Are you looking to start up or expand your food and/or farm business? Do you need access to a licensed commercial kitchen or food hub? Wheeling, WV based nonprofit Grow Ohio Valley is working to open a shared-use kitchen/food hub & would appreciate your input!
The project team envisions a facility with shared commercial kitchen space, food processing & packaging equipment, refrigeration, and other facilities equipment that may be too expensive for small, local businesses to purchase outright, along with storage space.
The Northern Panhandle draws markets from OH, PA, & WV, so if you are in this region please fill out this survey for potential kitchen/food hub users. It should take approximately 5 minutes to complete.
If the above button does not work for you, please take the survey here:
https://corexmsffsgb599k6k6d.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ahfGrmV86TLzUA6
A shared-use kitchen is a licensed commercial space that is certified for food production. Renters or members can use the kitchen by the hour or day to produce food, while fulfilling regulatory compliance, without the high overhead costs of purchasing or repairing their own equipment, paying for utilities, or worrying about being shut down by a health inspector.
A food hub is a centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distributions, and/or marketing of locally/regionally produced food products.
ACEnet’s shared-use kitchen facilities & food hubs, the Food Ventures Center and the Food & Farm Enterprise Center, have produced over $7.8M (wholesale) of food products, and ACEnet Food Ventures clients introduce 40 new products & 500 existing products into the marketplace annually!
ACEnet is delighted to be working as a consultant with Grow Ohio Valley to strengthen their regional food economy in the northern panhandle of West Virginia.
Grow Ohio Valley is a Wheeling-based nonprofit with a mission to achieve regional food security. Partners in Central Appalachia might be familiar with Grow Ohio Valley’s recent enterprise development which has included establishing several urban farms and the Public Market grocery store on Main Street in downtown Wheeling. Recently Grow OV has secured a number of USDA and ARC funded grants to support their work for market expansion, food production, aggregation and distribution.
