Food Lab Detroit got its start about a year ago with a goal of becoming the connective tissue for the Motor City's emerging food businesses.
The
Green Garage-based organization is working to serve as the network for these businesses, helping them share information, resources, and technical assistance, among other things. An example of that is helping more of these small businesses find and access commercial kitchens through its Kitchen Connect program.
"Access to commercial kitchen space has been a big obstacle to people for a long time," says Jess Daniel, director of
Food Lab Detroit.
The Kitchen Connect program is working with two commercial kitchens in Detroit, one in the city's Osborn neighborhood and the other in Southwest Detroit. More times than not, access to these sorts of kitchens means the difference between taking a residential oven to its capacity and comfortably hitting a production goal with some time to spare.
"It's extremely important," Daniel says. "There are lots of up-and-coming businesses and people who have been running businesses out of their homes. We need to provide the resources and the space for them to make their products."
So far
Food Lab Detroit and its core team of two people have facilitated two businesses through the program. Another dozen are currently working their way through it and are expected to graduate by the end of the year.
Source: Jess Daniel, director of Food Lab Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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