When you think of the South Side of Chicago, you don’t usually think of flowers. But that’s exactly what Quilen Blackwell, the co-founder and president of Southside Blooms, wants everyone to do. Together with his wife Hannah, Blackwell is trying to transform the lives and the land in one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods — turning vacant lots into solar-powered flower farms that provide flowers to some of the fanciest hotels and institutions in the city while giving victims of gun violence a fresh start.
“Our mission is to use sustainability to alleviate inner city poverty,” Blackwell told The Cool Down, “and we want to create an industry that we [Chicago] can be known for.” Just as tech defines Silicon Valley and Napa is known for wine, he sees flowers as a defining opportunity for Chicago.
“We were trying to figure out ways to preserve life — and the number one way we saw to do that was through sustainable economics and using nature in a creative way to help build a flower business,” he said. After considering a few different business ideas, including urban farming, they landed on flowers, which they saw as a huge opportunity. The flower business is a $35 billion industry, but nearly 80% of cut flowers in the U.S. come from overseas.
“Why do we have to import them when we have this land available in the city?” Blackwell thought. “In Chicago, there are three to four acres of vacant land, and most of that is located in the South or West side of the city, which are predominantly Black neighborhoods,” he told us.
Read more at yahoo.com