[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 30, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S5127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNIZING EDIE JOHNSTON AND ELDERTIDE LLC

 Mr. KING. Mr. President, I wish to commend Edie Johnston and 
her company, Eldertide LLC, for being named a 2014 Small Business 
Administration Tibbetts Award recipient. Located in Dresden, ME, 
Eldertide harvests and produces elderberries for medicinal purposes. 
Along with Eldertides sister company, Maine Medicinals, the business 
creates various herbal supplements with the elderberry product. Fueled 
by the belief that natural, native elderberries are nutritionally 
valuable, Eldertide has successfully marketed and sold their Maine-made 
supplements nationwide and around the world.
  With just two employees and 6 years of business experience, the 
company is expanding vastly. Their antioxidant-rich elderberry juice 
concentrate is now being distributed nationally and internationally. 
Maine Medicinals, which serves as the retail branch of the company, 
recently reached an agreement with Whole Foods to sell their 
supplements.
  Eldertide and Maine Medicinals not only represent a successful 
entrepreneurial spirit, but they also strive to impact Maine, the 
United States, and the world with an emphasis on innovation and 
education. The company has contributed to two university research 
initiatives through the University of Southern Maine and the University 
of Maine-Orono and has also engaged Kennebec Valley Community College 
students in valuable research to examine the health effects of 
phytochemicals from whole foods such as elderberries. Specifically, 
this research has examined the impact of elderberry juice on chronic 
diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
  In addition, Mrs. Johnston founded the Elderberry School, an 
institution where family farmers interested in the science and business 
of herbal supplements can learn the process that has propelled 
Eldertide to where it is today. Some recent graduates have even gone on 
to own small businesses dedicated to the same core principles that 
Eldertide espouses.
  We have many great small businesses in Maine, and 2014 Tibbetts Award 
recipient Mrs. Edie Johnston and Eldertide LLC is certainly one of 
them. Eldertide and its sister company Maine Medicinals represent the 
innovative, entrepreneurial spirit that defines the State of Maine. I 
am proud to join in recognizing their creativity and dedication to 
larger social and economic goals, and I expect they will continue to 
impress us--both in Maine and around the world with their superb 
nutraceuticals.

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