WARREN, RI –Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed celebrated the one-year anniversary of Hope & Main, the state’s first culinary business incubator, and announced a new $85,010 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support the non-profit’s continued efforts to grow culinary businesses in Rhode Island.  Hope & Main will use the USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program grant to support their "Schoolyard Market" initiative through community education and outreach, and for staffing and infrastructure improvements for the Schoolyard Market.

Senator Reed helped secure this federal grant, which will help expand the market’s reach while promoting Hope & Main’s mission of helping local food producers grow their marketplace, increase sales, and ultimately create more jobs in Rhode Island.  The initiative also has a public education component designed to promote healthy eating and meet the growing consumer demand for fresh, local food. 

“It is great to see progress sprouting here at Hope & Main and hopefully this grant will build upon the success of the Schoolyard Market and expand its reach.  This place brings people together and helps them connect over great, fresh, local food.  Hope & Main is a wonderful community resource for food entrepreneurs of all sizes and a place where they can collaborate, try new recipes, and grow their businesses.  I will continue working at the federal level to support Rhode Island’s food economy and help local businesses thrive,” said Senator Reed, who supported Hope & Main’s funding application for this USDA grant.

Last year, Reed held a workshop where he brought USDA officials to Rhode Island to connect them with local growers and food enterprises and help them successfully compete for federal grants.

A senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Reed helped make $13.3 million available this year in Farmers Market Promotion Program grants this year, which USDA is using to fund Hope & Main’s Schoolyard Market Initiative and 163 other projects nationwide that promote direct-to-consumer options for local food.

As Hope & Main celebrates its first birthday, the historic structure that it is housed in turns 100.  Built in 1915, the 18,000 square foot elementary school was rehabilitated by its new owner, Hope & Main.  With the help of a $2.9 million USDA loan, the classrooms were preserved, blackboards were restored, and even the maple floors were polished to reveal the places where wooden desks were once bolted to the floor.  The entire first floor remains a community space devoted to public education about cooking, nutrition, and the need to recapture and sustain the local food system.  After one year in business, the non-profit food business incubator says it has helped to launch more than 50 food businesses.

Hope & Main is a non-profit that helps jump-start early stage food businesses and helps food-based entrepreneurs produce and sell their products by providing low cost, low risk access to shared use commercial kitchen space and other industry specific technical resources.  As the state’s first food business incubator, Hope & Main gives food startups the chance to grow in their first two to three years without the cost of equipping their own commercial facilities.  Members benefit from extensive mentoring, access to fully equipped and affordable workspace, and immersion in an entrepreneurial environment where they can collaborate with industry experts and peers.  Hope & Main’s aim is to create a community of support for food entrepreneurs and to serve as a springboard for the launch and growth of new culinary enterprises.

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