“I think our region is realizing how important this is,” Dilley said. When announcing the project, the organizations stated that they hoped the resource would encourage the formation of more Black-, brown- and women-owned businesses while also providing additional food resources for the surrounding neighborhood. The 1,416-square-foot facility, which is currently under construction, will be home to both a commercial kitchen and space for multiple food retailers. The lot is currently home to a shuttered auto repair garage. The program will find a home at 1445 Kalamazoo St. The two organizations are partnering to open what they are calling Kzoo Station: A Community Kitchen + Eatery. Nonprofit organizations SpringGR and Amplify GR are also partnering to provide resources for nascent food businesses specifically in the Boston Square neighborhood in Grand Rapids. to provide resources for program participants. Philip Roman Catholic Church in Battle Creek have also joined forces to develop the Southwest Michigan Accelerator Kitchen, which will leverage partnerships with companies like Kellogg Co. That program has since partnered with Michigan State University.Įconomic development organization Battle Creek Unlimited and St. In spring of 2021, Greater Muskegon Economic Development and the West Michigan Food Processing Association opened the Food, Agriculture, Research Manufacturing (FARM) Center on the campus of Muskegon Community College. “I think these accelerator programs really give people the specific services and support that they need to run their businesses more effectively,” Dilley added.Ĭan-Do is among multiple organizations that have noticed the lack of resources for growing food businesses. “That money is not scarce - it’s there - but accessing it can be really hard.” “It takes money to scale up and that’s always difficult for a lot of small businesses to access, especially if you’re maybe a low-income entrepreneur or an entrepreneur of color, a woman, or immigrant entrepreneur,” Dilley said. Can-Do Kitchen, in addition to similar programs, looks to fill that gap.Ĭan-Do - which already offers business planning, facility rental and microloan programs - is looking to incorporate a steady roster of private industry partners that will help to mentor program participants, beefing up its existing resources for food entrepreneurs. The small food business landscape in West Michigan is dotted with incubator kitchens, which are crucial in helping entrepreneurs transition an idea to a business through access to a professional kitchen and equipment.īut as a food business grows out of that initial stage, its needs become more complex. “The fact that we have more physical space will provide room to have more programming and be able to offer accelerator programming or businesses that are established but need that next level boost,” said Can-Do Kitchen founder and Executive Director Lucy Dilley, who hopes to start construction on the new building this spring. These resources would equip Can-Do to include an accelerator component with its incubator kitchen, allowing a food entrepreneur to enter with an idea and grow until it was ready to seek out its own standalone space. The new project would include amenities such as co-working space, classrooms and offices all under one roof to foster food businesses at all phases of their life cycles. The organization plans to take out a long-term lease on half of the 20,000-square-foot space. They also look to bring the program to the next level in the coming year.Ĭan-Do Kitchen has raised roughly 80 percent of its $650,000 fundraising goal for a capital campaign that launched in June 2020 and would bring the funds needed to renovate a new facility located at 519 S. Leaders at the nonprofit organization have since developed a variety of additional programming and resources to wrap around their incubator kitchen. KALAMAZOO - When it first opened in 2008, the Can-Do Kitchen in Kalamazoo provided an avenue for budding food entrepreneurs to take their businesses outside of their homes and into a professional kitchen.
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