House of Languages, Maine's Minority Owned Small Business of the Year 2022
The classic story of coming to America: get an education, work hard, build a future and maybe start a business. Dolgormaa Hersom followed this track, while staying committed to supporting future arrivals to the country and expanding opportunities for others. She first came to the United States from Mongolia in 1996 when she attended the University of Maine at Farmington, obtaining a degree in Political Science. After graduating, Dolgormaa started working at Catholic Charities and the Greater Portland United Way, managing interpreter services and helping them formalize interpreter training programs.
After working to improve interpretation services in Maine for 14 years, Dolgormaa decided to start her own business. To aid her as she started the process of becoming a business owner, she reached out to CEI and the StartSmart program prior to starting House of Languages. With the guidance of CEI’s business advisers, Dolgormaa began providing translation and interpretation services across Southern Maine and has hired over 70 people to ensure these services are received by those who need them.
As House of Languages has expanded in both revenue and in number of employees over the years, its profile has raised in the industry. This growth in profile is due in part to the high quality services provided to hospitals and healthcare providers, social services agencies, and various State of Maine agencies. The higher notoriety of the business is also because of its role in the community. Dolgormaa has worked with the Maine Judicial System to improve the court interpreter system, and one of her employees has taught a class at Portland High School on Interpreting as a Career that won a school outreach award from American Translators Association.
With a more diverse population in Maine coming from countries across the world, the need for new residents to navigate local programs and laws is only increasing. Luckily, we have people like Dolgormaa and her employees to ensure that when these new Mainers need help, they can effectively communicate and integrate into our communities. Without the dedication and passion of Dolgormaa, our state would certainly not be as well positioned to welcome our new neighbors from around the world, and that is why we are honored to award House of Languages the 2022 Minority Owned Small Business of the Year Award for Maine.