The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Food Access and Retail Expansion (FARE) Fund was established through funding from the American Rescue Plan Act and is designed to support healthy food […]
Faith in Place empowers people of diverse faiths and spiritualities to be leaders in advancing environmental and racial justice, providing resources to educate, connect, and advocate for healthier communities. The […]
Innovation in rural grocery stores is a story of community building. Small-town grocery stores are the heart of their communities, yet many struggle to compete with dollar stores, a shrinking […]
Food co-ops are rooted in social justice movements, but they have experienced the most growth during periods of economic crisis. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a need for […]
“A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise” (Neighboring Food Co-ops) […]
The Great Plains Food Bank serves every county in North Dakota as well as western Minnesota, working with community partners to efficiently secure and direct resources and eradicate hunger in […]
A year ago, we started work on a project for the Kansas-based Sunflower Foundation, in partnership with the Rural Grocery Initiative (RGI) at Kansas State University, to understand the challenges […]
A microblog series on the HubSizer® and MarketSizer® tools from New Venture Advisors. This week we’re digging into how to use the Rural Grocery HubSizer® tool. This tool was designed for […]
A lot has happened since we first explored the idea of a rural grocery store housing a local food hub, almost two years ago! The concept is one we continue […]
We became aware of the plight of rural grocery stores a few years ago. Through USDA funding we have begun to research if and how a rural grocery store can […]
New Venture Advisors supported Whatcom County staff and the Food System Committee in developing the Whatcom County Food System Plan, a 10-year roadmap for a more equitable and resilient food system. NVA led plan development, community engagement, and cross-sector strategy, integrating agriculture, fisheries and marine harvest, processing, distribution, and access to strengthen the regional food economy. (2023)
Whatcom Community Foundation continues to partner with New Venture Advisors to guide the development of the Kitchens@Millworks —a bold project uniting health, equity, and market access. Building on previous work with the Farm to Freezer program, the team developed an operational model, financial analysis, and partner strategy. NVA is evaluating expansion of farm-to-institution efforts and their potential relocation to the new campus. Advanced financial models support a multi-operator facility encompassing production, aggregation, retail, and community programs. (2026)