Leadership Lafayette Team Launches Event to Support Food, Beverage Entrepreneurs in Oxford

The Leadership Lafayette’s class of 2023 has embarked on a project to impact local food and beverage entrepreneurs and stimulate the local economy.

Through a one-night culinary event — dubbed The Snack Down — customers will sample products from cottage foods producers, home chefs, bakers, restaurant startups, mixologists, caterers, food trucks, and more.

The event is now seeking applications from vendors interested in participating in the event, and sponsors to support the event and its mission. Applications for vendors are due by 11:59 p.m. on July 10.

Twenty vendors will be selected and they will be contacted about two weeks after the application period. The sponsorship pledges deadline is July 7.

Located at The Powerhouse (operated by Yoknapatawpha Arts Council), The Snack Down will occur at 6 p.m. on Aug. 17. The event will feature bite-sized offerings from Oxford and Lafayette County food makers, restaurateurs, food trucks, mixologists and more.

With sponsorships from Cathead Distillery and the mixology talents of Joe Stinchcomb of Bar Muse, a cocktail will be included in the ticket price for all guests. 

“It’s really important to have a commissary kitchen for the community to elevate businesses from being a hobby to being an actual business,” said Joe Stinchcomb, owner of Bar Muse which is located on the Historic Oxford Square. “This will help smaller operations grow, and in turn help the community have more small businesses which is what you need in a thriving small town like Oxford.”

The Leadership Lafayette team was inspired to create a food and wine festival-style event with panels and discussions but decided to focus on just the producers and their products with a small, one-night-only event.

The team is one of four teams in this year’s Leadership Lafayette class, and is comprised of Mike Burks (Oxford Police Department), Mason Chapin (Thompson CAT), Cassie DiMauro (formerly with Roberts Wilson, P.A.), Elizabeth Tettleton Mason (University of Mississippi), Amelia Miller Ott (Oxford Newsmedia), and Eathen Rainey (BankPlus).

“Writers and restaurateurs like John Currence, Vishwesh Bhatt, Joel Miller and John T. Edge solidified Oxford’s place in the country for fine dining and ‘southern food,’ but that doesn’t tell the whole story of our community,” said Elizabeth Tettleton Mason, member of the Leadership Lafayette 2023 cohort. “The new businesses aren’t being seen on a national or state-wide scale, and often are struggling to survive past their first year of business. The pandemic was a huge blow to their growth as well.”

The LOU Community has entrepreneurs with a desire to launch businesses in Oxford or to scale their operations to the next level, but they need resources. Often coming from historically underrepresented, minoritized groups, and many are first-generation business owners. Because of this, processes like creating a business plan, forming an LLC, applying for Small Business Development Loans, and finding affordable production spaces that meet MSDH regulations become a huge barrier to entry and reduce their potential for success.

“The creative economy is a key driver of jobs, small business growth and tourism in Lafayette County,” said Wayne Andrews, Executive Director of the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, who is co-hosting the event.  “Events such as this demonstrate the thriving small business community and the need for resources to support small businesses.” 

YAC has established many networking events and programs to aid entrepreneurs in the area, and they recognize that space is limited in Oxford for these businesses to begin. YAC is ahead of the game – they are in the process of forming a creative work-share space, adjacent to the Powerhouse – the new Humanities Hub (OxfordArts.com/hub), or “The Hub” for short. After receiving a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, they are halfway there. To make the Hub a reality, raising $3 Million more is needed.

“Our planned Humanities Hub will be a space where business and art intersect. By providing space to creative business owners, such as food entrepreneurs, we create new businesses and have diverse cultural representation that is accessible to the community,” Andrews said.

The Snack Down event was fashioned with a few goals in mind: showcase small F&B business talent in Oxford, generate funds for The Hub’s creation and needed equipment, connect F&B small businesses with resources and networks, and grow community through food, fun and fundraising in Oxford. 

“I can see this growing into an event that brings people to Oxford from across the country,” said Tettleton Mason. “Our state doesn’t have a mainstay ‘food and wine festival’ – a few have popped up for a year or two, but have not been solidified as a cornerstone of our state. I’d love for Oxford to be the one to create the next ‘Atlanta’ or ‘Charleston’ Food & Wine Festival that brings people from all over the country to our state each year.”

There is a limit of 200 tickets, available to persons 18 years or older. Tickets go on sale June 15 at $25 per ticket, and $20 for guests who have an active membership with the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council or Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce and can be purchased until 5 p.m. on Aug. 17. If tickets are remaining, they may be available at the door. A cash bar will be available with proceeds going to the fundraising efforts. 

To become a sponsor, email visit OxfordArts.con/SnackDown to sponsor. Alternatively, contact a Leadership Lafayette team member through SnackDownOxford@gmail.com to discuss ways to sponsor gift-in-kind or other supporting arrangements. An invoice for tax purposes will be provided to sponsors from the Chamber of Commerce. 

Leadership Lafayette, which began in 1989, is a program of the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce.  The eight-month program is a series of training sessions and activities designed for emerging community leaders intended to assure the continuity of leadership in the Lafayette-Oxford-University community and assist already established community leaders, who are seeking more effective ways to contribute to the community.  In addition to the monthly sessions, class members also participate in a community-based project.

Staff report