Over the last three decades, increasing consumer demand in the United States for locally produced food has led to a re-emphasis on local and regional food systems and the emergence of new organizational structures to coordinate these food systems. One specific food system innovation has been the introduction of organization known as food hub. Although the number of food hubs in the United States has grown over the past decade, a dominant design for these organizations is still emerging and there still exists a lack of clarity about their purpose in the food system. Secondly, little is known about the risks that this novel type of organization faces. Finally, there is a dearth of knowledge about the specific networks that are critical to support food hub viability.Food hubs have the potential to be key drivers of the success of local and regional food supply chains. If food hubs are to be viable in the long run, it is important to further investigate the key characteristics of these organizations, identify and assess risks that foods hubs face, and identify and examine specific networks critical for food hubs' viability. This has underlying implications for the development of more effective strategies for practitioners and policymakers, and the economic viability of small- and medium-sized farms and food entities that supply those food hubs. Consequently, to fill these research gaps, the first paper of this dissertation employs a case study research design to examine the entrepreneurial processes in food hubs to identify key similarities and differences among food hubs with different organizational structures. The second paper focuses on identifying and assessing food hub supply chain risks by employing an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design. Finally, the third paper examines social capital in food hub networks in the form of food hub managers' advice networks by using a survey research design. The findings of the dissertation have implications for food hub practitioners as well as policymakers and other stakeholders involved in the development of food hubs. First, the findings show that food hubs are social enterprises simultaneously creating social and economic value. This work also provides a systematic comparison of different food hub models and develops an Empirical Framework of Food Hub Models to capture key similarities and differences in food hubs. Second, this work is the first in the field of food hubs to systematically identify and assess supply chain risks. The findings show that the top ten supply chain risks perceived by food hubs are present in all levels of the supply chain. Finally, the third paper is the first attempt in the field of food hubs to model and examine social capital in the form of advice. The results show that the characteristics of individuals, ties, and networks are associated with the likelihood of receiving food hub-related advice in food hub managers' professional networks.
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