Apiary honey Cool B’s meat-rub products The Purple Cupcake Red Chef Bakery Ice Box Brand ice cream bars Lomoncao Sicilian Cookie Company Ellis Island Tropic Tea B & B Farms canola oil Bananadog Tea specializing in tea and infused chocolates La Fiesta Chips My Pet Gabriella Cakes dog snacks and Bearboy Gourmet grill-rub products. Additional past and present clients include North Beach Foods specializing in handcrafted gourmet vegan products Sassy Seasonings producing gourmet all-purpose seasoning blends El Cardenal Salsa and Tamales Olive’s Gluten-Free Bakery producing donuts, muffins and other baked goods In MI Oven dry muffin mixes Fresco Mercato pastas Kandland Dairy specializing in feta and chevre goat cheese The Kernel’s Place Popcorn The Cake Flour producing artisan cakes and pastries Potter’s Pantry Pickled Products Chabolie’s Hot Sauce El Camino hot sauce and burrito mix The Ambience Way tea products Silent K. There are currently about 30 clients who use The Starting Block on a regular basis.Flynn’s Organic Granola continues to make its product at The Starting Block and is sold online through and Michigan retail stores in New Era, Pentwater, Ludington and Hart. The company graduated from The Starting Block and built its own commercial kitchen at the family’s home in Cheboygan Mother Mary’s Canning produces a variety of jarred goods, including applesauce, pickled beets, and pickled asparagus.Wee Bee Jammin’ has its own store in Bear Lake, between Manistee and Traverse City, and can be found in retail stores throughout Michigan, as well as in stores in Illinois, Virginia and California.Uncle Gene’s Backwoods Pretzels are now sold in Cracker Barrel Restaurants and Old Country Stores nationally.Good Life Granola has been featured on the Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda and Cooking Light magazine, and can be found in Meijer stores nationally as well as in numerous other grocery store chains.An estimated two to three jobs are created by each client.And 22 clients “graduated†from the program by moving on to their own facilities and even building their own licensed kitchens. Since starting in 2006, about 150 to 200 clients have used Starting Block facilities. The Starting Block is the first commercially licensed kitchen incubator in the state of Michigan.The Starting Block has multiple commercial licensed kitchens available 24/7 at affordable rates to help clients grow their food production business without the initial investment in costly facilities and equipment. Specifically, it’s for businesses just starting out, or companies outgrowing their current facilities. The Starting Block Kitchen and Business Incubator is a nonprofit, regional economic development organization committed to assisting individuals who want to take a special recipe to market or create a food or natural resource business. The Starting Block provides the licensed kitchen facilities at an hourly rate to clients allowing individuals to pursue their entrepreneurial aspirations and create innovative food products. But start-up costs needed to create these value-added products often exceed what a new business owner can afford. These products can sell for a higher price compared to raw farm products, which means higher profit margins for small farms and farmers. One method to increase profitability for small farms is through the selling of value-added and processed farm products. Raw crop farming is profitable, but only if sold in considerable quantities and at a low price in a market where large farm corporations already dominate. The ChallengeĪ major agriculture issue in the Oceana County Region in West Michigan, where Hart and The Starting Block is located, is the difficulty of small, family-operated farms to remain profitable and stay in business long-term. Products produced at The Starting Block include jams, granola, baked goods, spice mixes, salsas, pretzels, pickled and dairy products, tamales, pasta, dry muffin mixes, and caramel corn varieties. The Starting Block assists by providing licensed commercial kitchen facilities, entrepreneurial education and peer-to-peer networking to new and expanding businesses in the multi-county, West Central Michigan region and beyond.
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