Food Business Incubators
The rapid rise in demand for specialty products and services such as jams, salsas, high end coffees, healthy meals, and food trucks, is encouraging many new, hopeful food entrepreneurs to enter the market every year. With this emergence of small food entrepreneurs, many are wondering whether their community needs a food business incubator, and how this incubator might benefit the overall food culture of their region.
There are almost two hundred food business incubators nationwide and they take many forms. Some have a shared-use kitchen that food entrepreneurs and/or farmers can rent to produce and store their products. Others offer contract manufacturing services. Some are focused on produce only, while others allow tenants to process meat, cheese and other goods. Some provide mentorship and training while others provide business services such as sales and distribution support. Some are designed to support economic revitalization while others are designed solely to support agricultural producers. Some are tiny, serving a handful of entrepreneurs while others are large scale and bring together a large network of entrepreneurs.
New Venture Advisors helps clients determine how to best structure a food business incubator to meet their specific goals as well as the needs of their region’s food entrepreneurs and farmers.
About Us
New Venture Advisors is a team of business consultants specializing in local food system planning and new enterprise development.
Food Business Incubator Projects
Small Business Incubator Feasibility Study
East Providence, RI
In East Providence, city leaders wanted to explore how to transform the former Oldham Elementary School into a vibrant multi-use incubator. New Venture Advisors conducted a feasibility study to design a space that fosters entrepreneurship across the blue economy, small business, and the arts. The project integrated community needs, workforce opportunities, and housing access into its planning. NVA also partnered with the City to identify development partners and host listening sessions to guide an inclusive and locally grounded vision. (2025) Download report and business plan.
Mountain Roots Community Kitchen Evaluation & Design
Gunnison, CO
In Colorado’s Gunnison Valley, Mountain Roots Food Project is developing a new facility that brings education, entrepreneurship, and local food access under one roof. New Venture Advisors worked with the organization to refocus its vision and plan a community kitchen and food hub aligned with its mission. The proposed facility includes a teaching kitchen, aggregation and distribution space, and small-batch production areas. The team cataloged existing assets and capacities to ensure the design and programs support Mountain Roots’ long-term goals. (2025)
Community Kitchen Feasibility Study
Junction City, KS
Junction City Main Street and the Live Well Geary County Food Policy Council reached out to New Venture Advisors to conduct a feasibility study for a shared-use commercial kitchen designed to strengthen local food access and entrepreneurship. This study supported more than 80 small food businesses, 15 farmers, and a community meals program guided by the 2024 local food system plan. The team developed detailed financial models across four potential downtown sites to evaluate operational viability. NVA also crafted a funding strategy that aligned with the goal of renovating a historic property while ensuring long-term sustainability. (2025)
The Food Mill Food Infrastructure and Ag Corridor
Columbus, GA
In Columbus, Georgia, The Food Mill and its partners are transforming a corridor into a vibrant ecosystem for food access and entrepreneurship. New Venture Advisors helped design the model for this next phase, building on earlier facility expansion work. The project features shared kitchens, gardens, food trucks, and retail spaces supported by a Healthy Food Financing Initiative grant. The team also conducted capacity assessments to align partner strengths and expand opportunities across neighborhoods. (2024)
Food System Planning for the Waukegan Food Ecosphere
Waukegan, IL
Adelante Center for Entrepreneurship operates multiple social enterprises creating wealth, living wage jobs, and food security in distressed communities. New Venture Advisors provided comprehensive business planning, financial modeling, and strategic coaching that shaped Adelante’s integrated food ecosystem, helping develop strategies for the organization’s Garfield Produce Company (hydroponic microgreens operation), Post Marketplace Cafe, Post Pantry food delivery program, and plans for a flexible commercial kitchen supporting both catering operations and community programming. (2025)
Philabundance Community Food Strategies for Hartranft and PCK Entrepreneurial Program
Philadelphia, PA
In North Philadelphia’s Hartranft neighborhood, community-driven change is at the heart of Philabundance’s Neighborhood Thrive Initiatives. New Venture Advisors supported engagement efforts to identify strategies that increase food access and strengthen equity. The team coached local partners to lead inclusive outreach grounded in community ownership and trust. Building on resident feedback, NVA also created an entrepreneurial curriculum for the Philabundance Community Kitchen to help residents explore food business opportunities and workforce development. (2024)
Business Impact NW
Seattle, WA
New Venture Advisors evaluated the feasibility of a shared kitchen and food business incubation program for Business Impact NW (BIN) in Woodinville, Washington. During BIN’s 90-day due diligence period, NVA conducted a rapid assessment of operational, facility, and financial viability, advised on lease negotiations, and explored sustainable sourcing and electric kitchen strategies within a planned LEED-certified facility. (2022)
CLiCK Expansion Feasibility Study
Windham, CT
Serving as a vital hub for food entrepreneurs in Windham, Connecticut, CLiCK, Inc. provides affordable kitchen access and education for lower-income and minority business owners. With demand steadily increasing, New Venture Advisors conducted a feasibility study and developed a multi-phase expansion plan to help CLiCK grow sustainably while meeting members’ evolving needs. The team analyzed facility use and programming to guide strategic development and ensure alignment with user priorities. NVA also facilitated board discussions to design a phased approach to construction, programming, and operations—balancing growth with available resources and long-term community impact. (2022)
