The Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) heard from representatives of Healthy Archuleta about the organization’s plans for a food hub and food hall during the BoCC’s Jan. 27 work session.
Healthy Archuleta’s Vanessa Skean explained they have been working through a year-long process gathering information from community members and stakeholders about how a local food hub and food hall could serve the community and contribute to the local economy.
“This project focuses a lot on economic development,” Skean said, explaining the food hub project aligns with the county’s goals and priorities of diversifying the local economy.
Skean mentioned that part of the process has included looking into how much money is spent on food locally within the county, as Healthy Archuleta is “really focusing on a project that helps keep some of those dollars local through local food purchase to support small food business.”
She went on to talk about how the food hub project focuses on the community’s youth by offering workforce development opportunities locally, highlighting again how the project is intended to be an “economic hub for the community.”
Skean added that focusing on creating workforce pathways locally will allow young people to stay in the community, “instead of having to leave being the primary objective of young people.”
She then spoke about witnessing disruptions over the past year with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“This infrastructure really looks at how we can support emergency preparedness and resilience” by being able to quickly move resources around in community in a coordinated manner while also strengthening local food supply chains, she noted.
Skean explained how community well-being has been incorporated into the process, commenting, “We all want this to be a healthy, happy place to live,” which entails expanding access to healthy, locally produced food for the community.
Skean provided more on what a food hub and food hall is, explaining that Healthy Archuleta is looking to develop a “year-round shared-use facility” that supports the county’s local food system, farmers, ranchers and small food businesses.
She noted that there will be access to local food through a small retail market business space, along with space for community gatherings.
Skean mentioned that the project is “really looking at supporting the whole local food system,” including the production side and the distribution side.
She then explained why there is a need for a food hub and food hall in the county, explaining that Healthy Archuleta has done “extensive community engagement” and found there is currently a limited amount of shared infrastructure that food producers and retailers have access to.
“The main piece of infrastructure is a shared community commercial kitchen,” Skean said of the plans for the food hub and food hall. “That desire for access to those kinds of spaces has been evident in the community.”
Skean also commented on how the community experiences seasonal population fluctuations with visitors, noting there are some opportunities for growers and producers to bring their products to market with things like the summertime farmers market, “but we need a space where people can sell and access local goods year-round.”
Skean further noted that Healthy Archuleta has seen community members experience issues with food access.
“We have continued to see more and more community members access food pantry services since the pandemic,” she said.
She noted that the food hub and food hall will also provide space for Healthy Archuleta to continue its mission to support charitable food access.
“We as an organization are very intentionally community-driven,” Skean said, explaining the planning process behind the food hub and food hall project, which has included a steering committee that Healthy Archuleta refers to as a Community Learning and Leadership Circle (CLLC).
Skean explained the CLLC is made up of a wide variety of community members — county and town representatives, business owners, food truck and restaurant owners, ranchers, farmers and growers.
Other community engagement was carried out by performing a needs assessment with folks in the local food system, along with community outreach events, Skean noted, highlighting that more than 300 community members have been involved in the process over the past year.
She also spoke about how the project is centered around providing community space, such as a shared commercial kitchen and indoor vendor spaces providing market access, along with an “anchor restaurant vendor” that would provide a space for sit-down meal opportunities.
Storage for food business would also be incorporated, Skean noted, explaining that there will be room for dry, frozen and refrigerated storage.
She also explained that there will be space outside the building for things like community gardens and potentially a greenhouse growing dome.
A space for indoor food production using hydroponics would also be included, Skean noted.
She went on to explain that Healthy Archuleta had a market analysis performed that looked at resident and visitor spending on food, noting that, with a conservative approach, roughly $89 million is spent on food in the county annually.
She explained the numbers from that assessment were used to model how the food hub can capture some of that spending and keep dollars in the community.
Skean explained that Healthy Archuleta was “very fortunate” to get connected with a team of architects through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that supports these kinds of projects across the country.
She noted that the group offers no-cost design services and develops concept drawings that takes all community feedback into consideration and responds to that need.
Skean mentioned that, based on these models, Healthy Archuleta would like to capture 0.5 percent of the $89 million that is spent on food.
She noted that a conservative approach was very intentionally taken, and that possibly by year five of running the food hub those numbers could increase to 2.5 percent.
Skean estimated that 25 to 40 small food businesses could be supported by the facility, and that 60 to 80 jobs could be created or enhanced.
She went on to mention that based on input from the USDA, the cost to build the infrastructure of the food hub and food hall is roughly $6 million to $7 million, though the final budget will depend on the site selection and if it is possible to have land donated for the project.
“Really hoping this project can be a public-private partnership,” Skean said.
She explained the hope is to have a site acquired in the next 12 months, with a timeline of three years to raise funds for the build, and then a two-year construction timeline after that, with the goal of opening the facility at the end of 2028.
Skean mentioned that Healthy Archuleta will be launching a capital campaign to fund the infrastructure.
“We will be going after grant funding as part of our capital campaign,” she added.
Commissioner John Ranson commented, “This, to me, is truly an economic development project for the community.”
In response to a question from Ranson, Skean explained that current site designs feature about a 2.5 acre parcel that includes a 10,000-square-foot building, space for parking and other outdoor areas.
“This would be a wonderful addition to our community for economic development, so I really like it,” Commissioner Veronica Medina said.
Commissioner Warren Brown commented in support of the project, stating, “I also think it’s a great idea.”
Brown mentioned the BoCC has long supported Healthy Archuleta, “and I think we will continue to do so.”
Brown noted that this is a need he does not see going away anytime soon, and agreed that this “is a big economic driver” that could even be a “cornerstone in the community.”
For more information about Healthy Archuleta’s Community Food Hub and Hall, visit www.foodcoalition4archuleta.org/community-food-hub.html.
clayton@pagosasun.com
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