Community Highlights: Meet Asad Shabazz of The Hub Community Development Corporation

Today we’d like to introduce you to Asad Shabazz.

Hi Asad, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers. 
I moved to Columbus Ohio from Moundsville West Virginia on October 13th, 1979, at the age of 12. Being a country boy Columbus was a shock a real culture shop community, and wasn’t around black folks a lot, but when I moved to Columbus, it’s shocked me. When I was growing up my grandfather owned a little farm a pig farm, chickens all that stuff. I grew up involved in a farm that my friend’s family had, and we spent lots of time growing up doing that, but when I moved to Columbus we were in the urban sector, and we didn’t see the food a lot so my mother still would grow food in the backyard and she always took us out to Smith farms to pick fresh vegetables and fruits. Growing into adulthood I always maintain some level of growing food in my yard. I even moved to Puerto Rico 20 years ago where we maintain a little small farm about 60 or so chickens with multiple fruit trees in my yard in coconut trees. Agriculture has been in my blood since my birth in one way shape, or form it has shaped my reality as I continue in this pursuit. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing good is easy but we have had some help commissioner Kevin Boyce stepped up and supported our efforts for the last 2 years, but it is important for us to gain more support, so we are going before him soon to ask for continued help as we unveil our plan for the future. The challenges that we always face is having start-up money that is significant money because even though the smaller grants are nice and are very helpful, we can never compete with commercial growing if we don’t have commercial-level investment into a project of the scale that we are planning. It is very necessary for us to have a major infusion of cash, and with around 1.4 million investment we will be able to generate about $3 million per year that would be sustainable. 

As you know, we’re big fans of The Hub Community Development Corporation. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
10 years ago, I formed an organization called The Hub Community Development Corporation and as a part of that workforce in economic development organization agriculture has always been at its roots so 2 years ago, we organized a social Enterprise of the Hub CDC called Fresh Life Farmers Market. The idea is for us to be able to grow fresh fruits and vegetables, including microgreens and hydroponic growing along with soil-based growing, composting, and fish in this Urban setting and set ourselves up to provide produce and other items to what are called ethnic grocery stores along with providing fresh fruits and vegetables for corner store carryouts. 

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
This particular venture of mine I started 10 years ago but my first venture started 40 years ago then I started another venture 33 years ago and another venture 33 years ago as well. The reason why I am mentioning that is because the advice that I would give someone starting is something very similar to having a baby the process starts off with you by yourself joined to another and that coming together, producing a life. While the child is growing in the mother she must eat right, think right, have right people around her, stay away from certain things because even though the child is not born in order to have a healthy and productive child and birth none of these things should be ignored. And all of this happens before the child is even born then when the child comes out, I mean the mother is pushing and pushing and screaming and in pain and this baby comes out full of blood and fluid looking at hot mess and at that moment you’re excited happy to see what was being formed in her womb then you have to take care of the child feed the child make sure that the child is healthy and communicating and spending time with the child and also taking care of the mother all of this is critically important but it doesn’t stop there Year One year two year five year eight year 15 year 17 year 18 you don’t ever stop raising your child you feed into the child and if you do it right hopefully when you’re old and gray your child will look after you. I hope that your reader can get the analogy the metaphor because that’s what business is like it takes a lot you can’t just go home and lay down because the business will cry out you can’t just leave it alone because it needs your care well at any rate, I think you get the point. 

Contact Info:

• Website: Hubcdc.com and FreshLifeFarmersmarket.com