EMPOWER NORTH END - WICHITA, KS

FACILITY AND FINANCIAL MODELING FOR WICHITA’S COMMUNITY OF HISPANIC FOOD ENTREPRENEURS

LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS, FEASIBILITY AND VIABILITY | 2022

Empower, a nonprofit organization serving the Hispanic population of Wichita’s North End, partnered with Food Works Group (FWG) to design a food hall in a historic, former theater in the heart of the neighborhood. Through a landscape analysis, FWG uncovered the unique needs of the local small food business community, and then physically and financially modeled an over 13,000 square foot food-grade facility to address their cited needs. The facility design included classrooms and offices; dry, cold, and frozen storage; packaged and prepared foods vending spaces; and a large dining area, in addition to rentable commercial kitchens. Additionally, FWG advised on curriculum structure and industry partnerships in the planning stages of Empower’s food business incubator program that is intended to operate within the new facility. Empower continues to work with FWG partner La Cocina, a well-established San Francisco-based food business incubator program, to create courses that are personalized to the needs of the North End’s community of Hispanic makers.