Help Bring Our Farm to Downtown Tuskegee!

Support the Made in Tuskegee Downtown Marketplace — A Future Home for Tuskegee Honey's Farm Stand, Commercial Kitchen, and Local Producers.

In the heart of historic downtown Tuskegee, Alabama, a long-vacant building holds the potential for a new beginning.

The Made in Tuskegee Downtown Marketplace is an initiative to transform this property into a year-round farm stand, retail destination, and food-processing hub, beginning with Tuskegee Honey and growing to create opportunities for other local farmers, artisans, makers, and small businesses.

Our vision is to bring the products we grow and produce on our farm into the heart of downtown Tuskegee, creating a welcoming place where residents and visitors can purchase locally grown and made goods throughout the year.

This project is about more than restoring a building. It's about strengthening local agriculture, creating opportunities for entrepreneurship, encouraging investment, preserving a piece of Tuskegee's history, and helping bring economic activity back to our downtown community.

From Our Farm to Downtown Tuskegee

Tuskegee Honey is a small, locally owned farm specializing in raw honey, specialty crops, native plants, pollinator habitat restoration, and agricultural education.

Through our farm tours, workshops, U-Pick experiences, and online sales, we have developed relationships with customers who value locally grown products and sustainable farming practices.

However, operating primarily from our farm presents limitations. Our sales are often seasonal, and our ability to reach customers depends on scheduled farm visits, pickup opportunities, and online orders.

Establishing a permanent downtown farm stand would give Tuskegee Honey a more accessible retail location and create new opportunities to sell our products throughout the year.

We envision offering our locally harvested honey, seeds, plants, specialty farm products, and other locally produced goods as they become available.

Over time, we hope to welcome other farmers, growers, artisans, and small producers who would benefit from additional opportunities to reach customers.

A Commercial Kitchen to Expand Farm-to-Market Opportunities

Another important part of our vision is to establish a properly equipped, licensed commercial kitchen and food-processing facility within the downtown building.

Our farm grows specialty crops such as hibiscus roselle, butterfly pea flowers, and other botanicals that have potential for dried, packaged, and value-added products.

Currently, the absence of an approved commercial processing facility limits our ability to expand production and distribution of certain products.

A compliant commercial kitchen would allow us to pursue the necessary food safety approvals to process, dry, package, and market eligible products for retail and online sales.

Our long-term goal is to develop a line of farm-grown, value-added products that can be shipped to customers throughout the United States, in accordance with applicable food safety and interstate commerce requirements.

This facility could help us:

Extend our sales beyond the traditional growing season.
Reduce postharvest losses by processing and preserving suitable crops.
Create additional revenue from specialty farm products.
Expand online sales and reach customers nationwide.
Explore future opportunities for other local growers to access approved processing resources.

By connecting growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, and retail sales, we hope to create a more sustainable business model for Tuskegee Honey while demonstrating what is possible for other small agricultural producers.

Growing Into a Downtown Marketplace

While Tuskegee Honey's farm stand and processing facility would be an important starting point, the broader Made in Tuskegee vision includes creating opportunities for additional local businesses.

As the property is developed, we hope to establish small retail spaces and an open-air courtyard where local farmers, artisans, makers, and entrepreneurs can eventually showcase and sell their products.

We envision a destination that celebrates what is grown and made in Tuskegee and the surrounding region while encouraging residents and visitors to shop locally.

Development will occur in phases as funding, renovations, and business opportunities allow.

Our Vision for a Commercial Processing Kitchen

Conceptual AI-generated illustration of the commercial kitchen we hope to establish as part of the Made in Tuskegee Downtown Marketplace. The proposed facility would support processing, drying, packaging, and value-added production of eligible farm-grown products. Final design, equipment, and operations will depend on funding and regulatory approvals.

We've Already Made Progress

This is not simply an idea waiting to happen. Significant planning and development work has already been completed.

Architectural concepts and site plans have been developed.
Preliminary city approvals and planning work have been completed.
Interest from prospective vendors and small businesses has been identified.
A vision for small retail spaces and an open-air courtyard has been established.
Tuskegee Honey is already operating as an agricultural business with established products, customers, and educational activities.

Now we need the financial support to move from planning to construction.

Our Fundraising Goal: $250,000

The Made in Tuskegee Downtown Marketplace is an ambitious redevelopment project with an estimated cost of $250,000. We plan to approach the restoration and development of the property in phases as funding becomes available.

Our First Milestone: $50,000 for Roof Repairs and Building Stabilization

Our immediate priority is to raise $50,000 toward essential roof repairs and building stabilization. This critical first step will help protect the property and prepare it for future renovations.

As additional funding becomes available, we will work toward establishing Tuskegee Honey's permanent downtown farm stand, developing a commercial processing kitchen, and creating opportunities for other local farmers, artisans, and small businesses.

Every contribution helps us move forward, whether toward our first $50,000 milestone or the larger $250,000 redevelopment goal.

Why Your Support Matters

Across the country, communities are rediscovering the value of their historic downtowns. Vacant buildings can become places of opportunity again when people come together with a shared vision.

We believe downtown Tuskegee deserves that opportunity.

For Tuskegee Honey, this project represents an opportunity to grow beyond the limitations of a seasonal farm-based retail operation, develop new agricultural products, and create a more sustainable future for our small business.

For the community, it offers the potential to bring new activity to a vacant downtown property, strengthen connections between local agriculture and consumers, and eventually provide additional selling opportunities for other farmers and entrepreneurs.

Whether you have lifelong ties to Tuskegee, attended Tuskegee University, once called this community home, or simply believe in supporting small farms, local businesses, and historic downtown revitalization, we invite you to be part of this effort.

Your contribution, large or small, will help us move closer to restoring the building and bringing the Made in Tuskegee Downtown Marketplace to life.

You can also help by sharing this campaign with friends, family, alumni networks, businesses, and organizations that believe in local agriculture and community revitalization.

Help us bring the farm to downtown Tuskegee—and create a place where local agriculture, entrepreneurship, and community can grow together.

Our Commitment to Transparency

The Made in Tuskegee Downtown Marketplace is a privately led redevelopment initiative organized by Tuskegee Honey LLC. Our immediate goal is to raise $50,000 toward roof repairs and stabilization of the downtown property. These improvements represent the first phase of a larger project to establish a permanent farm stand, pursue a compliant commercial processing kitchen, and eventually create opportunities for other local producers.

We recognize that supporters deserve to know how their contributions are being used. As the project progresses, we intend to share updates about fundraising milestones, planning, construction, and expenditures.

The project will be developed in phases as funding becomes available. Contributions to this campaign are not tax-deductible charitable donations, and contributions do not confer ownership or a financial interest in the business.

We welcome questions about the project and appreciate the confidence of everyone who chooses to support our vision.

For more information about the broader project, visit MadeInTuskegee.com

Made in Tuskegee is a privately led redevelopment initiative by a Tuskegee alumna. Contributions are not tax-deductible charitable donations. Funds raised will support the development and restoration of the marketplace, beginning with roof repairs and building stabilization.

Tuskegee Honey Farmstand Downtown Marketplace

Help transform a historic downtown Tuskegee building into a permanent home for Tuskegee Honey's farm stand, with future opportunities for local farmers, makers, and small businesses.