Nightingale Ice Cream

Challenge

Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches grew from a small, locally owned firm to distributing its products in more than 5,000 retailers nationwide. In December 2024, the company reached out the City of Richmond and Greater Richmond Partnership for information requests. It needed to expand its workforce to meet production demand for stores such as Target, Whole Foods, Kroger and Walmart.

Partners

GRP worked with its local partners at the City of Richmond’s Department of Economic and Community Development as well as state partners at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP).

GRP’s role

After attending meetings with the company and economic development partners to determine the scope and needs of the expansion, GRP offered data and research to inform the company’s decision.

Solution

In May 2025, Nightingale Ice Cream announced plans to hire 166 employees to work around-the-clock to meet production needs.

“We’re deeply grateful for the support which will help us accelerate our growth while staying true to our Richmond, Virginia roots. As we expand, our commitment to this community remains stronger than ever.” — Hannah Pollack, Nightingale Ice Cream CEO, President and Co-Founder

Next steps

VEDP will support Nightingale’s job creation through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which provides consultative services and funding to companies creating new jobs in order to support employee recruitment and training activities.

GRP offers many services including: (1) confidential project management assistance; (2) site selection assistance; (3) in-depth market data; (4) financial and entrepreneurial resources; (5) local- and state-level connections and; (6) workforce recruitment and training.

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