A 25,000-square-foot small business incubator
in the heart of the Near North Side
The Justine PETERSEN (JP) Greencubator is purposely designed to address the personal and community barriers that prevent would-be food and green entrepreneurs from taking the leap from idea to reality. The project established a 25,000-square-foot small business incubator in the heart of the Near North Side and houses food-related and green startups and provides a host of training, technical assistance and other support. The project builds upon current, broad-scale efforts to redevelop the Near North Side and increases access to economic opportunity and eliminates barriers to entrepreneurship among low-income persons.
Good Life Growing
Good Life Growing (GLG) is an urban farming company that relies on Aquaponic, Hydroponic, Aeroponic, and other organic farming methods in order to produce quality, local food all year round. GLG social enterprise is proud to be a community-based organization that is focused on combating urban decay and food insecurity in North St. Louis.
“Our partnership with Justine PETERSEN has helped us reach our goals of being a huge driving force in the areas and communities that we operate in. We plan on using the Greencubator as a central hub for our healthy food incubator space that will be a cross-pollination of job security for people who receive TANF benefits and come from low-income areas. As well as grow HYPER-LOCAL Produce that will be sold and consumed in the food desert communities we operate in. We plan on using the funding and grant money to create jobs in blighted areas that we operate in to bring property value up of what would have been a decaying property(s).”
St. Louis Indoor Produce
St. Louis Indoor Produce (SLIP) is a hydroponics start-up growing Genovese basil, being the first-ever indoor basil farm in the heart of the city. Their mission is to improve the way St. Louis eats by providing fresh produce, grown locally and sustainably. SLIP is dedicated to low-impact, energy and water-saving indoor agriculture that cuts back on space and chemical use as much as possible, and utilizing non-toxic chemicals when necessary.
Freddie Lee’s American Gourmet Sauce
Freddie Lee's American Gourmet Sauce is focused on providing high-quality service and customer satisfaction. It was founded 25 years ago by Freddie Lee James Jr and Deborah James. They designed the taste and the texture of the sauce to be an All-Purpose Gourmet Sauce. It started in north St. Louis, MO and then moved to the St. Patrick Center's small business incubator commercial kitchen and from there to King Foods Product manufacturing company. In partnership with Justine PETERSEN, Freddie Lee’s American Gourmet Sauce is using the Greencubator as a bottling facility to cut costs up to 60% in order to generate more products.
