FEED Kitchens ready for business starters and community members

FEED Kitchens facility on Sherman Ave.

With the assistance of the Northside Planning Council (NPC) and many community supporters, a food business incubator called Food Enterprise and Economic Development (FEED) Kitchens opened in Madison on Nov. 1 with the goals of stimulating economic growth and entrepreneurship.

The brainchild of Ellen Barnard, chair of FEED Kitchens and previously a co-chair of the NPC, the incubator was inspired by a need for affordable kitchen space for commercial purposes.  Barnard found that the high expenses of building kitchens prevented many people from starting food businesses.

Barnard pitched the idea of a food incubator in 1997, and the NPC began official work on the project in 2008 by surveying the community.  The NPC established an official plan for FEED Kitchens in 2011.Ellen Barnard, FEED Kitchens chair

After overcoming difficulties such as funding, finding a contractor and ground contamination, the kitchens finally opened this month.

Located at 1219 N. Sherman Ave., this 5,400 square-foot-space for hourly rental is available for both commercial users and casual users, which means people who will not sell their final product, for example cooking classes. 

The $1.5 million facility includes five areas: a bakery kitchen, a meat kitchen, a deli preparation area, a high-volume vegetable preparing area and a large training and community kitchen. 

The multi-function kitchens will create jobs, help people build up businesses, and satisfy occasional use by community members, according to NPC Executive Director Karen Bassler.

“It made a lot of sense for us and for our mission to do something like this,” said Bassler. 

As a food business incubator, FEED Kitchens not only provides space for food business starters, but offers other sources for their success such as food business classes by Madison College and access to micro-loans by the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation.

“We imagine people coming into FEED, and being here for a few years, and graduating into a different space, their own space or whatever it is,” said Bassler, and, “We really want to make sure that anybody who comes in to use the kitchen is successful.”

Megan Hile, the owner of Madison Chocolate Company, is going to move her business into FEED Kitchens next year. She said building her own kitchen is expensive so FEED is a good choice. 

Besides serving as a food business incubator, the large training and community-use kitchen of FEED provides space for individuals and organizations in the community who are not selling their food. 

Training classes by the Madison Urban Ministry and the River Food Pantry will help returning prisoners or long-term unemployed community members develop food service skills. 

It is anticipated that FEED Kitchens will create 25-35 new food-related jobs each year, according to Barnard. Her expectation for the project is to help community members develop their business and make their life better. 

 To learn more about the FEED Kitchens or how to become a user, please visit their website.