Oneida Community Cannery
Oneida, WI
Through a multi-year collaboration with the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, New Venture Advisors helped bring the Oneida Community Cannery through concept development —a commercial and community-use food production center designed to preserve traditional foodways and foster local entrepreneurship. Beginning with a feasibility study in 2018 and culminating in a detailed business plan in 2022, NVA guided the Nation through each stage of development. The process emphasized culturally responsive engagement rooted in storytelling, intergenerational dialogue, and local leadership. NVA also crafted an operating model that translated traditional recipes into scalable production systems, blending heritage and innovation in food systems planning. (2022)
Can-Do Kitchen Strategic Plan
Kalamazoo, MI
To support the bold transformation of Can-Do Kalamazoo from a shared kitchen into a full-scale business incubator and enterprise hub, New Venture Advisors led the organization through a comprehensive expansion strategy. The team developed a relocation and facility design plan that enabled sustainable growth while meeting the needs of local food entrepreneurs. In collaboration with Michigan Women Forward and LISC, NVA also supported the creation of a microloan program to expand access to capital for underrepresented business owners. These strategic initiatives positioned Can-Do Kalamazoo to scale its impact, deepen partnerships, and broaden its support for entrepreneurs across industries. (2021)
Open Door Community House Incubator Operating Plan
Columbus, GA
New Venture Advisors designed and supported the launch of Open Door Community House’s Culinary Incubator in Columbus to expand pathways for its Culinary Arts and ServSafe graduates. NVA developed an operating plan, provided individualized coaching during the pilot phase, and created hands-on curriculum tools to support emerging food entrepreneurs in building sustainable businesses. (2020)
Faith in Place Community Kitchen Incubator Initiative
Chicago, IL
Faith in Place explored an innovative idea to convert kitchens in houses of worship into Community Incubator Kitchens, activating an extensive and underused network of food production spaces. The initiative aimed to create opportunities for farmers, community members, and entrepreneurs to produce local food products in shared, community-centered settings. New Venture Advisors developed a self-assessment toolkit to help faith leaders evaluate their facilities’ readiness and potential for shared kitchen programs. The team also produced a detailed starter guide covering financial, operational, and strategic considerations to support the successful launch and management of these community-based kitchens. (2020) Download guide here
Worcester Regional Food Hub
Worcester, MA
Originally piloted in 2016 as a kitchen incubator and aggregation hub, the Worcester Regional Food Hub strengthens the regional economy by connecting producers and consumers, advancing workforce development, and supporting food business incubation. New Venture Advisors conducted a market assessment and developed a business plan to guide the hub’s expansion and long-term sustainability. This work helped position the Food Hub for its successful transition to a permanent home at Union Station in 2025. (2019)
LISC Phoenix Commercial Kitchen Strategy
Phoenix and Mesa, AZ
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation, known as LISC, is one of the largest nonprofits in the country supporting projects to revitalize communities, transforming them into healthy and sustainable places to live, work, and raise families. Two projects in metro Phoenix, a cultural center and an affordable housing development, include commercial kitchens that will operate with a missional emphasis on job creation and serving small businesses, particularly local, women, native and minority-owned. NVA assisted in building the capacity of the management teams, and the refinement of their operating models. (2018)
The Hatchery
Chicago, IL
In partnership with IFF, Allies for Community Business (formerly Accion) and the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago, New Venture Advisors assessed the market demand for a large, innovative food business incubator to be developed in East Garfield Park and serve as a job creator in this lower income neighborhood. Opening in late 2018, the incubator combines private production kitchens, a shared-use kitchen and comprehensive business support services, filling a much needed gap for food entrepreneurs in Chicago. (2017)
Commonwealth Kitchen Strategic Roadmap
Boston, MA
This innovative, non-profit kitchen incubator is among a small but growing class of kitchen incubators with an ambitious vision and complex model—combining shared kitchen space with hands-on business support for entrepreneurs, building co-packing capabilities, growing a brand and a sales and marketing arm, and operating with a specific focus on minority and women entrepreneurs. Through a detailed review of the current organization and business lines, NVA developed a set of proposed paths for the organization to follow to attain its financial goals, developed comprehensive financial projections for these strategies and established a five-year roadmap for implementation. (2017)
Headwater Food Hub
Ontario, NY
Headwater Foods, Inc. is a thriving food hub in upstate New York with a wholesale business line and a CSA service. New Venture Advisors worked with Headwater on a market assessment to quantify institutional demand for fresh cut produce, in support of the hub’s plans for a new processing business line. (2015)
Floyd Food Company
Floyd, VA
SustainFloyd is a nonprofit organization in rural Virginia that develops new ideas to support the next generation of Blue Ridge Plateau’s rural community while preserving its resources, traditions and heritage. New Venture Advisors worked with SustainFloyd to develop a business plan for a value-added agricultural center to process and market locally-produced fruits, vegetables and dairy products. The business launched in 2014 as the Floyd Food Company, beginning with a line of frozen soups. (2013)
