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The $750K Rep. Sean Casten Grant is Now OFFICIAL!

January 04, 2023


We are starting the year on a high note by announcing that we have OFFICIALLY been awarded the $750K grant secured by Rep. Sean Casten earlier in the year! The grant was passed in a year-end funding bill and signed by the President (wow!) last week. This is in addition to the $807K grant we received last summer from the state of Illinois.

We want to expressly thank Rep. Sean Casten for recognizing the immense benefits that Prairie Food Co-op will bring to our community. He advocated for PFC by approving the grant we submitted last year and including it in his funding requests for the year-end appropriations bill. 

We are especially grateful because this grant was extremely competitive. Prairie Food Co-op was selected due to our strong prospect for success and diligent financial and business planning. 

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR PRAIRIE FOOD CO-OP?


This is significant news that puts us in a strong financial position to commit to a site and begin building OUR community grocery store. In fact we are on the verge of sharing some very significant news to our community in just a few weeks!

However, we want to make it clear that the Prairie Food Co-op board is ever-striving to put our co-op on as solid financial foundation as possible and we will continue to seek funding opportunities through county, state and federal grants as well as more financial support from our village through grants, tax incentives, and other opportunities. 

Since the COVID pandemic, opening and operating a business has become increasingly challenging. Equipment delays or unavailability due to lingering supply chain issues coupled with massive increases in the cost of equipment, construction, and labor is the current reality not only for PFC, but all businesses operating in a post-pandemic economy. Thus the PFC board continues to be diligent about our finances and planning. As such, we will continue to look for ways to reduce upfront costs to ensure long-lasting financial success.

Our goal is for Prairie Food Co-op to serve the community for decades to come; providing good jobs, a community gathering place, and to accomplish our mission to provide a marketplace to local farmers and food producers.

It’s about to happen. Stay tuned for some exciting news we’ll be sharing at the end of January.
 

Celebrate This Great News By Becoming a PFC Owner Today!

Prairie Food Co-op Ownership is just a ONE-TIME $200 fee for which you will receive perks and discounts when PFC is open and the right to run for the board and vote for the board. But there is so much more that your Ownership does!

This is your chance to help fund the store that will:

  • Expand access to safe, healthy, and sustainable foods that are transparently labeled, ethically sourced, and accessible to all
  • Support 150+ local farmers & food producers
  • Encourage sustainable practices to reduce energy consumption, pollution, contamination and our carbon footprint
  • Create more than 35 local jobs that pay fair wages
  • Capture $5M that would otherwise leave our county or state
  • Generate $8M in local economic activity annually

Together we built this. Join us.

BECOME AN OWNER