The Collective in 2024
Written December 21, 2023 by Mandy Krickhahn // Images by Allison Hadley, Hadley Media
It’s a few days before Christmas as I write this, and it’s hard to believe 2023 is almost over, which means we will soon celebrate five years of The Collective! When The Collective began in 2019, I never would have imagined the impact this little idea would have once it came to fruition. Our main goal with The Collective was not only to support small businesses, but give back to the community, and we’ve been able to do just that.
Since 2019, there has been growth in all aspects of The Collective. Our membership has grown from 12 to over 100 entrepreneurs from all different industries and backgrounds. We’ve gone from a team of two, down to one, and now soon to be six (with the original two back together, love you, G!), while adding “creating good jobs” to our goals.
We’ve been able to raise and donate over $40,000 to nearly 20 area nonprofits and causes, and we’ve hosted dozens of events that have supported hundreds of small businesses. While we are proud of our accomplishments over the last five years, we are looking forward to 2024 and beyond and have some big things in the works that I’m excited to share with you!
First, what is currently The Collective Group, LLC (TCG) will be split into 2 separate entities. SAY WHAT!? That’s right, TCG will remain and house our membership program & consulting services (more on these later). We will also have a new entity, The Collective Events, Inc. (TCE), which will run as a nonprofit as we await the approval of our 501c3 status. In 2024, we will begin running our Farmed & Forged Producers Market & our artisan markets under this new entity. While this is a bit of a change, our goals remain the same with both: support small businesses, give back to the community and provide good jobs. As always, we will continue doing givebacks for other area nonprofits/causes through our events!
We will also be revamping our membership offerings and benefits packages. We know our members are in all different stages of their businesses, so we wanted to make our packages more flexible to each person’s needs. We will have our basic membership that all members currently have (with a few small tweaks), and we will also offer optional add-on packages that include extra promotion, marketing and consulting! Additionally, we’ve always required members to be the owner of their business, but will be changing that this year. We want to welcome organizations, such as nonprofits and larger businesses, that may not have the owner available to be a part of our community. Whether someone makes lip balms in their kitchen part time, runs a multi-million dollar business, is the GM for a local restaurant, or is an executive director at a nonprofit, there is a space at our table for everyone to learn, grow and contribute to the conversation.
On top of expanding our membership offerings, we will also be expanding our consulting services to include marketing and social media on top of our current event and brand consulting services. Need some graphic design work? Want a social media audit and training to help you grow your following? Want a website built? We got you! These will be tailored specifically for small businesses by small business owners. We cannot wait to roll this out in Q2!
We are also thrilled about signing a two-year contract with The City of La Porte to run Farmed & Forged Market for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. This has truly been one of my favorite projects over the last five years, and I cannot wait to see what our team and amazing collaborators come up with for the next 2 years!
Be sure to follow along with our stories this month as our team will be sharing sneak peeks from behind the scenes as we get ready for our fifth anniversary celebration, the Farmed & Forged Off-Season Market and the first membership open enrollment of the year!
Mandy Krickhahn, Owner / Founder, The Collective
