Lisbon and local Masonic lodge partner on a lodge for entrepreneurs
Courtesy / Town of Lisbon
The Masonic lodge at 703 Lisbon St. in Lisbon Falls is the site of a planned business incubator and co-working space.
Lisbon-area startups and entrepreneurs could soon lodge in a lodge, and find other resources in the historic space to support business growth.
The town and the local Masonic lodge last week signed an agreement to develop a 2,300-square-foot entrepreneurship hub, co-working space and business incubator in the fraternal organization's headquarters, at 703 Lisbon St. in Lisbon Falls.
Dubbed the Moxie Hub, the incubator would house a variety of businesses on the 142-year-old building's first floor. They potentially include co-working office space, a retail area for pop-up markets and short-term kiosk rentals, a maker-space and a commercial kitchen to support a café and food vendors, according to a news release.
The Ancient York Lodge 155 will defer rent for up to three years under the agreement. Other terms were not disclosed.
Brett Richardson, the town's economic and community development director, said the lodge was a natural fit for the hub. The Masons, he noted, only use the building for monthly meetings and occasional gatherings and were looking for a way to partner with the community.
“The Ancient York Lodge is proud to partner with the town, local entrepreneurs and our generous funders to develop this community asset,” Mason John Wierzbicki said in the release. “The Lodge has historically been a community gathering place, and the Moxie Hub concept will continue in that tradition.”
Lisbon Town Manager Diane Barnes said, “It takes real moxie and tenacity to bring a business from concept to reality. The Moxie Hub represents a terrific partnership to create this new home for local innovators and product developers.”
The hub is part of Lisbon’s Community Entrepreneurship Program, which provides support to community networks fostering entrepreneurship and innovation. The program is funded by the Maine Community Foundation in partnership with the Maine Development Foundation’s Maine Downtown Center and Main Street America.
Along with Skowhegan and Monson, Lisbon was selected last year through a competitive application process as a pilot community for the national program.
The Maine Community Foundation provided $60,000 in funding, plus technical planning assistance throuh Maine Downtown Center and Main Street America. The town finished the initiative’s planning phase last winter and the hub is the first step of its development phase.
The next priority will be to determine what improvements need to be done to the building, which was built in 1879 as a hotel, Richardson said.
The Moxie Hub will host its first event this fall — a free digital advertising boot camp for entrepreneurs in the Lisbon region, in partnership with Dream Local Digital of Rockland. Richardson said the hub may begin hosting pop-up markets and other events later in the fall, with plans to add the co-working space and commercial kitchen over the winter.
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