Essex Food Hub to start Phase I of renovation

WESTPORT | Essex Food Hub (EFH) is gearing up to renovate its current home, while designing a new future addition to better support regional farms and producers throughout the North Country. This project is split into two phases. Phase 1 consists of renovating the existing brick structure on Main Street, which was once home to Ledge Hill Brewing Company before it moved to Ticonderoga and, before that, to a Dairylea Cooperative operation for raw milk bottling and distribution. "Phase 1 will allow us to gain greater safety and efficiency in our expanded distribution operations and relaunch our commercial processing activities," said EFH Executive Director Lindsay Willemain about the project that consists of installing a loading dock, 800 square feet of cold storage, and a nearly 500 square feet of commercial kitchen, supporting the incubation of businesses like Dak Bar and Small Town Cultures, who were able to scale their businesses after benefitting from hub infrastructure. "Right now, our current setup is not efficient or pleasant for our staff, and several local food makers have been without production space since we left our Middle Road location at the end of 2023." The goal is to complete Phase 1, an approximate $1.4 million project, by year's end. In the meantime, EFH will continue to work on Phase 2, which consists of putting on a new two-story addition. "We're kind of bringing the site back to its original purpose, as a hub for local agriculture and food manufacturing of sorts," Willemain said. "But we're going to update it to make it fit the current food system needs." Currently, EFH comes with about 350 square feet of market space, serving as a point of sale for small local farms and a point of access to fresh food for people in the area. Phase 2 will not only expand the market to nearly three times its current size but also add 650 square feet of additional food production space, including a commissary kitchen; 529 square feet of cold and dry storage; and offices with dedicated meeting space upstairs. EFH is still determining the overall cost of Phase 2, but Willemain estimates it will be between $1.5 million and $1.8 million. Last month, the community food hub received a $300,000 Smart Growth Grant through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Founded in 2022, EFH assumed operations of The Hub on the Hill, a community organization that provided co-packing, delivery, and commercial kitchen rentals for small food producers for several years. In 2023, EFH became a regional wholesale distributor, connecting local farms and food businesses with diverse buyers year-round, including institutions, restaurants, grocers, and more. Since then, the community food hub has moved more than 600,000 pounds and over $1.5 million worth of local farm food. The EFH directly purchases products from over 40 small farms and supports a variety of value-added producers. Then, the community food hub transports food all throughout the North Country — serving 18 K-12 schools, 35 small grocers, 17 food pantries, 70 WIC families, and much more. It also aims to provide local farms a gateway to larger markets, by, for example, partnering with five organizations downstate — Chester Agricultural Center, Catskills Agrarian Alliance, Choy Commons, Rock Steady Farm, and Brooklyn Packers — to build a regional pipeline for small-farm food along the I-87 eastern corridor and throughout New York City. During the 2025 high season, the group distributed 1.5 million pounds of small-farm food. "We are a nonprofit that serves a lot of people and supports a lot of other organizations that serve a lot of people," Willemain said. "We have a very ambitious mission, and we need to have the infrastructure in place to support that mission. "That's why this project is so important." For more information or updates, visit essexfoodhub.org.

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Essex Food Hub to start Phase I of renovation

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