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Locally Grown <br />According to a report from national restaurant association, 56% of the consumers <br />say their primary reason for preferring locally sourced food is that it supports farms and <br />producers in their communities. Hence, locally grown food and products made from <br />them are a major attraction for the incubator to attract customers. In this context, free <br />locally growing food vendors need to be contacted for their interest in participating in an <br />incubator. However, we found locally grown organizations were especially difficult to <br />initiate contact with, likely due to the seasonal nature of many of these businesses, <br />coupled with the fact that the survey was conducted in early March 2018. However, <br />these organizations indicated that storage and the high prices of equipment were <br />barriers that would serve as a detriment to their expansion. <br />The other goal of the survey of locally grown organizations was to determine their <br />potential interest in workforce development programs a kitchen incubator could offer. <br />Responses to this question were mixed, but respondents were most interested in a <br />supply of long-term employees. <br />Food trucks <br />Food trucks are another collaborative part of food incubators. A list of food trucks <br />in Minnesota have been compiled for survey analysis. They have been contacted to <br />gauge how many of them are interested in branch out in Ramsey although responses <br />from them have been very limited. More labor supply discussions will be carried out in <br />the relevant section. We sought to interview food trucks, both within and outside of <br />Minnesota, as potential tenants for the City's food incubator. We saw the potential of <br />food trucks accessing the incubator as both an increased kitchen space, as well as a <br />prospective location for establishing themselves in a brick -and -mortar space. The <br />Wandering Mug, which is a food truck that operates in primarily Minneapolis and St. <br />Paul, were asked why they chose to operate in the cities they do. They responded: <br />• [We] follow the large events around because that's where the big money is. <br />• St. Paul has the least restrictive licensing and is easy to work for street sales <br />The key point here is the idea of reducing the restriction in licensing. This preference to <br />work in less restrictive environments is likely one shared by other food trucks in Greater <br />Minnesota and should be noted by the City of Ramsey. Grill Works Truck, which also <br />operates primarily within the Twin Cities, was asked about obstacles in expanding their <br />service area. They answered: <br />• None of my identified locations (Minneapolis -St. Paul). I have run into problems <br />in other cities as those cities don't want food trucks. <br />This point raised by Grill Works is a notable one — if people in the CDA do not <br />want a food truck, then food trucks attempting to operate there will not succeed. <br />Ramsey lacks the sheer population numbers of Minneapolis and St. Paul, but also lacks <br />an established food truck culture. It may thus be difficult for food trucks to operate <br />14 <br />