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Processing Kitchen
Connections Community Kitchen
Incubator Program
The Connections
Kitchens’ mission is to promote local agriculture, create local jobs, and diversify the local economy. Connections will strive to develop this
community-processing kitchen to serve the needs of small, local farms through value-added processing. Value added products could help Maine farmers
capitalize on a rapidly growing high-end market.
Our community processing
kitchen small business incubator program offers a facility where farmers,
caterers, food cart vendors, and producers of specialty/gourmet food items can
prepare their food products in a fully licensed and certified kitchen. They will benefit from the technical knowledge of
others using the kitchen; particularly those with extensive food processing,
marketing, and business experience. Connections Kitchen will offer a relatively
inexpensive place to conduct licensed food processing activities. Processing
Kitchen clients will be charged only for the time and the types of equipment
that they use in the facility.
Partners:
Women Work & Community, Threshold of Maine RC&D, Maine Department of
Agriculture, River Valley Farmers Market, River Valley Technology Center, No
View Farm & Bakery, The Healing Connection Cooperative, Electronic Network,
Town of Rumford, & ME SBDC.
Funds Needed:
Cost estimate awaiting completion of feasibility study.
Funds Raised:
$3,000 Maine Community Foundation Challenge Grant
Target Opening Date:
January 2009
Facility Uses:
The facility will allow limited use for baking, preparing value added
jams jellies pickles, weighing, labeling, & packing for dry storage, walk -in
cooler and freezer storage capacity.
Potential Users: Our
community processing kitchen and small business incubator program offers a
facility where farmers, caterers, food cart vendors, and producers of
specialty/gourmet food items can prepare their food products in a fully licensed
and certified kitchen. Products can be marketed through The Healing Connection
Cooperative Hubs and distribution unit.
Timeline:
|
Short Range: |
Long Range: |
|
1st Phase
(licensed individual farms/hubs) Jan. 2008 Licensing individual
farms/hubs and holding educational meetings and local food dinners at
these farms/hubs. |
3rd phase
(Commercial Business site in the River Valley Area) 2010 Our long range plan
works in conjunction with the development plans of the Town of Rumford
and The River Valley Growth Council working on a large processing and
farmer’s market facility. We see our initial facility as an incubator
for the larger incubator through which we hope to grow the first
businesses to utilize the professional facility.
|
|
2nd phase
(permanent site) 2008 Securing Permanent
site for Small Community Shared Use Kitchen. |
|
Additional
Information:
Users will benefit from the technical knowledge of others using the
kitchen; particularly those with food processing, marketing, and business
experience. Connections Kitchen will offer a relatively inexpensive place to
conduct licensed food processing activities. Processing Kitchen clients will be
charged only for the time and the types of equipment that they use in the
facility.
In cooperation and collaboration with other for-profit and non-profit entities
the facility would also offer assistance in business planning assistance,
product development, value added education, food safety and sanitation, food
labeling and record keeping, marketing and distribution networks, management
support, cooperative buying power, and resource information.
-
Has
a core group of trained committed leaders who will rally support for the
kitchen.
-
Will
market the kitchen to a variety of clients.
-
Will
set reasonable rental rates close to market rates at the beginning of
operation.
-
Involves
local, state, and federal regulatory agencies in planning the facility
-
Provide
technical and marketing assistance in addition to kitchen facilities.
-
Has adequate storage, both dry and refrigerator/freezer.
-
Trained
to manage conflicts between clients over time, cleanliness, or products.
-
The use of an existing community historic building with an anchor
business that leases the facilities will allow the kitchen the ability to
operate as debt-free as possible.
-
Taps into technical resources for marketing
- Has adequate equipment to meet the needs of the clientele it will serve