Lynne Foster, Product Development Director, stands with Charlene Echols-Barnes in the Syracuse Community Test Kitchen.
"I have been baking my products out of my house for years but it finally got to be too big for me to handle on my own. The Commercial Test Kitchen has opened up many doors by helping me apply for a microloan and write a business plan. I now distribute my caramel corn and pound cakes to stores throughout Syracuse."
- Charlene Echols-Barnes, Owner, Echols Gourmet Wholesale Desserts
A $30,000 grant from the Community Foundation funded the opening of the South Side Innovation Center’s Syracuse Community Test Kitchen. The program helps introduce and sustain new business by providing culinary entrepreneurs with assistance in commercializing their home recipes. The Kitchen’s training encompasses business planning, marketing, distribution and funding opportunities. Since March 2008, the Kitchen has helped 12 clients reach the production stage, setting them on track to manage sustainable businesses in Central New York.
You help fund innovative programs like this by giving to our Community Fund, which is composed of thousands of unrestricted gifts given to the Community Foundation over the past 80 years. That is why we are Where the Smart Money Gives Back.