Community Partnerships

Empowering Small Businesses

Restaurants are vital to the local economy. We are proud to collaborate with institutional and non-profit partners including government, economic development organizations, and community developers to provide food business technical assistance, workforce training, and force-multiplying support.

City of Boston
Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Program
City of Lowell
City of Cambridge
Rhode Island Rebounds Technical Assistance

Prepshift is a Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office (SDO) certified minority and woman-owned small business and technical assistance provider for the City of Boston and the Commonwealth Corporation Workforce Training Fund.

Areas of Expertise

Prepshift partners with community organizations that support independent food businesses at all stages of development. We deliver our content through workshops, workforce training, and 1:1 technical assistance in English and Spanish.

    • Restaurant Financial Literacy

    • Forecasting and Projections

    • Accessing Funding

    • Bookkeeping Setup & Clean-Up

    • Ongoing Bookkeeping

    • Fractional CFO Services

    • Recipe Development & Costing

    • Kitchen Systems

    • SOP Documentation

    • Menu Design & Product Mix

    • POS Implementation

    • Food Cost Management

    • Green & Sustainable Operations

    • Handbook Development

    • New Manager 101

    • Team Communication

    • Performance Management

    • Labor Cost Management

    • Scheduling & Payroll Setup

    • Performance Tracking

    • Business Planning

    • PR and Storytelling

    • Mission & Vision

    • Long-term Goal Setting

    • Crowdfunding & Fundraising

    • Teamwide Financial Engagement

Selected Prior Engagements

Irene with Mayor Wu at Supplier Diversity Week

  • The City of Boston's Re-FRESH Program, which stands for Revitalization of Food Restaurants and Establishments to Stabilize Holistically, is a grant and support initiative to help small food businesses recover and grow after the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program provides grants ranging from $2,000 to $15,000 to qualifying businesses, including restaurants, bars, food trucks, and juice shops, prioritizing those in low-to-moderate-income areas. Prepshift held workshops, administered diagnostics to grantees, and delivered personalized coaching to select businesses to support sustainable growth and stability​.

  • The Cambridge Economic Opportunity & Development Division of CDD partnered with Prepshift to offer Food Business Basics, a training program that covers how to open a restaurant, food truck, or catering company. The training included six courses and one optional exam training.  Topics covered:

    • Picking a product or menu focus

    • Developing a plan for your product or menu

    • Learning about finances and how to organize bills

    • Hiring employees or getting help

    • Marketing and telling the story of the business

    Graduates from Food Business Basics left with:

    • A personal checklist of “to-do” items.

    • A network of new friends who are also trying to open a food business.

    • A better idea of where to find resources for their business.

    • A chance to take a free ServSafe exam.

  • In collaboration with the Lowell Office of Economic Development, Prepshift hosted workshops on key focus areas for restaurants that are looking to improve operations to stabilize the business or prepare for growth and provided technical assistance for select Lowell food businesses.

  • The RI Rebounds Technical Assistance Program supports small businesses that have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This program is funded through Rhode Island’s allocation of the State Fiscal Recovery Fund and managed by Rhode Island Commerce. Prepshift served as a technical assistance provider for selected food businesses.

  • The Digital Optimization Program, launched by the Revolving Test Kitchen, helped food-based small businesses in Massachusetts adopt digital tools to remain competitive, with a focus on supporting businesses in Lawrence, Andover, North Andover, Haverhill, Methuen, and Boston​.

  • The Commonwealth Kitchen Restaurant Resiliency Initiative aimed to support Boston-based BIPOC-owned restaurants affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Irene Li served as the Program Manager for this initiative, leveraging her experience in sustainable business practices and restaurant operations to guide participants. The program included a mix of group learning, one-on-one mentoring, and webinars, helping restaurant owners navigate challenges and build more resilient operations. The initiative prioritized equitable support for underrepresented entrepreneurs in the food industry​

Prepshift was a tremendous help in our Boston restaurant reuse and waste reduction project! All of the restaurants they connected me with have been fantastic to work with, and it has been a breath of fresh air to work with so many residents who are motivated to make positive, sustainable changes to their operations. Without their support, there is no way we would have gotten the quantity and quality of participating restaurants, so thank you!

Will Grassel | Product Stewardship Institute