“Wanted” Central Maine Farmers to weigh in on General Store

The Dexter Regional Development Corporation (DRDC), in coordination with the Town of Dexter, is in the process of developing a year round general store (to be known as the Fossa General Store), located at 4 Main Street, to sell locally grown, locally produced foods and other goods. We are in hopes to also have a small certified kitchen on premise for a variety of uses.

The group recently received a CDBG grant to renovate the Fossa Building which is currently empty, but is owned by DRDC, a 5013C non-profit organization. Once renovated, the building will be ready to open by August of 2010 in hopes to sell Central Maine foods grown & produced within a 25 ± mile radius of the Dexter area.

In the mean time, we are seeking local farmers and goods producers’ opinion in how to develop a consumer friendly general store. We are generating a list of farmers interested in selling their goods and find out what goods are available. We envision that most of our Maine store stock will come from the 25 +/- mile radius.
We are inviting you to the 1st Farmer/Producer meeting on Tuesday, November 17th at 7 pm to have a “farmers input” session. We are looking for what farmers are producing and are they interested in providing products to the retail store. The Farm Project Committee is also looking for input from the consumer and what type of locally grown & produce products are YOU looking for. This is a community effort and we need the community’s input and support.

Currently we are forming a Farmers Advisor Board which will include farmers, DRDC representatives, and a cross section of experts in the various sectors related to this initiative, coming from the Penobscot, Piscataquis & Somerset communities. We expect this Board will oversee the quality of the products, the addition of new products, make suggestions on the general business operations and such. We will be employing staff needed to run & manage the store, inventory and other operations.

There will be many more aspects of the project as time progresses. The year round General Store is just Phase I of the larger project we envision that will include an online ordering system with possible home delivery (if there is enough support), the development of a local creamery, warehousing for storage, a café, and developing a large scale shared greenhouse. The possibilities are endless!
DRDC is currently seeking a USDA Value Added Producers Grant to help cover the operating costs for the first year or two and this is only one of many grants we are looking into and applying for.

We have developed a survey that is available at DexterFarmProject.com that will help develop a working relationship between the providers, the sellers and the consumers. We hope that you take the time to fill it out.

You can also call 924.3067 to ask to have one mailed to you or for a personal visit. Please note that you can remain anonymous, but we would like your name for our records if you are comfortable with that.

The community is invite to the Farm Project “regular monthly meetings” on the 1st Tuesday of every month and are held at the Dexter Town Council Chambers on Main Street in Dexter.

For more information, please contact Farm Project Coordinator Judy Wilbur Craig at 924.3067 or email at judy@DexterFarmProject.com.