Hi !

What's Cooking?
Kitchen incubators are a growing trend in the U.S. Traveling with Boomtown, I saw my first kitchen incubator in Athens, OH, which is also the home of the National Association of Business Incubators. Since then I've talked with a number of people who are looking at starting similar operations. The trend will continue to grow as more people are interested in developing their own unique food products.

Late in 2005 the largest food incubator east of the Mississippi River opened in Huntington, WV. Called Mountain Bounty Kitchen, the $2 million, 14,000 sf USDA certified facility is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in order to accommodate all types of food businesses. They're set up to accommodate everything from small scale roasting to large scale candy making. The facility boasts 2 full-sized commercial kitchens, walk-in coolers and freezers, storage space with racks for dry goods, utensils and finished goods storage, a dock and locker rooms. They also provide labeling machines to assist in the packaging and marketing of the food products. The money to build the incubator was raised from federal, state and local sources.

Kay Kingry was one of the first clients in the incubator. She had been cooking her homemade meat sauce in her kitchen since 1999, distributing it under her brand name Dark Hollow Foods. At Mountain Bounty Kitchen she will be able to produce in one day what takes her three days in her home kitchen, allowing her to expand her sales into larger supermarkets.

Do you have small food companies or aspiring food entrepreneurs that could benefit from a food incubator? If it is too big for you to do in your own town, why not look at this as a regional effort? It could be a great way to build bridges with area towns and change the economy at the same time.

On the Road Again
In addition to my travel blog I'll list my upcoming engagements in each issue of The Agurban. Come see me when I'm in your neighborhood!