A Lively Mission About Farm, Food, Family and Fun

The Lively family is on a mission.  A lively mission at that.

That mission is rapidly unfolding on twenty-acres of well-positioned property in Leelanau County near Burdickville, east of the Village of Empire on M-72 – a place for family to converge, work, thrive and benefit their community.

Jim and Kelly Lively acquired the property in 2019 from the Fraternal Order of Eagles which included a 4,000 square foot pole barn and a partially complete commercial kitchen.  Jim Lively said he’s taken the lead on much of the development work on the parcel since leaving his full-time job in 2022.

For daughter Emily and her husband Robert, it’s an opportunity to create space for events and operate a 40-site rustic and glamping campground.  It was Emily’s vision for a small, carefully curated music festival called “LivelyLands“ that connected the Lively’s to the property.  And now she’s working on plans to connect her campground with community events and creating a space for her family to live on the property.

The property was also an opportunity for daughter Jane to expand her small vegetable farm, adding several acres of vegetables and flowers, in partnership with mom Kelly Lively.  The Lively Farm is a fixture at area farmers markets through community-supported shares and, this summer, at a farm stand on the property.

For parents Jim and Kelly, it’s using capital from Venture North Funding and Development and the consultation of Annie Olds, Business Development Manager and Business Coach for Venture North, to advance their vision for a micro food hub to feed the community year-round through a commercial kitchen, local food market and, eventually, a café.

The commercial kitchen will be operating this fall and plans are underway to expand the building into a local food retail business.  The goal is to open the “NeighborFood Market” by May 2024 in partnership with neighboring farms, including daughter Jane’s Lively Farm, to provide fresh, processed and prepared foods.

“Farmer Jane” Lively, a new roof installation and working the fields.

Lively saw a successful example for the NeighborFood Market in Ann Arbor at the Argus Farm Stop.  The model relies on consignment sales, creating a partnership to sell locally grown food daily to the community, in addition to existing weekly farmers markets in Empire and Glen Arbor. There will be a complement of local grocery items in addition to fresh vegetables and flowers including meats, cheeses, dairy, baked goods and processed foods that will also be available in the adjacent kitchen. The Market will also serve on-site campers and drive-by tourists with hot and cold drinks, locally produced snacks, ice cream and local art and souvenirs.

“My target for success is having full shelves of healthy, locally grown food for our community during the off-season months of February, March and April,” Lively said.  “By collaborating with area farms to store, process and prepare their products year-round, I believe we can support a shift in how we eat, and lock in the economic benefits of a local food system.  And we can have fun doing it!”

“First and foremost, we’re creating opportunities to work with our family, including our grandchildren, to do the things we love to support our community,” says Lively.  “Call it placemaking, a food hub, farming, entertainment and performances.  The answer is yes to all of those things.”

Both Lively’s are well-versed in rural development and local food issues – Jim through his 22-year tenure at the Michigan Land Use Institute and the Groundwork Center – Kelly through nearly a decade of work for Cherry Capital Foods. The Lively’s secured a $68,000 loan from Venture North Funding and Development with the help of Annie Olds, a longtime mentor and advisor in farming, business development and small business support programs.  Funds are being used to build out the commercial kitchen, retail and food hub space and to reroof the building.  The building has space to expand in a future phase to add a local food café which will require a larger septic system and public bathrooms.  The entire property is “fossil-fuel free”, using only electric appliances as well as heating and cooling systems.  The Lively’s are seeking grant funds under the Federal Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) for a rooftop solar array that will allow them to generate most of their own power, and are considering engaging the community in a crowdfunding campaign to help launch the market.

“It was no surprise that Annie was fabulous to work with in securing much-needed guidance and capital,” said Lively.  “She’s a powerful advocate for small businesses and, of course, her long experience in farming and northern Michigan food production make her a perfect mentor and advocate for the growth of our business.”

“I love this project because it bodes well for what we do at Venture North,” said Annie Olds.  “Jim and I began working together because he needed to borrow money.  As with any new business there was a litany of ideas, challenges and family dynamics that played into our work.  The Lively’s aren’t just a family-owned business, but they are also growing a family of businesses whose individual successes depend on each other.  This was no small feat and Jim is positioned well to bring this dream to life.”

“We’ve come a long way in welding the ingredients together so our twenty acres can serve the needs of our family and community so everyone can prosper,” Lively says.  “That last name of ours has also become a theme for these twenty acres and all who have partnered with us in making our dream a reality.”

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