Quinlan Carttar

Quinlan Carttar is a Food Business Resource Navigator with Kansas State University Extension’s Community Food Systems Team, where they support food and farm entrepreneurs across Kansas through one-on-one technical assistance, training, and value-chain coordination. Their work focuses on helping businesses navigate licensing and regulation, access capital, prepare for retail markets, and build resilient, community-rooted food enterprises. Based at the Douglas County Extension office, Quinlan also oversees the Culinary Commons Incubator Kitchen.

Quinlan’s point of entry into food systems work was cooking in restaurants in New York City and at a culinary social enterprise in Brooklyn, experiences that grounded their understanding of food entrepreneurship in day-to-day operations, labor, and margins. That practitioner lens continues to shape their approach to business development and program design.

At K-State Extension, Quinlan helps design and deliver statewide programs that strengthen local food economies, including the Kansas Food Business Start-Up Summit, Local Food Producer Workshops, and the biannual Kansas Food First magazine. Their work emphasizes participatory, relationship-based approaches that position Extension as a collaborative design partner rather than a passive content provider.

Quinlan collaborates closely with economic development organizations, regulatory agencies, funders, and community leaders to build coordinated support systems for small food businesses across urban, peri-urban, and rural contexts. They currently serve as Co-Chair of the Douglas County Food Policy Council and are passionate about building inclusive, place-based food systems that create economic opportunity while strengthening community connection.

qcarttar@ksu.edu | 785-843-7058 ext. 107