The Heartland Regional Food Business Center is all about creating stronger, more responsive, and more competitive local food systems. Focused on supporting small, mid-sized, and diverse food and farm businesses, as well as local and regional food initiatives, the goal is to make local food a simple, everyday choice by strengthening community connections.
Rural Prosperity Nebraska and the Nebraska Regional Food Systems Initiative is proud to be a key partner of the Heartland Regional Food Business Center. Covering Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, northwest Arkansas, and a designated tribal trade coalition, the Heartland center is one of 12 established in 2023 with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Each center provides essential services like technical assistance, resource coordination, and support for building local and regional food systems.
While serving underrepresented and underserved groups, from small rural and urban farms to indigenous and minority communities, the Heartland center helps farm and food entrepreneurs solve distribution and storage challenges, offers training and business counseling, and provides resources to aid in financing and future grant funding to help them grow.
Partners
