NEON Collective Kitchens
A commitment to our community
Food entrepreneurship is a pathway out of poverty that creates careers and future wealth. With no shared commercial kitchens available in North Minneapolis, food entrepreneurs are displaced and find difficulty operating successful business ventures.
With the expansion of the Northside Food Business Incubator, we will provide reliable and affordable resource for entrepreneurs to start, thrive and grow their businesses.
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A Commitment To Our Community
As a company that prides itself on being at the forefront of innovation, NEON recognizes the significant impact that the commercial kitchen will have on the community beyond the financial benefits it brings. We understand that starting a business is not only a daunting task, but it can also be an emotional and psychological rollercoaster ride, filled with uncertainties, anxieties, and fears. Therefore, we are committed to ensuring that our incubator provides a supportive and nurturing environment that fosters creativity, collaboration, and growth.
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NEON Collective Kitchens is more than just a space for entrepreneurs to work on their business ideas. It is a place where the community can connect with other like-minded individuals, collaborate on projects, and access the resources they need to bring their ideas to life. By providing a high-level production facility, we are ensuring that entrepreneurs have access to the latest technologies and equipment, enabling them to produce high-quality products and services.
A Major Milestone for Collective Kitchens
As you can see, in the photos, the facility is as impressive as we envisioned. NEON Collective Kitchens includes up to 22 rentable kitchen workspaces designed to support a wide range of food businesses—from food trucks and caterers to restaurants, consumer packaged goods producers, and front-facing retail vendors. The equipment is state-of-the-art, and the layout was shaped directly by food entrepreneurs to ensure the space truly meets their needs.
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Reaching this point is something we're deeply proud of. NEON Collective Kitchens represents years of listening, planning, partnership, and persistence. More importantly, it represents long-term, community-owned infrastructure—creating space for entrepreneurs to grow businesses, create jobs, and build wealth in North Minneapolis.
At the same time, completing the building is not the finish line. It's the beginning of a new phase of stewardship and impact.
On December 30, 2025, the City of Minneapolis issued a Certificate of Occupancy, marking the transition from years of planning and construction into operations—and into a new chapter of community-owned infrastructure for North Minneapolis. On Friday, January 16th, Mortenson Construction formally transferred the building to NEON. We would like to recognize the Mortenson Construction team, Tri-Construction, and LSE Architects for the care, precision, and commitment they brought to this project. They took a bold, community-driven vision and delivered a first-of-its-kind facility for Minnesota—on time and budget. We are especially grateful to Dan Kingston, Mortenson's Project Manager, for navigating challenges thoughtfully and going above and beyond to ensure a first-class outcome.
What Comes Next
We are finalizing safety and operating procedures, installing kitchen scheduling software, and preparing for onboarding and training. We are also in the process of identifying several front-facing food vendors who will operate out of the ground-floor retail spaces, helping activate the building and create a welcoming, community-centered experience.
NEON Collective Kitchens now has its own dedicated website, where you can learn more about what's ahead.
Grand Opening Celebration
We're planning an official Grand Opening celebration on May 20-21, 2026, with more details to come. We hope you'll save the dates!
This project would not exist without the support, belief, and partnership of people like you. Thank you for helping us reach this milestone—and for continuing to walk alongside us as we move from vision to operations and impact.
The Groundbreaking
In October 2024, NEON broke ground on our 24,000-square-foot commercial kitchen—an exciting milestone in our mission to support local food entrepreneurs. Take a look at the highlights from the groundbreaking ceremony, and stay tuned—we can’t wait to welcome you to the grand opening!
