Heartland Foundation says Hesston grocery project continues; board restructured and cash position improving

Denise Gilbert, chair of the Beneficient Heartland Foundation (BHF), told the Joint Committee on Nov. 7 that the foundation continues to pursue a downtown Hesston grocery store and has taken steps to increase local control, reduce project capital needs and advance a sustainable concept.

Gilbert said the board has reworked its bylaws to give local community leaders more decision-making authority; Beneficient now holds only two seats (a local BFF resident and a Beneficient representative) and the rest of the board is local. The building committee has met weekly for more than three years and, Gilbert said, has secured property, worked with architects and construction professionals, and reached an agreement in principle with White's Foodliner as a potential operator.

Gilbert told the committee the foundation's current cash position is just over $838,000 and it was expecting an additional distribution of approximately $650,000 within the next week. She said the foundation's beneficial interest in underlying alternative-asset investments is valued at just under $12,000,000. Gilbert emphasized the foundation's goal is a sustainable grocery store ' large enough that local residents can do full shopping locally, unlike a convenience or Dollar General-style offering.

Board restructuring, Gilbert said, removed previous dominance by the founder's influence and returned the project to local leadership; Representative King and others praised Gilbert's local engagement. Gilbert also confirmed the BHF grocery store LLC had forfeited its Kansas standing for a failure to file an annual report, and said the foundation's accountants were working to correct the filing for that LLC.

Why it matters: a grocery store in Hesston is the project the community and the foundation repeatedly cited when the TEFI law passed; the foundation argued that visible project progress and sustainable design are important to stimulate Main Street economic activity and support other small businesses.

Provenance: Heartland Foundation remarks began at 00:50:41 and included details on board changes, construction planning, and current cash and expected distributions: "Our current cash position right now at BHF is just over 838,000 that is available to us. And we're expecting another distribution coming down of approximately 650,000 in the next, within the next week."