“The member mix in a town this size often surprises people: SaaS, private equity, technical apparel design, engineering, graphic design, government contracting, just to name a few,” says the owner of the Study.
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Last fall in the Franklin County town of Kingfield, population 1,000, Sarah Caruthers opened a co-working space called the Study at 256 Main St.
Working there remotely herself, as a customer-success leader at a “software as a service,” or SaaS, company, she found the space attracts other remote workers as well as visitors, younger residents, couples and groups in need of short- or long-term space who want to be in a rural area but need professional infrastructure and/or a sense of workplace connection.
“The member mix in a town this size often surprises people: SaaS, private equity, technical apparel design, engineering, graphic design, government contracting, just to name a few,” Caruthers said.
Mainebiz: Why did you open the Study?
Sarah Caruthers: My family moved to Maine three years ago from New Hampshire. I was hesitant to move to such a remote area with young kids. For myself, I work remotely for a big tech company, so I was concerned it would be isolating, since I’d be working from home.
The first year, I found it really hard to work remotely. There were internet issues and it was isolating. My friend Whitney Rhodes opened a coffee shop, Marmee Dearest Espresso, in Kingfield. The space next to her was empty. It seemed like there was interest in coworking. I just went for it. It’s almost a laundromat for professionalism — 24/7 access, professional equipment, access to a community of like minds. It started in September 2025 and it’s been growing ever since.
MB: What are the trends?
SC: It started with one individual full-time who rented a private office. Today we have 11 summertime members and we still have the full-time member. All together, there are 13 of us. And every week we have one or two new day visitors who are in town for vacation or are visiting family and need a place to work for a couple of hours.
MB: What’s the layout?
SC: It’s about 1,500 square feet with semi-private offices, four standard cubicles, four workstations with adjustable desks, two community tables and a little lounge area. All of the desks have screens so people can connect their laptops. I keep on hand extra chargers, keyboards, [mice] and headphones. We have a sound pod for Zoom meetings.
MB: How did you finance the Study?
SC: A lot of it was personal investment; my dad helped me a bit. In the beginning, it was bare-bones. My biggest investment was adding electricity on the backside, where there were no outlets but where the majority of the workstations are now. We added soundproofing. Each month, it’s been, “What can we add next?” It has a black-and-white printer and we’ll add a color printer in the near future.
MB: Who’s signing up?
SC: A lot of our new members have moved to the area in the last year or two. There are people in their late 30s, early 40s, some 20-year-olds. It’s a nice area for them to meet other people. We have private equity, manufacturing, someone working remotely for a company helping to build AI data centers; someone for a high-end stone company, construction project management.
MB: How do they find you?
SC: I use social media a lot to spread the word. The coffee shop helps with visibility: people come in for coffee looking for a place to work.
MB: To what do you credit the Study’s success?
SC: People are able to say, “I can spend more time up here now, because I can work remotely from the Study.” I hope people see that co-working isn’t just something for your day-to-day, but helps you enjoy your time here.
