Early-Decision Deadline Approaching for Hope & Main Applicants

WARREN, RI – Hope & Main’s early-decision deadline is fast-approaching with applications due no later than Tuesday, December 17 for a seat in the food business incubator’s inaugural cohort.

Those food entrepreneurs who get their applications in early will be guaranteed a spot in the incubator’s Pre-Incubation Workshops, a food startup coaching series to begin this January. The workshops will take place over the course of several months and provide guidance and training on topics including business plan development, food safety certification, financing, marketing and distribution, legal basics and more.

As the state’s first food business incubator, the Hope & Main incubator program aims to give food entrepreneurs and early-stage culinary businesses the chance to grow their first two to three years without the cost of equipping their own commercial facilities. To help make that happen, food businesses accepted into the program will receive mentoring, access to fully-equipped and affordable work space, and immersion in an entrepreneurial culture where they can collaborate with industry experts and peers.

Hope & Main can accept up to 40 food-related businesses. Applicants who do not meet the early-decision deadline will be admitted on a rolling basis as vacancies become available.

Hope & Main will open in summer 2014 in a 17,500-square-foot space located in Warren, R.I. Now under construction, the group broke ground in July 2013 on plans to transform a 100-year-old schoolhouse into a state-of-the art workspace for food-related entrepreneurs and businesses. The renovation will feature three shared-use commercial kitchens, including a gluten-free kitchen, over 6,000-square-feet of production space, cold and dry storage, a demonstration kitchen and 2,000-square-foot community room, a year-round farmer’s market and more.

Additional information, including applications and instructions for applying to the incubator program, can be found online at http://www.makefoodyourbusiness.org.

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