Grant Awarded for Construction Entrepreneurship
New Hill Development Corporation has received a grant of over $900,000 to support culinary and construction entrepreneurship in Charlottesville. The funding aims to bolster local makers, builders, and renovation professionals, potentially creating new opportunities for small business growth in the trades.
- The grant is a Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant awarded by the state, with Governor Abigail Spanberger announcing the precise amount of $962,958. - The funds are specifically for the construction of an 11,300-square-foot, shared-use commercial kitchen, which will be operated by New Hill's BEACON Kitchen project. - BEACON, which stands for Black Entrepreneurial Advancement and Community Opportunity Network, was created to address a significant racial disparity in the local food industry, where fewer than 20 of the city's 400+ restaurants are Black-owned. - The project aims to create 65 new jobs, serve 125 local producers, and support 70 food businesses by providing access to commercial-grade processing equipment and facilities. - New Hill Development Corporation is an African-American-led nonprofit founded in 2017 to build financial resilience, economic opportunity, and affordable housing for the Black community in the greater Charlottesville area. - This project is part of a larger community vision for the Starr Hill neighborhood, the site of the historically Black Vinegar Hill community that was razed in the 1960s. - In the construction sector, local initiatives like Heritage United Builders are working to connect minority-owned firms to opportunities, citing that African American-owned firms have historically received less than 1% of contracts. - Beyond the physical kitchen, the BEACON program provides entrepreneurs with business development training and mentorship from industry experts to help them launch and scale their culinary businesses.
