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Jim's love affair with good food began at the age of 15 when he was hired as the doughnut dipper at Sally Ann's Bakery in Concord, Massachusetts. "In fact, baking is how I put myself through college," he said. With the help of his wife, Dolores, Jim Amaral started his bakery in the basement of the tiny Pine Cone Restaurant in downtown Waldoboro, Maine. Ten years later, Borealis Breads expanded to four stores and 50 employees.
Jim believes in being a good neighbor. He works with local farmers to use their products at his bakeries and mentors students in entrepreneurship skills at Fort Fairfield high school - where the students have started their own bakery business. He also believes in being a good employer, and works hard to provide health insurance to his employees. But the rising cost of health insurance premiums HAS made that increasingly difficult.
"I'd like to be able to cover the cost of health insurance for my employees and their children – but costs just keep going up and up," he said. "I still provide a health insurance package to my employees, but every dollar I put into that is one dollar that I can't put into salaries and bonuses. There has to be a better way."
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