Driving Our Economy Forward: Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Entrepreneurs who love to cook and serve their meals on the go are getting some help starting their new business.

No kitchen? It’s no problem with the Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga.

Let’s see how the organization is driving our economy forward.

“The Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga came into existence about two and a half years ago, right at COVID, peak of COVID,” said Pat Rowe, Outreach Manager. “It was originally the Virginia College Culinary School Launch of Chattanooga. We work with entrepreneurs on fulfilling their dreams of small business owners. And so we were able to come in, pull some entrepreneurs together that were not working, myself included. And we made what we call the Fat Five. And we started producing senior meals for the Senior Hunger Project. We would create right at about thousand meals, maybe 2,000 meals a week, send them out to seniors absolutely free. We have partners delivering it. And then as that kind of faded out, phased out, we begin to open it up as a shared kitchen space for entrepreneurs.”

“Finding a kitchen space to run a food entrepreneurship, a food business is difficult because it costs so much,” said Kenyatta Ashford, Owner/Executive Chef of Neutral Ground. “With the Incubator being here, it just makes it easier for me to continue to practice my craft.”

“A lot of people start off kind of kicking in their homes and they don’t have commercial space or commercial equipment,” said Cornelius Lathan, business owner. “This space has allowed me to be able to take on more jobs, and be able to feed more people.”

“What we do is we have two programs. We have our regular Launch class, which is 10 weeks,” Rowe said. “They work with entrepreneurs on getting things in place, lined up, connecting them with network systems. And then we have our KIC Catalyst class. Our KIC [Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga] Catalyst Class is 16 weeks long, and it works with entrepreneurs specifically in the food industry.”

“I’ve rented space in other kitchens, didn’t have nearly as much space and time,” said Kelly Walker, Owner of Smoky Mountain Sweets. “As I’ve grown, obviously, I need more space, I need to produce more. So it allows me to do that. In addition to that, I also have a space that I rent that is mine, where all of my stuff stays here, and that’s where I do all of my packing and that type thing.”

“We want to make sure that we bring people in, let them understand that there’s no dumb question,” Rowe said. “It’s OK to take your time. It’s OK to trip up and fall. We’re just here to help pick you back up, dust you off, and get you back on your journey.”