Overview
City Name: Grand Island, Nebraska
Population: 53,131
Region: Midwest
Partner: Central Community College Entrepreneurship Center, Grand Island Area Economic Development Corporation
Problem: The City of Grand Island wanted to support local small food businesses in their journey to expand their services from cottage industry to new business opportunities.
Solution: Leveraging funds from NLC’s 2024 Advancing Economic Mobility Rapid Grant Program, the City of Grand Island created the Grand Island Community Kitchen Pilot program to provide business training courses, stipends, and upscaling workshops to help a set of 10 food business entrepreneurs.
Outcome: Through the successful execution of the pilot, the City of Grand Island gained new partnerships and expanded the Community Kitchen Pilot program model into new industries.
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Background
In 2023, the City of Grand Island unveiled their Economic Development Plan (PDF). One of the key priorities was to provide technical assistance, grants, and support to small local businesses to stimulate economic growth. To meet this need, the City partnered with the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corporation (GIAEDC) to identify entrepreneurial needs and business development opportunities. As the host city of the Nebraska State Fair, food-industry businesses marked a particularly unique area of opportunity for the City of Grand Island. In June 2024, the City of Grand Island launched their first farmer’s market in 20 years. Through this farmer’s market, the City of Grand Island could pilot strategies, support small businesses, and identify long-term growth opportunities for their vendors. In other words, the initial cohort of farmer’s market businesses could serve as an incubator for new and exciting programs for small food-based businesses.
Problem
Surveys of the initial cohort of vendors and other food industry workers, collected by City of Grand Island officials, brought forward a handful of common issues. First, the lack of commercial kitchen space hampered the upscale from homebased to commercial production. Commercial kitchens furnished with the necessary equipment were extremely cost-prohibitive for small food businesses. Second, entrepreneurs need additional industry-specific training to understand the nuances of their businesses such as licensure, permitting, and taxes. Finally, entrepreneurs identified the need for startup capital as a barrier to fully launching their businesses.
Solution
After receiving a $20,000 award as part of NLC’s 2024 Advancing Economic Mobility Rapid Grant program, the City of Grand Island launched the Grand Island Community Kitchen Pilot program. Through this program, the City of Grand Island, in collaboration with the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corporation and Central Community College Entrepreneurship Center, worked directly with 10 entrepreneurs to scale and expand their businesses. Each of the entrepreneurs participated in a four-week intensive course hosted by Central Community College on business foundations with an additional workshop on expanding their businesses. Upon completing the course, each of the participants received a $2,000 stipend to support their business.
Outcome
At the conclusion of the training program, each of the participants graduated and expanded their businesses. Two of the participants expanded or started new physical locations. Five participating businesses became a part of the local Grand Island Farmer’s Market. Finally, one participating business owner won “Big Idea Grand Island 2024” – a local pitch competition hosted by the GIAEDC and CCC Entrepreneurship Center with a grand prize of $10,000 to support their business growth. The continued success of each of the Grand Island Community Kitchen Pilot program participants opened the door to new partnerships and programs.
To facilitate the use of commercial kitchen space for local business owners, the City began a partnership with the University of Nebraska- Extension and their Raising Nebraska facility, located on the Nebraska State Fair campus, to serve as a commercial kitchen hub. This partnership allows Grand Island-based entrepreneurs to access the centrally located commercial kitchen facility after business hours at a discounted rate.
As a continuation of the Grand Island Community Kitchen pilot model, the City of Grand Island approved a $105,000 grant in 2025 from the City’s LB840 program to launch the Business Blueprint Workshop to support entrepreneurs in industries such as HVAC, construction, plumbing, electrical, and die making. Modeled after the previous cohort, the participants participated in a six-week course focused on growing their business with a $3,000 stipend at the conclusion of the program. For the City of Grand Island, the Community Kitchen Pilot program, in partnership with NLC, marked a novel way to support the business ecosystem within the city. With the success of the pilot program, multiple avenues to support small businesses emerged at the state and national level. By investing in small local businesses, the City of Grand Island continues to support the growth and vitality of their community.
Supporting Materials
- Economic Mobility at a Glance: Grand Island’s Efforts to Improve Access to Opportunity – National League of Cities
- Grand Island Comprehensive Plan
- Community Kitchen Pilot Program to help restaurants elevate their business
- Community Kitchen Pilot Program – Grand Island Area Economic Development Corporation – NE
- Business Blueprint Workshop – Grand Island Area Economic Development Corporation – NE
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