Small Manufacturing Remakes Skowhegan
Rural downtowns are home to a variety of businesses and institutions, but often have a history of manufacturing. Some communities are deliberately creating spaces for small-scale manufacturing operations to return.
Maine Grains
In Skowhegan, Maine (population 8,589), a decommissioned jailhouse has found a second life as a gristmill, and was the spark for the community’s revitalization. Hoping to revive the area’s grain legacy, Amber Lambke and her partner Michael Scholz combined their own money with several gifts and grants to cover the start-up costs for Maine Grains. For the wider Skowhegan community, Maine Grains is a new employer and an “engine of transformation helping remake the town as the hub of a statewide grain renaissance.” The New York Times called Maine Grains “The return of true agricultural localism. The local mill is the missing link in a local food economy that sees regional trade between farmers, bakeries, beer breweries and raisers of livestock.” Maine Grains Grist Mill also houses a radio station, yarn shop, a full sit-down restaurant, and a creamery, while the Skowhegan farmers market operates in the parking lot. Maine Grains has spurred other businesses, including The Miller’s Table, a café at Maine Grains. Amber’s sister has also launched a new pizza dough company (The Good Crust) at the grist mill.
Amber’s enterprise is inspiring further downtown revitalization. Lambke’s ultimate goal is to see a corresponding community comeback. “This has not only revitalized this particular space”, she says. “This project has catalyzed a lot of relationships and cooperation that I think is at the heart of what many communities need to restore right now. It’s a point of pride.”
Amber is leading a new real estate company, Land & Furrow LLC, which has purchased the former Kennebec Valley Inn property in downtown Skowhegan from the Somerset Economic Development Corp, which will house a variety of enterprises - housing, entrepreneurs looking to grow their business, and a home for the farmers market during the winter months. Funding from the Cummings Fund has been instrumental in exploring the feasibility of a future building in the adjacent lot to fill the needs of Skowhegan food businesses. A hybrid model is being explored, allowing occupants to come into the new building having an equity stake in the project with an upfront cost to get into the building and potentially paying monthly dues. When they choose to leave, they can sell their equity space. Housing and childcare are critical needs in the area and will be part of the new construction, in order to attract new workers to town.