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Community Renaissance Market: a Retrospective and a Preview of What's Next
In this podcast, Ruth Glendinning shares her experience as founder of Community Renaissance Market: an innovative incubator containing 40+ microbusinesses that met the criteria of sustainable, local, organic work.
Ruth's hard work delivered significant impact and earned some recognition for the value it provided.
Additionally, the City of Austin issued a proclamation, celebrating Ruth's spirit of service to her community by observing "...during the current economic downturn, Community Renaissance Market is on an upswing, revitalizing an old building, creating community and positioning more people for a sustainable financial future."
Project genesis:
In 2009 a 60,000 square foot Albertson’s grocery store closed in Ruth's south-Austin neighborhood.
Through a series of conversations, Ruth had the unexpected opportunity to test out her ideas about growing community based microbusinesses when she was handed the keys and the freedom to use her imagination.
This was the chance for Ruth to test out her model of cultural strategy which promoted the importance of creating a balance between community, culture and commerce for a sustainable economy.
Community Renaissance Market became the pilot project needed to move from ideation to actualization as it was repurposed into a microbusiness incubator containing 40+ microbusinesses that met the criteria of sustainable, local, organic work.
Community Renaissance Market was ahead of its time and, as such, was not a financial winner in the short term, but the stories begun in an abandoned grocery store have continued to grow, and in the decade since, Ruth's relationships with the community she helped foster have deepened to reflect our shared journey as we contemplate what's next.
Many of the businesses originally incubated at Community Renaissance Market are still operating in new locations, lifelong connections between those brave souls who took a chance on themselves and others are flourishing and the seed of an idea has continued to blossom & grow.
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By Kent Dahlgren
4.5
88 ratings
In this podcast, Ruth Glendinning shares her experience as founder of Community Renaissance Market: an innovative incubator containing 40+ microbusinesses that met the criteria of sustainable, local, organic work.
Ruth's hard work delivered significant impact and earned some recognition for the value it provided.
Additionally, the City of Austin issued a proclamation, celebrating Ruth's spirit of service to her community by observing "...during the current economic downturn, Community Renaissance Market is on an upswing, revitalizing an old building, creating community and positioning more people for a sustainable financial future."
Project genesis:
In 2009 a 60,000 square foot Albertson’s grocery store closed in Ruth's south-Austin neighborhood.
Through a series of conversations, Ruth had the unexpected opportunity to test out her ideas about growing community based microbusinesses when she was handed the keys and the freedom to use her imagination.
This was the chance for Ruth to test out her model of cultural strategy which promoted the importance of creating a balance between community, culture and commerce for a sustainable economy.
Community Renaissance Market became the pilot project needed to move from ideation to actualization as it was repurposed into a microbusiness incubator containing 40+ microbusinesses that met the criteria of sustainable, local, organic work.
Community Renaissance Market was ahead of its time and, as such, was not a financial winner in the short term, but the stories begun in an abandoned grocery store have continued to grow, and in the decade since, Ruth's relationships with the community she helped foster have deepened to reflect our shared journey as we contemplate what's next.
Many of the businesses originally incubated at Community Renaissance Market are still operating in new locations, lifelong connections between those brave souls who took a chance on themselves and others are flourishing and the seed of an idea has continued to blossom & grow.