Refurban creates innovative partnerships to redirect leftover resources and stimulate local economies. The solutions help offset operational cost for our Waste Redirection Initiative (WRI); which trains and employs re-entering ex-felons, at-risk youth and returning veterans to sort, de-manufacture and repurpose usable materials. By partnering with state and local government we are able to eliminate taxpayer burden and inner city blight caused by distressed and vacant properties; by turning the buildings into WRI facilities, it will double as an accelerator serving minority-owned companies with a sustainability focus. Over the summer of 2017, we acquired the old "Kroger Bakery" and began the historic renovation of the 1941 building, a massive 77,000-sq. ft. facility sitting on 2.1 acres located at 1029 Florida Street, in South Memphis (an underserved community). From the 1940's to 1999, this facility was Kroger's largest facility employing nearly 400 workers and supplying thousands of grocery locations within the national chain. Our adaptive reuse of the facility is bringing hundreds of jobs and a sense of pride back to the area.
