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Strengthening our small business ecosystem, one conversation at a time.
Future Lancaster brings together business owners, entrepreneurs, community members, and the people and organizations that support them. We listen, map what already exists, and make it easier for people to find the right resources, build meaningful connections, and work together to strengthen Lancaster’s local business community.
01
Resource interviews
On the podcast, we talk with the people and programs helping Lancaster businesses start, grow, and adapt.
02
Community conversations
Roundtables where owners share what's working, what isn't, and what Lancaster needs next.
03
Local connections
Introductions and referrals that help more business happen right here.
Everything we learn is shaping the Entrepreneur Hub we're building toward for 2028.
What We’re Working On
The Future Is Local Podcast
Know the resource before you need it.
Conversations with the people, programs, lenders, organizations, and business owners helping Lancaster businesses start, grow, and adapt.
We're making the local business ecosystem easier to understand, one conversation at a time.
01
Community Conversations
Put the right people at the same table.
Small business owners, entrepreneurs, resource providers, and community members come together to talk honestly about what's working, what isn't, and what Lancaster needs next.
Then we capture what we hear, and share with the Lancaster community.
02
Local Connections
Make more business happen locally.
Lancaster has incredible talent, products, services, and expertise.
We want to make it easier to find each other, refer each other, hire each other, and look local first when possible.
03
The Entrepreneur Hub
Planning for 2028.
Entrepreneurship is happening all across Lancaster, but there’s no one place bringing it all together.
We’re working toward a physical hub where entrepreneurs can connect, learn, work, test ideas, and find the right resources under one roof.
The work happening now will help shape what that hub becomes.
04
The Future Is Local.
Conversations with the people, programs, and business owners shaping Lancaster's small business community.
Episode one drops this week.
Follow along on Instagram so you don't miss it.
What we're hearing.
Our research is just getting started, but a few things are already coming through clearly.
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Resources exist. Finding the right one can be hard.
Business owners want clearer pathways to the people, programs, funding, and expertise that fit where they are right now.
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Small businesses want more connections.
Networking is a great start. Owners also want referrals, collaboration, mentorship, shared knowledge, and relationships.
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Local reaches every part of business.
Buying local matters. So does hiring local, sourcing local, referring local, and investing local.
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Growing businesses need support too.
Starting a business gets a lot of attention. Owners also need help with the years after launch: customers, hiring, systems, capital, technology, succession, and growth.
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Change is coming fast.
AI, workforce shifts, affordability, real estate, healthcare, and technology are already changing what it means to run a small business. We need to support our community during these shifts.
These findings will continue to grow as more people participate.
Lancaster's small business ecosystem is strong.
But it can be easier to navigate, easier to connect, and easier to keep more business local.
Future Lancaster is listening to the people building businesses here, connecting them to resources and one another, and helping shape what comes next.
Join us in person.
Mixers, roundtables, and conversations where Lancaster's small business community meets, shares ideas, and builds together.
In partnership with Cultivate Lancaster
Connect. Learn. Grow. An Idea Exchange for Small Businesses
Meet other local business owners, share experiences, trade ideas, and connect with the people and programs that support Lancaster's small businesses.
- 5:30Mixer + resource connections
- 6:30Small business conversations + roundtables
- 7:30Keep the conversation going
In partnership with Ben Franklin Technology Partners
Feed the Founders
A relaxed monthly gathering for startup founders in the Lancaster area. Connect with other founders, share what you're working on, and enjoy light appetizers. Join us.
New events are on the way. Follow @futurelancaster to hear about them first.
Local projects we love.
Neighbors building cool things for Lancaster. See all local projects →
Lancaster Patchwork
A living culture map and calendar for Lancaster. Follow local venues, organizations, and groups, and see what's happening around town, all in one place.
Visit project →
Pull Up a Chair
You don't need a title, a big company, or all the answers.
If you're building something here, supporting the people who are, or simply have something worth adding to the conversation, there's room at the table.
Share your story
Own a business, or have experience that could help others? Tell us what you've learned, or join us on The Future Is Local podcast.
Join a conversation
Come to a community conversation, workshop, roundtable, or Future Lancaster gathering.
Partner with us
Resource providers, organizations, institutions, funders, and businesses: help us connect more people to what exists here in our community!
Tell us what you're seeing
Take the Future Lancaster survey and help shape the questions we explore next.
“If I start in the middle of the circle Lancaster and work my way out from there, and everybody increased their local support even a little, it could transform our economy.”
Our goal is 2028.
The work has already started.
- ListenCommunity conversations + survey
- MapResources, gaps + needs
- ConnectPeople, businesses + organizations
- AmplifyPodcast + storytelling
- TestPrograms, ideas + partnerships
- BuildAn Entrepreneur Hub, with a 2028 goal
How We Work
We listen first.
We're talking with business owners, entrepreneurs, resource providers, funders, educators, and the people doing the work every day.
Then we look for patterns. What keeps coming up? What already exists? What's missing? Who needs to know whom?
From there, we make connections, share resources, and test ideas that could strengthen Lancaster's small business community.
Where We Operate
Lancaster first.
Future Lancaster is rooted in Lancaster City and County, with connections across South Central Pennsylvania.
We believe strong local economies are built through relationships. Businesses buying from businesses, people sharing what they know, and communities making it easier for good ideas to grow.
Our Core Values
- Listen before solving. We start with the people doing the work.
- Local first. We look for talent, services, resources, and opportunities here before looking elsewhere.
- Connect and collaborate. If something good already exists, we help more people find it. Where our work overlaps with others, we partner and build on it together.
- Make it useful. Conversations should lead to connections, information, experiments, or action.
- Leave the door open. Entrepreneurs, established businesses, makers, professionals, employees, funders, and resource providers all belong in the conversation.
Why It Matters
Strong local businesses create strong communities.
They create jobs. Rent storefronts. Hire other local businesses. Sponsor teams. Support nonprofits. Build neighborhoods. Take risks. Create places we love.
And when more of our money circulates locally, more of its impact stays here.
Future Lancaster is working to make those businesses easier to find, easier to support, and better connected to the resources and people that can help them grow.
Meet Anne
Small business Owner, The Candy Factory (TCF)
Anne has long been passionate about supporting small, local businesses and the people behind them. As the founder of The Candy Factory, a coworking and social club in downtown Lancaster, she spends her days surrounded by entrepreneurs, creatives, nonprofits, and business owners who are helping shape the future of the community.
Future Lancaster grew out of that passion.
The project is about connecting local businesses with resources, creating more opportunities for collaboration, and starting conversations about what Lancaster’s small business community needs to thrive. Through interviews, community conversations, partnerships, and shared stories, Future Lancaster is working to strengthen the local ecosystem and remind people that the future of our community is local.
Look local first.
Supporting local starts with the shops and restaurants we love, and it reaches every kind of business.
Businesses can look local first, too.
A lot of that expertise already exists right here.
Before you look outside Lancaster, look here first.
Locally Owned Lancaster
We're working with local designers to design a window decal and digital mark that makes locally owned businesses easier to recognize in storefronts, online, at events, and anywhere people are deciding where to spend their dollars. More to come!
Follow the conversation.
Don't Miss the Next Conversation
Events, new episodes, and the resources we turn up along the way.