This is reminiscent of a program we had in Massachusetts, and maybe other places, many years ago called the Job Factory. The difference is that the Job Factory was about helping people prepare resumes, send letters, get ready for interviews etc. with the goal of landing an existing job in an existing enterprise. This new version seems like a wonderful idea.
it doesn’t just resonate. It sings in four-part harmony. A few things come to mind. One, in my now native SF, but reproduced elsewhere, is La Cocina. Wannabe food service entrepreneurs learn in a cohort, first at a community center with shared kitchens, the fundamentals of, eg, restaurant accounting, or all about leases, and, literally, put it to work. Participants are mostly immigrant women of color; I have had the pleasure of eating in several of their restaurants—just a few nights ago, a wonderful veggie/vegan Indian place.
Love the idea. There is a new ED at Thrive Asheville, a non profit coordinator. I will talk about it with her. Her office or desk is at the most entrepreneurial of the co working spaces, but it’s not a community connected space.
I will. She was not overly welcoming. I reached out linked in said
I’d like to meet. She asked about what, obviously hadn’t checked me out. Sent her link to avl event. She said ok some time in the next few weeks. I should come to her, or she could come my way. So i will see what she’s about. But in the river arts district there are a lot of vacant post Helene buildings in places that are walkable.
Indeed. I’ve been involved in food justice work since I was at Self-Help. I grew up around farmers, and my mom started a soup kitchen in my hometown, but had not had much contact with food systems for years. It is a tough business — from farm to fork, as they say — but it is a time-honored way for immigrants, in particular, to have agency in this political economy.
Another similar and related idea, but more broadly political than economic per se is this structure called a People's Movement Assembly (PMA) which is currently being "piloted" (shall we say, tried) in Atlanta: https://www.southtosouth.org/resources/peoples-movement-assembly-handbook. One practitioner just described it to me as the step 0 for communities coming together, for many the first time they've been invited into a space where they can practice being agentic with others. I am of course like you Elias very interested in the kinds of liberation that assure our material survival at a minimum, provisioning for human rights like healthcare, education, and so many human rights twisted into commodities in the Eurowestern context, and in fact going beyond this into people thriving together beyond that minimum. I would hope community incubators and PMAs and doughnut economics labs and co-op accelerators and study circles/book clubs and Margaret Mead groups all over the world could stitch together an infrastructure that finally abolishes poverty as not only not necessary, but abhorrent to the dignity of all humans (indeed all living beings if we zoom out enough). Cheers to keeping up the good fight!
When the city is in trouble, it seems like the marginalized sometimes find a solution first. We have the four excluded lepers, who out of desperation end up stumbling onto Samaria’s salvation (2 Kings 7). Montessori tried and refined her ideas with children in a Roman slum. You might be suggesting something like that: community incubators targeting those with internal and external challenges to re-entering the workforce. We all—a city or any community—would benefit from the example of community hubs and could then make our own based on the experience of the hubs focused on those who face these challenges.
The mix of support group and startup is appealing. It seems to resemble local business networks (see the recent The Main Street Journal (a Substack) interview “Local Business Networks: Not Dead Yet”—actually, I know you’ve seen it, but other readers might benefit from it). The mix also suggests the more involved and ambitious Neighborhood Economics that you linked to. (“ . . . a convergence of visionaries, doers, and funders working at the intersections of capital, faith, entrepreneurship, climate, health, and real estate.”) Your proposal wouldn’t have to have as many components in place, and it could serve smaller neighborhoods.
There seems to be so much more possibility when a few people start at a neighborhood level and help those who aren’t being reached. Even great organizations have gotten big enough and bureaucratic enough to overlook communities that are easy for outsiders to miss (e.g,, the SABSA example that you link to).
These neighborhood hubs seem small and flexible, but they aren’t too small. I have watched an acquaintance—a dear rector of an inner-city church—spend his Saturday with about 24 people who were out of work, most coming out of homelessness, criminal convictions, and/or substance abuse. He went from one person to the next by himself all morning. I love the combination of resources your idea encourages as well as the social co-ops that could grow out of such meetings—the “liberatory workplaces” that could challenge the hierarchical model we’ve been operating under as a country for so long.
This vision truly resonates. Community incubators represent the next evolution of neighborhood economics by transforming local hubs into engines of ownership, wellness, and dignified work. It’s time to build ecosystems where ownership, and innovation intersect, and where every resident can move from surviving to thriving. Excited to collaborate with fellow builders in this movement!
The folks at project equity working on their investment fund say a business needs about 10 employees to be a minimally viable ecosystem for employee ownership. Entrepreneurship is the path to intergenerational wealth for families that lack friends and family funding.
This is reminiscent of a program we had in Massachusetts, and maybe other places, many years ago called the Job Factory. The difference is that the Job Factory was about helping people prepare resumes, send letters, get ready for interviews etc. with the goal of landing an existing job in an existing enterprise. This new version seems like a wonderful idea.
it doesn’t just resonate. It sings in four-part harmony. A few things come to mind. One, in my now native SF, but reproduced elsewhere, is La Cocina. Wannabe food service entrepreneurs learn in a cohort, first at a community center with shared kitchens, the fundamentals of, eg, restaurant accounting, or all about leases, and, literally, put it to work. Participants are mostly immigrant women of color; I have had the pleasure of eating in several of their restaurants—just a few nights ago, a wonderful veggie/vegan Indian place.
https://www.lacocinasf.org/
Great! Will check it out!
