Rural officials hail value of shared-use kitchens
‘First Friday’ speaker notes success of food entrepreneurs
April 8, 2022
By Pat Melgares, K-State Research and Extension news service
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The executive director of a northeast Kansas food center told a gathering of entrepreneurs and community development professionals recently that a shared-use kitchen is an avenue toward enhancing quality of life in the state’s rural areas.
Gary Satter, who has led the Glacial Hills Food Center in Horton since 2009, said his organization’s commercial kitchen also serves as an outlet for food entrepreneurs to develop and process their products.
“We offer business development planning for those who want to pursue a business,” he said. “Our business development program works with entrepreneurs, (so) this is a good way to share and work with those interested in a food business.”
Satter was the featured speaker during K-State Research and Extension’s monthly online series, First Friday e-Calls, which helps to nurture small businesses and inspire entrepreneurship in Kansas.
Satter said the Glacial Hills Food Center is typically rented to entrepreneurs for $15 an hour, giving them access to a fully operational commercial kitchen “with a large capacity for cooking, canning, baking, freezing” many types of food products.
The center follows operating standards approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA). Satter said the Glacial Hills Food Center also works closely with K-State’s Value Added Food Lab.
Similar efforts are seen in other parts of Kansas, according to information from the KDA, which describes “incubator kitchens” as food facilities that can be rented for short periods of time to allow individuals starting a food business to access commercial kitchen equipment in a cost effective manner.
The KDA has published two guides to help small food-business startups, especially with food safety issues. Both publications are available online:
The Glacial Hills Food Center, which KDA indicates is one of 16 incubator kitchens in Kansas currently, also offers cooking classes, and individuals have rented the facility to prepare food for family dinners or groups.
“When we started our (incubator kitchen) -- and still -- the Horton Community, Chamber of Commerce and the economic development officials were excited that we selected Horton as the place to develop this kitchen,” Satter said. “They’ve been very supportive, and obviously that’s very important in whatever endeavor you are part of.”
Satter’s full talk and other First Friday presentations are available online from K-State Research and Extension.
