Community Update #2: Building Momentum on the Food Access Project

Building Something Real in Bloomingdale

It's been a quiet few weeks in Bloomingdale — the kind of quiet that looks like nothing is happening from the outside. But from where we're standing, it doesn't feel quiet at all.

Since our first community meeting in January, the Bloomingdale Development Association has been doing what matters most right now: building the foundation. Not the exciting part. Not the ribbon-cutting part. The foundation.

The boring stuff that makes everything else possible.

If you're just joining us: Wagoner's — Bloomingdale's only grocery store — closed on December 21st, 2025. That left our village of 460+ people without a place to buy food. No other grocery store is coming to fill the gap. So the community is building its own: a cooperative grocery store, owned by its members, governed by the people who shop there. The Bloomingdale Development Association is leading the effort — pursuing federal grants, negotiating for a building, forming the cooperative corporation, and organizing the community support that makes it all possible. That's the project. Here's where it stands.

You can meet the people leading this effort on our updated Board page at bda-mi.org/about.

Our board has formally adopted financial compliance policies, conflict of interest procedures, and governance structures that meet federal grant requirements. This is the paperwork that tells USDA Rural Development: "This organization is serious. This project is real. Fund it with confidence." It's not glamorous. But it's the difference between a grant application that gets funded and one that gets filed.

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The Money

We're pursuing a $465,000 USDA Rural Business Development Grant — the primary funding source for acquiring and renovating the building that will become our community's food access hub. Our application has been rated "strong" by the consultant who reviewed it. We're preparing for an informational review with USDA Rural Development before the formal submission window opens.

At the same time, we're filing an equipment grant with the Michigan Department of Agriculture for the shelving, kitchen equipment, and processing space. And we've started conversations with the Michigan Good Food Fund — a community development lender specifically designed for food enterprises like ours.

These aren't long shots. These are the right conversations with the right people at the right time.

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The Building

We've submitted an offer to the Bloomingdale Area Improvement Club — the nonprofit that owns the former Wagoner's building. Our proposal: a land contract. We take over the building, cover the taxes and insurance, make monthly payments, and secure the property for the community.

We're not the only ones interested. But we believe we're the right ones.

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The Cooperative

Here's what we're most excited about: the grocery store won't be owned by a single person or even by BDA. It will be owned by you. A standalone cooperative corporation — community-owned, member-governed, built to last. With guidance from MSU's Cooperative Development Program and the Food Co-Op Initiative, we're forming the cooperative structure that will own and operate the store.

That means founding members will have a voice in how the store runs, what it carries, and how it grows. It means the profits stay local. This isn't just a store — it's a community asset.

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The Community

We've received letters of support from the Village Council, the Township Council, and the Van Buren County District Library. Three levels of institutional backing. Each letter says the same thing: Bloomingdale needs this, and the community supports it.

Now we need your voice too.

Sign the Community Pledge of Support. It takes 30 seconds. Every signature strengthens our applications and tells funders: this community wants this project.

If you know a farmer or food producer who might want to sell through the co-op, send them a link to our food access page (bda-mi.org/food-access-project). Word of mouth is how this grows.

We're building toward a summer 2026 opening. The foundation is laid. Now we build.

3 Ways to Help Right Now

1. Share the Community Pledge

Link: https://forms.gle/MHTmW3RxNXKMGsE98

Text it to everyone you know. Post on social media. Community groups. The more signatures, the stronger we look.

Sample text: "I'm supporting the Bloomingdale Food Access Project — bringing a community-owned grocery store to Bloomingdale after our store closed. Can you sign the pledge? 30 seconds: https://forms.gle/MHTmW3RxNXKMGsE98"

2. Become an Ambassador for the Food Access C0-Op

Become a Community Ambassador — if you want to do more than sign, become an ambassador. Share the pledge with your neighbors, talk about the project at community events, help us build the support that makes this real.

Sign up to be a Community Ambassador → (https://forms.gle/QtT5hcktW19E5o6V8)

3. If you know a farmer or food producer who might want to sell through the co-op, connect them with us. Word of mouth is how this grows.

We're building toward a summer 2026 opening. The foundation is laid. Now we build.

Thank you for being part of this from the beginning.

— Kurtis Dickerson, Executive Director, Bloomingdale Development Association

bda-mi.org | info@bda-mi.org

Need to submit a letter of support for your business? Email info@bda-mi.org and we'll send you the template.