Love the idea. There is a new ED at Thrive Asheville, a non profit coordinator. I will talk about it with her. Her office or desk is at the most entrepreneurial of the co working spaces, but it’s not a community connected space.
Great--let me know if she's like to gab sometime.
She was not who i hoped she’d be
Thrives new ed has a plan before meeting the community.
I will. She was not overly welcoming. I reached out linked in said
I’d like to meet. She asked about what, obviously hadn’t checked me out. Sent her link to avl event. She said ok some time in the next few weeks. I should come to her, or she could come my way. So i will see what she’s about. But in the river arts district there are a lot of vacant post Helene buildings in places that are walkable.
Indeed. I’ve been involved in food justice work since I was at Self-Help. I grew up around farmers, and my mom started a soup kitchen in my hometown, but had not had much contact with food systems for years. It is a tough business — from farm to fork, as they say — but it is a time-honored way for immigrants, in particular, to have agency in this political economy.
Cort, this sounds similar to Arlington, VA's Kitchen of Purpose two blocks from where we lived. https://www.kitchenofpurpose.org
And la cocina is pretty amazingly good
Another similar and related idea, but more broadly political than economic per se is this structure called a People's Movement Assembly (PMA) which is currently being "piloted" (shall we say, tried) in Atlanta: https://www.southtosouth.org/resources/peoples-movement-assembly-handbook. One practitioner just described it to me as the step 0 for communities coming together, for many the first time they've been invited into a space where they can practice being agentic with others. I am of course like you Elias very interested in the kinds of liberation that assure our material survival at a minimum, provisioning for human rights like healthcare, education, and so many human rights twisted into commodities in the Eurowestern context, and in fact going beyond this into people thriving together beyond that minimum. I would hope community incubators and PMAs and doughnut economics labs and co-op accelerators and study circles/book clubs and Margaret Mead groups all over the world could stitch together an infrastructure that finally abolishes poverty as not only not necessary, but abhorrent to the dignity of all humans (indeed all living beings if we zoom out enough). Cheers to keeping up the good fight!
When the city is in trouble, it seems like the marginalized sometimes find a solution first. We have the four excluded lepers, who out of desperation end up stumbling onto Samaria’s salvation (2 Kings 7). Montessori tried and refined her ideas with children in a Roman slum. You might be suggesting something like that: community incubators targeting those with internal and external challenges to re-entering the workforce. We all—a city or any community—would benefit from the example of community hubs and could then make our own based on the experience of the hubs focused on those who face these challenges.
The mix of support group and startup is appealing. It seems to resemble local business networks (see the recent The Main Street Journal (a Substack) interview “Local Business Networks: Not Dead Yet”—actually, I know you’ve seen it, but other readers might benefit from it). The mix also suggests the more involved and ambitious Neighborhood Economics that you linked to. (“ . . . a convergence of visionaries, doers, and funders working at the intersections of capital, faith, entrepreneurship, climate, health, and real estate.”) Your proposal wouldn’t have to have as many components in place, and it could serve smaller neighborhoods.
There seems to be so much more possibility when a few people start at a neighborhood level and help those who aren’t being reached. Even great organizations have gotten big enough and bureaucratic enough to overlook communities that are easy for outsiders to miss (e.g,, the SABSA example that you link to).
These neighborhood hubs seem small and flexible, but they aren’t too small. I have watched an acquaintance—a dear rector of an inner-city church—spend his Saturday with about 24 people who were out of work, most coming out of homelessness, criminal convictions, and/or substance abuse. He went from one person to the next by himself all morning. I love the combination of resources your idea encourages as well as the social co-ops that could grow out of such meetings—the “liberatory workplaces” that could challenge the hierarchical model we’ve been operating under as a country for so long.
More please. This is great.
Thanks, Stu!
This very much resonates - I read through it thinking "I want one" - but I also very much lack the skill set to start things.
Yeah, this is definitely like organizing a soccer team--a group effort required. Thanks for reading!
This vision truly resonates. Community incubators represent the next evolution of neighborhood economics by transforming local hubs into engines of ownership, wellness, and dignified work. It’s time to build ecosystems where ownership, and innovation intersect, and where every resident can move from surviving to thriving. Excited to collaborate with fellow builders in this movement!
This fund could use a community incubator. I think your use case is overly restrictive. @cort gross this was miss posted to your post. https://symbioticfund.wordpress.com/2025/09/25/a-voice-for-swannanoa/
The folks at project equity working on their investment fund say a business needs about 10 employees to be a minimally viable ecosystem for employee ownership. Entrepreneurship is the path to intergenerational wealth for families that lack friends and family funding.
The mix of support group and startup is appealing. It seems to resemble local business networks (see the recent The Main Street Journal (a Substack”
Sent your idea to our list serve
Thanks much!
This fund could use that kind of third space. I think your use case is overly restrictive. https://symbioticfund.wordpress.com/2025/09/25/a-voice-for-swannanoa/