Though minor building repairs delayed opening, everything now set for culinary entrepreneurs
The parish’s first commercial kitchen and food production incubator, Edible Enterprises, is now open for business.
The facility was scheduled to open its doors in Norco in mid-May, but that opening date was pushed back until June due to some minor building repairs. The repairs were completed early this week and now the stage is set for Edible Enterprises to get cooking.
“I am really excited about this new endeavor,” Lily Galland, the chair of the River Parishes Community Development Corporation, said. “Edible Enterprises is all about economic development for our region. Over time, we expect to see 50 or so jobs through businesses bringing new products to market.”
On its opening day, Edible Enterprises already had six tenants.
The facility, which is only the second such incubator in the state, was established to help small food technology and production companies overcome the many obstacles that occur when trying to bring a food product to the marketplace. To do that, the facility will offer affordable space equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, technical expertise through LSU Business Development, the LSU AgCenter and on-site food processing assistance through Goodwill Industries.
“We are focusing on small and home-based businesses from the region, but anyone from the community can apply to rent time at Edible Enterprises,” Galland said.
Renting space at Edible Enterprises helps beginning businesses because they get to share the equipment needed to make their products, which is often too expensive for most small businesses to afford. Those businesses will also receive advice on topics such as marketing, packaging and distribution.
That advice will come from Gaye Sandoz, who was hired by Goodwill Industries as the director of Edible Enterprises. Galland said Sandoz has been working with tenants and prospective tenants.
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