{"id":44137,"date":"2017-07-13T14:58:25","date_gmt":"2017-07-13T18:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigangff.wpenginepowered.com\/the-latest\/flint-market-will-put-good-food-ownership-in-hands-of-residents-next-city\/"},"modified":"2017-07-13T14:58:25","modified_gmt":"2017-07-13T18:58:25","slug":"el-mercado-de-flint-pondra-la-buena-alimentacion-en-manos-de-los-vecinos-de-la-proxima-ciudad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migoodfoodfund.org\/es\/lo-ultimo\/el-mercado-de-flint-pondra-la-buena-alimentacion-en-manos-de-los-vecinos-de-la-proxima-ciudad\/","title":{"rendered":"\"El mercado de Flint pondr\u00e1 la buena comida y la propiedad en manos de los residentes\", Next City"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Atkinson<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a pastor, Reginald \u201cReggie\u201d Flynn is used to hearing about people\u2019s problems and helping them through rough patches, but there was a moment a few years ago when he\u2019d had enough.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been attending neighborhood meetings where he lives on the north side of Flint, Michigan, an area known in the city for blight, crime and disinvestment. Several large chain grocery stores had closed throughout Flint, including a Kroger on Pierson Road, a main north side corridor, in July 2014. On top of money struggles, residents were losing good access to healthful food. They began telling Flynn he had to do something.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, I\u2019ve had enough. I\u2019m not coming back to any more of these meetings,\u201d Flynn recalls. \u201cYou guys are complaining too much about what you don\u2019t have, and you can take your destiny in your own hands and we can do something collectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, it\u2019s hard for Flynn to see where his role as pastor ends and his role as a community developer and president of the North Flint Reinvestment Corporation begins. His wife jokes that he talks more about market shares for his most recent project \u2014 a food co-op \u2014 than he does about his sermons. Flynn\u2019s threat to leave those neighborhood meetings led to talk with residents about starting the co-op, which is now on the verge of becoming a reality.<\/p>\n

Starting a food co-op isn\u2019t easy, especially in a place that larger chain stores have decided aren\u2019t good for business, but the timing has been right so far.<\/p>\n

The city of Flint created the Economic Recovery Task Force, which in turn formed the Grocery Stores Initiative, a board focused on replacing and maintaining food shopping options in the city.<\/p>\n

They began by commissioning a market analysis for north Flint, and the researchers concluded that attracting a large chain store could lead to problems, like driving out other smaller grocers or leaving certain residents without access.<\/p>\n

However, that study also concluded that the north side could support two small grocery stores, with sales of about $4 million annually. (According to the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce, a typical chain grocery store brings in about $19 million in sales in the region.) The North Flint Reinvestment Corporation is now one of two organizations working with the Grocery Stores Initiative.<\/p>\n

A food co-op is owned by members who pay a fee and get a vote in how the company is managed. Flynn likes that community ownership aspect.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of talk about the community owning this grocery store, and we\u2019re really pushing that aspect of the business model,\u201d Flynn says. \u201cI think that is what is going to distinguish us.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the pastor is spearheading the effort, the creation of the food co-op is also the result of several community groups working in tandem. The site of the store is currently owned by the Genesee County Land Bank, which owns and works to maintain and revitalize abandoned properties. Flynn secured grant money for demolition of the abandoned structures (some are fire damaged) at the food co-op site. When those are removed, construction on the new market can begin. Predevelopment funding so far, which has gone to things like market research, has come from local philanthropic organizations like the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Ruth Mott Foundation, and Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The chamber of commerce has assisted the North Flint Reinvestment Corporation in applying for grants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe leveraging of partnerships is so critical. It\u2019s so critical to have willing partners at the table,\u201d Flynn says.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also important to have people on the ground willing to do the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur responsibility is to help connect, facilitate \u2026 they have to live with it, they have to build it, it is theirs,\u201d says George Wilkinson, formerly a group vice president of the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce, and a board member of the Grocery Stores Initiative. \u201cWe\u2019re thankful for community advocates and pioneers like Pastor Flynn who have just a tremendous amount of passion, a tremendous amount of vision, and can put together the strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilkinson says he was also happy to see the city of Flint take the initiative in implementing the Economic Development Task Force, which led to the Grocery Stores Initiative. While people like Flynn who are on the ground making it happen, nothing can happen, he says, without local governments, the nonprofit sector and the philanthropic community also working together.<\/p>\n

The Grocery Stores Initiative is helping one other local grocer start up on Flint\u2019s north side and is also working with existing small grocers in the city who have \u201cweathered the storm\u201d but could use assistance, Wilkinson says.<\/p>\n

The community involvement and Flynn\u2019s enthusiasm might be what\u2019s needed to make the project succeed, according to Mary Donnell, program manager for the Michigan Good Food Fund, which, in partnership with Capital Impact Partners, has provided early funding and continued counsel on the Flint food co-op.<\/p>\n

She says the opportunity for community engagement can be \u201cvery powerful\u201d and serve as a reflection for community needs. \u201cIt\u2019s community building,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat I think is true is you need a champion and you need the community support.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far the co-op has close to 500 members and has raised about $50,000.<\/p>\n

Flynn acknowledges that food co-ops in many U.S. cities are known for expensive organic fruits and vegetables, but he says the north Flint market will focus on traditional grocery items, with about 30 percent of the product being organic. That mix follows the market study results, which reinforced what Flynn already knew: North Flint residents aren\u2019t necessarily looking for organic produce. They just need to go grocery shopping.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be the standard [food co-op business] model,\u201d Flynn says. \u201cBut the food options will be different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The co-op will also be a job creator. Flynn expects the market to create about 55 new jobs, most of them full-time. He is working with a local employment agency to hire local residents in need of work.<\/p>\n

The market is one part of a larger plan that Flynn has for the Pierson Road corridor. Next door to the co-op, work has already begun on an apartment complex, and an expansion of the Eagle\u2019s Nest Early Learning Center. The school, which serves 200 children, was one of Flynn\u2019s earliest projects with North Flint Reinvestment Corporation. There are also plans for a youth business academy and aquaponics space.<\/p>\n

Those community meetings Flynn attends have grown over the past year and a half. Now, he says, you\u2019ll run into close to 200 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s huge. I mean, I\u2019ve been doing community engagement meetings for years, and you\u2019d be good to have five people come to a neighborhood meeting,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

That involvement might be just what\u2019s required to make the food co-op succeed \u2014 and bring more attention to Flint\u2019s north side. Much of the talk surrounding revitalization in the city is centered on downtown, an area known for being more affluent and more white.<\/p>\n

Flynn says he isn\u2019t against downtown development, but he also wants to see a paradigm shift in where reinvestment dollars are spent, and the food co-op is a good start.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt transcends providing food,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

This article is one in a series on resident-led revitalization efforts in Flint, Michigan. The series is being reported with underwriting from the\u00a0Center for Community Progress,<\/a>\u00a0through a grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for more.<\/em><\/p>\n

First\u00a0posted on Next City<\/a> July 13, 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Por Scott Atkinson Como pastor, Reginald \"Reggie\" Flynn est\u00e1 acostumbrado a escuchar los problemas de la gente y a ayudarles a superar las malas rachas, pero hubo un momento hace unos a\u00f1os...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"topic":[],"business_type":[],"class_list":["post-44137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"Flint Market Will Put Good Food, Ownership in Hands of Residents," Next City - 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