You Could Win A Turnkey Restaurant In Dover Foxcroft With Words And $100

Need a change of pace from your 9-to-5 job?

Maybe you're looking to be your own boss for a bit?

How would you like the opportunity to win a newly renovated, successful business with land, a building, and $10,000 in vendor credits to get you started, right in the heart of Piscataquis County?

This is not a scam...but it might just be the opportunity you're looking for to not only change your own life, but also benefit the community of one Maine town.

Maine businessman Jimmi Brown purchased what used to be Pat's Dairyland in July of 2023, after the owner (a friend of his) passed away from Cancer. The building had sat empty since 2021, and Brown thought with some TLC, he could help create a business that would fill the void the closure of the Dairyland had created.

 He renovated the entire building from top to bottom, installing all new industrial-grade restaurant equipment, walk-in freezers, and adding a porch with outside seating to the structure.

"I resided it, brightened it all up, added the porch on it. I made it a lot brighter, big walk-in coolers and freezers out back, and took everything inside of it out and put in all brand new. All new fryers and griddles. Everything. "

Brown opened Riverside Grill in August of 2023 and ran it successfully for two seasons.

"It does about $100,000 a month. It's a 5-month business, and it always has been since 1963.

His plan was to show that it was a viable business, and then ideally hand it off to a buyer who wanted to take it over.

"Restaurant is not my thing. I own 3 other companies. I don't have time for the restaurant. Even when I was open, I didn't have time for it. But I love the restaurant because the food is freaking amazing. And I do miss the clams! But my whole plan when I bought that was to rent it out or lease it out. "

But in this economy, that proved harder to do, Brown says.

"Nobody has any money to lease. My lease was going to be $50,000 down and $3500 a month. If you don't open it in the winter, I'm not even going to charge you in the winter...Nobody had $50,000. Everybody wanted me to finance the $50,000. And nobody wanted to see the building sit there, so I came up with this idea."

So Brown came up with a new plan, one he hopes will attract folks with a good work ethic and great sense of community, who might not necessarily have the capital to start a business of their own.

"I researched it and saw that it had been done before in Maine...so I thought, let's try that."

Brown says the premise of the contest is pretty simple.

"All you have to do is answer the question, write it in an essay form, and submit it with a hundred dollars. We've got Venmo, CashApp, PayPal, and Credit Cards that you can submit with."

The contest is open to anyone in the world who wants a crack at it, not just those here in Maine.

The cost and effort will hopefully help weed out those looking for something free from those who are truly interested in operating a business.

An algorithm will sift through all of the entries and whittle them down to the top 10. Brown says a group of retired teachers from Dover-Foxcroft will read through those top essays (which will be submitted without any identifying information as to who the author might be) and pick the winner.

What will the winner of the essay contest get?

"That thing is turnkey-ready to go. Everything is in there. All it needs is groceries, and I'm also giving them $10,000 in credits for groceries to my vendors so we can keep everything local...The winners get the land, the building, and the $10,000 in credits. It's theirs, turnkey."

You can click here to enter, or stop by the Riverside Grill location at 1016 South Street in Dover-Foxcroft, and scan the QR code on the sign that's posted on the door.

Brown says he hopes the winner will keep the business going.

"I'm hoping somebody opens it up and runs it because the town could sure use another place."