Hammond community commercial kitchen a key ingredient for food biz hopefuls
Baking 60 dozen chocolate chip cookies, all in one batch, requires a very large mixing bowl.
Food and would-be startup restaurant entrepreneurs, and students with aspirations of successful catering businesses, require more than just a traditional classroom to measure the means to make their career dreams come true.
“We’ve known now for some time that we’ve needed an industrial kitchen that’s open and available to our surrounding community if students in our programs want to serve up their own success,” said Jen Bussey, executive director of the Hammond Development Corp.
“Our Food Entrepreneur Program works with startup food businesses by providing educational classes, and now this commercial kitchen space, to pair with our already existing pop-up cafe across the street to allow new food entrepreneurs an opportunity to try out their products and hone their services with the support of a controlled environment.”
Hammond Mayor Thomas M. McDermott Jr. joined Bussey and members of the Hammond Development Corp. last month to unveil the launch of the new HDC Community Kitchen located in the lobby of the HUB building at 5233 Hohman Ave.
“This commercial grade kitchen is a valuable space for food entrepreneurs to test, market and produce their goods for their customers,” said Jackie DeRosa, HDC program director since 2015 coordinating the courses offered.
“The new kitchen is part of the creative incubator that is a draw for people in the food industry to inspire collaboration and idea exchanges.”
The 2,000-square-foot kitchen, which was originally a small kitchen breakroom space, is entirely electric and includes large convection ovens, a massive 60-quart bowl and blade mixer unit, refrigeration and freezer space, utensils and other key culinary utensils and tools.
Bussey and DeRosa first began discussing the need for an industrial kitchen a few years ago, but the design and construction cost estimates of more than $275,000 made the idea unlikely.
The important catalyst, which renewed hope and possibilities, was last year’s announcement that Franciscan Health planned to close a large portion of their hospital in downtown Hammond.
“I happened to be talking to Cathy Held, nutrition and food service director at the hospital, and she mentioned they had to dismantle the hospital kitchen area and the industrial size kitchen applications needed to find a new home,” DeRosa said.
“Just the value of something like the huge 60-quart mixer would normally cost around $7,000. We are very fortunate to have such a good neighbor.”
Bussey said with the donations and a revised design plan, the new cost for the project was whittled down to $75,000, resulting in her approaching the McDermott last May to present the idea, with the addition good news that Fifth Third Bank Foundation, BP and First Midwest Bank all agreed to provide financial support.
“Mayor McDermott was supportive, and realized our food entrepreneur program works well to fuel startup food businesses because of our educational classes, and now, this new commercial kitchen space transition to the option of using the pop-up cafe to test a business plan before investing in a brick-and-mortar storefront operation,” Bussey said.
The community kitchen is open to anyone, not only students of the HDC program, including business hopefuls outside of Lake County and even from Illinois.
“We always have to make sure anyone who arranges to use the kitchen has secured all of their proper paperwork, about food safety and other key factors, all of which we can help with, as part of our programs and courses right her at HDC, in case these items are not already in place for the individual inquiring,” Bussey said.
Two former students, Niki Clemmons of Hobart and Sibyl Peeples of Hammond were hired to share duties as the part-time kitchen managers to assist with operations.
Open houses and public tours of the new kitchen are 1-4 p.m. April 23, 6-9 p.m. April 27 and 6-9 p.m. May 10 and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. May 21. Anyone interested in further details about the kitchen or to schedule to use the space can email kitchen@hdcnwi. org or call 219-803-6575 or visit https://hdcnwi.org/ kitchen-cafe/