The Hub Project seeks to develop facilities at the BBCLT in order to foster and house cottage industries, provide employment, and create economic opportunities for community members. The Hub building is envisioned to have multi-use spaces and functions that will hopefully grow into an important social and commercial community gathering place. It’s a concept as old as the community model itself – a town center for commerce and services. Today we can extend our marketplace by providing a global online platform to market Big Bend products. We plan to offer facilities and services for community members that will allow our town’s many skilled artists, hard workers, and creative entrepreneurs to shine.

One of Big Bend’s Most Popular Ideas and Important Needs is the Common Dream of Having Some Kind of a Café, a Restaurant, and/or a Coffee Shop:

Having a place to gather always helps build community cohesiveness, and the need for a place to dine is often voiced by many in Big Bend.  This will provide healthy nutrition, jobs, an outlet for selling and distributing local food products, and will give Big Bend a more diverse and interactive social scene. When some kind of café is established, there is no doubt it can be financially successful, since Big Bend is so remote and very much in need of an eatery in the growing town. Local fund-raising events where meals are sold at the local school and Community Club are always very popular and well-attended.

One idea is to establish a certified commercial kitchen that can be used to prepare and serve meals as fund-raisers for the BBCLT and other local causes. The kitchen could then also be rented out to local chefs for occasional or weekly breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner events, which might be easier and simpler than starting a full-time restaurant business. With the right chefs and managers, this kind of community kitchen could evolve into a fully functioning café or small restaurant.

Money raised by the Hub project from space rentals and events can be used to support the goals and development of the Hub itself and other BBCLT projects and needs. We plan to eventually create a commercial center that provides a variety of residents with employment and a marketplace for locally-made goods and locally-grown foods. Ideas for potential future components of the Hub include, but are not limited to:

Some Ideas for Hub Building Designs: