Anderson's newest initiative: Empowering food entrepreneurs with shared commercial kitchen

The City of Anderson has opened a shared commercial kitchen called 110 North Kitchen + Commissary which is a licensed commercial kitchen that is available to entrepreneurs who need space for food preparation.

The shared kitchen space is located at 110 N. Kitchen and Commissary St.

In August 2020, the City of Anderson was awarded $1 million in federal grant funds to build the shared kitchen.

"We received $1 million in grant funding, $500,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), and $500,000 from the USDA Rural Business Development Grant program," according to Kitchen Manager Francesca Milford.

"This shared kitchen space is part of our downtown economic development strategy," said Mayor Terence Roberts. "It's going to help men, women, minorities, and people of color push their businesses forward."

Many users were commuting to Greenville to access a shared kitchen space, Milford said. "This space provides a convenient location for local entrepreneurs to prepare their products," she said.

The kitchen is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and closed on Sundays.

"The shared kitchen is a space where food entrepreneurs with limited resources can come to foster growth in their businesses," Milford said. "Entrepreneurs are often hindered by certain laws and jurisdictions that mandate opening physical store locations.

"The shared kitchen provides a space for entrepreneurs to grow, sell products, and expand their businesses without the risk of opening a brick-and-mortar location too soon."

A smart retail space will be open for the public to use a few days a week to purchase items made by food entrepreneurs. "The space will also host cooking classes geared toward helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses," she said.

Before booking, users must book a free tour and consultation with the kitchen manager, said Milford, who graduated from Georgia State University's Business Administration and Hospitality program, where she took several culinary classes and started her own food business after college.

"I consider the restaurant industry my bread and butter and have learned a lot from my experiences," Milford said.

Once approved, entrepreneurs must schedule an orientation providing equipment, safety, and sanitation training.

Users must pay a $100 sign-up fee to use the kitchen, according to Milford. After that, they will be charged hourly.

Only one food business can rent a single kitchen per production area.

Here are the hourly rates.

- For the first one to 35 hours, the rate is $20 per hour.

- For the 36th to 80th hour, the rate is $18 per hour.

- For any hours worked beyond 80 hours, the rate is $15 per hour.

Kitchen features

The kitchen will also provide entrepreneurs access to professional-grade equipment including amenities, packaging rooms, room-only rentals, and storage rentals.

The shared kitchen space has two main kitchen areas with multiple functions.

Milford says it is equipped with state-of-the-art culinary equipment such as an Empire dough sheeter, Vitamix commercial blender, Globe food mixers, convection oven, six-burner range plus oven combo, Cleveland tilt kettle, Cleveland braising pan, 10″ immersion blender, compartment sink and turbo air refrigerator.

Bakery's Choice

110 North Kitchen + Commissary has an area for bakers. Milford says the bakery kitchen features mixers and combo ovens suitable for baking cakes, pastries, pizza dough, and baked goods.

The bakery kitchen includes rolling prep tables, overhead shelves, and compartment sinks.

Packaging and storage room rentals

A packaging room is also available. "Each user will have access to the room for free," Milford said.

"The room has plenty of shelving space, a compartment sanitation sink, an industrial dishwashing machine, dry/wet shelving, and racks and is spacious enough for multiple users to use at once," she said.

According to the website, entrepreneurs will be required to sign in and out of the packaging room as they would in the shared kitchen space.

Storage space will also be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

A 72-inch walk-in cooler and dry shelving racks will be available for small kitchenware and nonperishable food products or ingredients.

It's $55 a month to rent the walk-in cooler and $45 a month to rent dry shelving.

"Over 80 plus food entrepreneurs have contacted us, and they have expressed excitement and joy about this new addition to downtown Anderson," Milford said. "This shared kitchen place is going to help them take their business to the next level. I'm glad we were able to contribute to the community here in Anderson."

Travis Rose covers Anderson County for the Independent Mail. Reach him via email at trose@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Anderson Independent Mail: Anderson opens 110 North Kitchen + Commissary, a space for food prep