Northern Kentucky’s Incubator Kitchen Collective, a food-focused nonprofit, has awarded grants to eight local entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses in the region.
Incubator Kitchen Collective, for the third year, partnered with Cincinnati-based grocery giant Kroger (NYSE: KR) to provide the funds, totaling $38,700. The grants will cover the cost of the companies' rent in the Incubator Kitchen for a year starting in February 2023.
The goal is to relieve some of their financial burden, Incubator Kitchen Collective founder Rachel DesRochers said.
More than 58 applied for the grant, including more than half a dozen from out of state.
The winners were named during a fundraising event at Rhinegeist Brewery in Over-the-Rhine Nov. 6, with businesses that span from coffee and barbecue to sweet treats.
They include:
- Brewed & Frothy Coffee Co., Christina Leo
- Down the Road Spice Co., Mansi Shah
- Seventh Street Gifts, Carisa Bunten
- Postres LLC, Thamara Alba
- Sip Sip Frose, Philishea Everage and Brenda Mahan
- Smoke Bath BBQ, Nick Zinn
- Sweet Ace Cakes, Lindsey Cook
- The Pitt Stop Sweets & Treats, Oronde and Jaia Pittman
Overall, the Incubator Kitchen/Kroger grant has supported 22 companies since its first round of awards in 2020.
“We want to meet these makers where they are,” DesRochers said. “If we can give them the tools they need to succeed, their businesses last longer.”
The Incubator Kitchen Collective, headquartered in Newport, has hosted more than 170 startups since its launch in 2013. The Incubator Kitchen provides all the professional-grade equipment food businesses need along with storage space. It also offers mentorship, marketing, networking, business coaching and more.
Currently, 45 food-related companies work out of its facilities every month.
Members, past and present, include Grateful Grahams — a handmade vegan graham cracker company DesRochers founded in 2010 — Dinner to Doorbells, CinSoy Foods, Pata Roja, Oakley Urban Farm, Sweet Ace Cakes and more.
