Red River Regional Council provides technical assistance to existing and aspiring food businesses, growers, and producers as part of the three-state North Central Regional Food Business Center. The NCRFBC is a new USDA-funded program aimed at growing and strengthening small-and mid-sized producers and other local food businesses, including farmers markets, vegetable and fruit producers, livestock and poultry, honey, agritourism, and home-based and other food-related businesses. By doing this, we build a stronger local economy and make it easier for people to access fresh, local food. We believe that by supporting local food businesses, we can help our communities and region thrive.  

The program also supports the development of a public commercial kitchen at 532 Hill in Grafton to support transitioning food entrepreneurs from their home kitchens to a licensed space to build their markets.  This kitchen will be made available through a membership model as well as hourly rentals. More than 40 food entrepreneurs have expressed interest in this kitchen to produce a range of food products from spices to breads to bakery goods and more.  This space will also be used for food classes, contests, training, and pop-up restaurant events.  This will be built in 2025 and hopefully lead to the creation of a hub and spoke model with additional licensed spaces in northeast North Dakota.