From Greenhouse to Community Incubator

How Grow Benzie powers rural connections

Tucked on the Frankfort Highway, just a stone’s throw from the Betsie River watershed, sits a former homestead that is now one of Benzie County’s most vital community hubs. Grow Benzie, formed in 2008 by the Benzie County Human Services Collaborative Body, is a rural prosperity incubator that offers support to entrepreneurs, farmers, nonprofits, artists, and local community leaders.

Inside its four-acre campus is an industrial kitchen, where businesses such as Off the Hook Tacos and Redfelr Hot Sauce create their menus. A sewing studio equipped with Husqvarna sewing machines fills with volunteers and students weekly. Its 3,000-square-foot event space hosts weddings, fundraisers, meetings, community events, and concerts.

Starting in the Soil

Grow Benzie started as a community-centered garden space. “The greenhouses are where we first rolled out our education series on how to grow gardens,” says Josh Stoltz, Grow Benzie’s executive director.

During the organization’s first years, Grow Benzie grew a reputation for growing food and selling produce. “But we realized that was turning out to be more of a competition with local farmers and not a really sustainable program. Now we have up-and-coming farmers who use this space as a low-risk entry point entering the food farming market,” Stolz says.

In 2013, the organization opened its commercial kitchen and a food truck program in 2016, funded by a grant from Goodwill Industries. In 2017, a significant grant from Rotary Charities helped expand and improve its facilities, allowing Grow Benzie more room to take on local collaborators and adding edible trails (think a trail lined with edible plants like brambles, berries, and herbs), wayfinding signage, and increased parking.

As the organization grew, it was clear there was a need to pivot to becoming a community center. “We found out there was a strong need in rural communities to have a backbone organization that can be a one-stop shop,” says Stoltz. With funding from grants and private donors, the four-acre campus added sewing studios, hoop houses, and event spaces.

In 2020, Grow Benzie used its momentum to become a coordination center during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Volunteers sewed masks for first responders and distributed them across Benzie County with help from Benzie Bus, the region’s transit agency.

As businesses closed, new programs and entrepreneurs took advantage of the spaces Grow Benzie provided. With assistance from the MSU Organic Farm Training Program, local farmers used the greenhouses as incubators for their businesses. “With COVID, it just kind of grew up,” says Stoltz.

For example, entrepreneur Carol Bontekoe used Grow Benzie’s space to create the popular produce brand and social media persona New Dawn Fields.

As the threat from COVID eased, the organization analyzed assembled focus groups to develop a new strategy. In 2023, it completed its new strategic plan to concentrate its efforts and resources on becoming a prosperity incubator for Benzie County.

According to Stoltz, local entrepreneurs and organizations lacking startup costs and staff can share Grow Benzie’s resources and spaces. “They’re able to really focus on what they’re doing and lean on us to be the physical sponsor and the bookkeeper.”

Growing into the Next Phase

Grow Benzie’s next step is communicating its new role as a collaborative body for Benzie County.

“How do we sustain ourselves by being that connector? By telling the story of how much we connect. So it’s this circle of communication with the public, this feedback loop to say here’s what those needs are,” says Stoltz.

Today, the organization’s greatest challenges include connecting the right collaborators and growing sustainably.

“Whenever someone hears about this space and what we’re doing, they love it. They want to donate, they want to volunteer,” says Stoltz. But with more interest comes the need for more staff. “We’re in this conundrum of growth, but we also don’t want to rely on grants for major funding. We’re going after capacity-building grants to help us stagger-step without over-committing. Some nonprofits might get a grant and hire a few people and then not have a plan after that grant is done.”

With this stagger-step approach, Grow Benzie can give its partners access to its resources while growing at a sustainable rate.

“We see the need, we plan for ways to meet the need, but we do it in a way that is very careful to match the resources that we have available to the staffing structure,” says Jane Klieve, President of Grow Benzie’s Board of Directors.

Currently, Grow Benzie employs several staff, including its Growth Manager, Jackie Borozan. The organization also works with a revolving crew of dedicated volunteers. As Klieve points out, the goal of bettering the community unites everyone associated with the organization.

“One of the things that brings me great joy is that our staff and our board members all have an enthusiasm for this community and a desire to work together to make it the best it can be.”

Looking to the Future

Grow Benzie continues to pivot towards new responsibilities within Benzie County and northern Michigan. In 2025, it was selected as a host organization to provide broadband internet for thousands of community members.

“The broadband initiative positioned us to continue this cross-collaboration across government and nonprofit organizations. To have Grow Benzie positioned to be the leading organization for that collaboration and to make it come to life was really exciting,” says Klieve.

For 2025, the team hopes to expand its role as an idea incubator for the community. The organization reaches beyond its campus to include holiday markets, concerts such as the Benzie Bayou, and events such as its Startup Bootcamp. It also hosts several guilds, including its popular Bee Guild, where expert beekeepers mentor students and host bee-keeping workshops.

As many nonprofits nationwide face funding cuts and uncertainty, Grow Benzie continues to look for new ways to support its partners and foster new relationships.

“We label partners as organizations we provide services to and have some sort of relationship with,” says Stoltz. Whether partners use the kitchen space, garden, or event spaces, Stoltz believes that partnerships with Grow Benzie can reach farther than they ever imagined. “A collaborative body is much more effective in pursuing these shared goals.”

Learn more about Grow Benzie at growbenzie.org.

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