NEON Launches $22 Million Collective Kitchens Hub, Giving Food Entrepreneurs Room to Grow

The Northside Economic Opportunity Network, or NEON, celebrated the grand opening of NEON Collective Kitchens on Thursday, unveiling a 25,000-square-foot commercial kitchen and food business incubator designed to support caterers, bakers, food truck operators and consumer packaged goods businesses.

Located on West Broadway, the two-story facility includes 11 commercial kitchen spaces, retail food stalls, freezer and refrigeration storage, a self-leveling loading dock and specialized commercial equipment intended to help small food businesses scale without the financial burden of building independent kitchen facilities.

Warren McLean, president of NEON, said the project began in 2020 after food entrepreneurs lost access to kitchen space during the pandemic.

“There was really no commercial kitchen in North Minneapolis,” McLean said in an interview following the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “A lot of our clients had been using Kindred Kitchen, operated by Appetite for Change, but during the pandemic and after George Floyd’s murder, their business model changed, and the commercial kitchen was no longer accessible to our clients.”

McLean said approximately 40% of NEON’s business clients work in the food industry, creating an immediate need for affordable licensed kitchen space on the North Side. Fundraising for the project began in November 2020. NEON secured private donations from individuals, corporations and foundations, as well as state and federal funding. Construction began in October 2024, and the facility welcomed its first entrepreneurs in March.

According to NEON, the facility is the fifth-largest shared commercial kitchen operation in the country and can support up to 85 businesses per day through flexible scheduling and 24-hour kitchen access. McLean said the project is also part of a broader effort to reshape economic development in North Minneapolis.

“One of my visions is to change West Broadway from a drive-through to a destination,” he said. “We want people investing in North Minneapolis. We want to change the narrative.”

The facility includes 15,000 square feet of kitchen space and more than 3,500 square feet of glass throughout the building, creating an open, collaborative environment for entrepreneurs. The kitchens feature rotary ovens, blast chillers, dough proofers, convection ovens, tilt skillets and industrial refrigeration systems.

Clara “Missie” Lewis, NEON’s director of community engagement, said the kitchens were intentionally designed to provide entrepreneurs access to high-quality equipment often found in large-scale commercial operations.

“NEON wants our clients to have the same kind of quality equipment that they have at these big establishments,” Lewis said.

Lewis said the facility serves a variety of food businesses, including caterers, bakers, food truck owners and producers creating packaged goods for retail sale. Entrepreneurs can rent shared kitchen space, cold and dry storage and specialized equipment while also receiving business advising and technical assistance from NEON staff. The building’s back-of-house kitchen space operates 24 hours a day through secure key-fob access, allowing entrepreneurs to prepare food overnight for catering events, restaurant service or food truck operations.

“This is more than a kitchen,” Lewis said. “It’s an opportunity for people to grow.”

NEON advisers also work with entrepreneurs on licensing, food safety certification, budgeting and pricing strategies to help businesses become financially sustainable.

“We go into that detail with them to make sure that they are actually pricing their product accordingly,” Lewis said.

The opening celebration featured local businesses already utilizing the space, including RTT Events, a Twin Cities catering company owned by Lisa Anderson and Eyvette Tidwell. Anderson, who grew up one block away from the facility, said access to kitchen space has long been one of the biggest barriers facing small food businesses.

“Kitchen space, freezer space, refrigeration space and access,” Anderson said. “You can’t get in all kitchens at all hours of the night when you need to.”

Before NEON Collective Kitchens opened, Anderson said many caterers relied on partnerships with restaurants or bakeries to share commercial kitchen space and operating costs. “You kind of team up with different restaurants or bakeries, and you share some of the costs,” she said. “But it can be really expensive.”

For Anderson, the opening also represents a major investment in a neighborhood that historically lacked similar resources. “Growing up here, we didn’t have all this stuff,” she said. “This is huge. And it’s wonderful.”

McLean said the project is ultimately tied to NEON’s broader mission of building wealth for low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs, particularly Black-owned businesses and businesses in historically underinvested communities.

“We need more Black-owned businesses,” McLean said. “We’re trying to close the Black wealth gap. This is an opportunity to create ownership, create jobs, and build generational wealth.”

NEON projects that the facility and related businesses will help create approximately 265 jobs while supporting hundreds of entrepreneurs annually. “This is a reflection of a belief system that the North Side deserves excellence,” McLean said.

According to NEON officials, approximately 70 businesses had already signed up to begin using the facility before its official opening. Organizers say the building is designed to support dozens of businesses throughout the day and night, helping entrepreneurs transition from informal or temporary operations into long-term business ownership.

For more information on the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON), visit www.neon-mn.org/.

Alaysia Lane is a multimedia journalist and commerce writer based in Minneapolis.