such a supportive community.”

The Maine SBDC provides mentoring to business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs through their network of certified business sounselors, located in offices across the state. In 2017, the SBDC assisted a total of more than 1,400 clients, helped 98 businesses start, assisted their clients in obtaining over $44 million in financing for their businesses, and helped their clients create or retain over 650 jobs in Maine.

The SBA works with lenders to provide loans to small businesses. The agency doesn’t lend money directly to small business owners. Instead, it sets guidelines for loans made by its partnering lenders, community development organizations, and micro-lending institutions. Through these partnerships, the SBA was able to help business owners in Maine access over $120 million for their businesses in fiscal year 2018, including Campbell and Phillips’ new coffee shop.

Time and Tide Coffee can be found at 35 Main St. in Biddeford. Hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.