Youth Entrepreneurial Center in Rural Maine: Empowering Youth and Building Community

Phased Growth, Building With Intention: A Campus Designed to Grow

The Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES) is launching an initiative to create an Entrepreneurial Center on a scenic 6-acre parcel on Whittier Road in Farmington, Maine. This site is a working campus for youth-driven social enterprises, built with intention with a long-term vision for growth.

Rather than pursuing temporary or piecemeal solutions, CES is committing from the outset to a post-and-beam structure. A permanent, flexible foundation designed to expand over time as programs, revenue, and impact grow. Each addition will be earned through progress and success, ensuring the campus evolves responsibly and sustainably.

This is not a one-time build. It is a build-as-we-grow model, grounded in real work and outcomes.

CES currently operates a 3,000 sq. ft. retail store and makerspace on Main Street in Farmington. After years of growth, we have outgrown our space and are transitioning and growing core programming to the Whittier Road parcel to unlock greater capacity, flexibility, and opportunity for youth.

The first phase of construction will be a post-and-beam building that anchors the site and supports:

A makerspace and light manufacturing

Culinary and food-based enterprises

Youth-run retail and pop-up shops

Community gatherings and events

The structure will be intentionally designed for future wings and additions, allowing CES to scale without disruption as programs mature and demand increases.

Pop-Up Enterprises as the Engine

CES will activate the site through youth-run pop-up businesses that operate both inside and around the post-and-beam structure. These pop-ups serve as real-world business incubators and include:

Farmstand and value-added food sales

Maine-made goods and makerspace products

Seasonal markets and community events

Pop-ups allow young people to test ideas, earn income, and build confidence while directly informing how the physical campus grows next.

Infrastructure, Momentum, and Community Ownership

CES has already completed key infrastructure work on the parcel, including water and sewer connections. In Spring and Summer 2024, youth, mentors, and volunteers led land cleanup efforts, built a patio and firepit, and installed six raised garden beds with arbors. These spaces are actively used for gardening, gatherings, and pop-up activities.

In collaboration with youth, the American Legion, local veterans, and community members, CES is constructing a farmstand, reinforcing intergenerational mentorship and shared stewardship of the land.

CES transitioned the property from owner financing to traditional financing with support from the Genesis Fund who invests in strong authentic community projects investors in Maine can get behind.

Special Projects associated with Community Needs

In 2023–24, CES partnered with 28 Maine-based businesses to build a tiny home on wheels for a young adult experiencing homelessness. Featured on Maine Cabin Masters (“Great Things in Small Packages”), the home now sits on the Whittier Road property and provides temporary stable housing for a formerly unhoused young person.

Every phase builds on the last.

Why Youth, Why This Model

Franklin County faces persistent challenges, including low workforce participation, low secondary school completion rates, and high chronic absenteeism. CES addresses these realities by engaging young people through meaningful work, ownership, and purpose long before crisis intervention is needed.

This project is rooted in values, hard work, and opportunity.

The raised garden beds and arbors on site are dedicated to the memory of Joshua Hennessey, a young man lost to addiction. Gardening with his grandfather was one of the places Joshua found peace. His legacy lives on in a space designed for healing, growth, and second chances.

Your support fuels a campus that grows with integrity, expands through earned success, and places young people at the center of economic and community renewal.

By investing in CES Changemakers, you are helping construct a living campus.

For more information, please contact
Bonita Tompkins, CEO
bonitatompkins@cesmaine.org