As one of the main components of the Old Prices Fork School Community Revitalization Project, the Prices Fork Food Center is an innovative approach centered around a commercial incubator kitchen for start-up or expanding food-based entrepreneurs. Supported, in part, by two anchor tenants, a farm to table restaurant and local craft brewpub, the incubator kitchen will provide food-based businesses with access to a certified kitchen with high-capacity equipment and supportive business services to assist entrepreneurs with business planning, financing, and marketing. Beans & Rice, Inc., a local non-profit whose mission is to build capacity in start-up or expanding entrepreneurs, will be the operator for the incubator kitchen.
The Prices Fork Food Center hopes to serve as a local foods destination for all members of the community. The restaurant and brewpub will create their menus from scratch, using many locally-sourced ingredients. Music, cultural heritage, and a strong sense of community are also focal points for the project, allowing the former school to once again be a central gathering place. The project is currently working on executing agreements with each of its funding sources and finalizing design for the space. Construction is slated to begin later this year.
The Regional Commission is an active participant of the project’s Leadership Team, which meets monthly and includes members from: Montgomery County, Taylor Hollow Construction, Beans & Rice, Inc., Town of Blacksburg, New River Valley HOME Consortium, Community Foundation for the NRV, Habitat for Humanity, Rising Silo Brewery, Old School Kitchen, and Virginia Community Capital.
For more information, please contact Jennifer Wilsie (jwilsie@nrvrc.org), or 540-639-9313, ext 204.