Lots of good things are being cooked up in the county’s new commercial kitchen. From tasty treats to new jobs, Creative Food Ventures at Family Central offers the opportunity for cooks throughout the region to try out their recipes, expand home-based businesses and even start a new food related small business.

A grand opening was celebrated in September as organizers and sponsors gathered to showcase the new kitchen and introduce its potential to the community.

“It was quite a journey getting this kitchen up and running,” said Carol Coulter, executive director of Family Central whose idea for a commercial kitchen sparked the interest of many others whose hard work and support created an incubator for food based businesses.

The main purpose of Creative Food Ventures, Coulter said, is job creation. Cooks with a dream of starting or expanding their own commercial food based business can find that opportunity to do it themselves or have the kitchen staff produce their own special recipes. The staff also offers catering and baking businesses, and there are classes to educate and train entrepreneurs.

Ashe County Government started the process of this $1.2 million investment involving renovation of the Family Central site and purchase of kitchen equipment by providing the old Ashe Central school buildings as a site for community services. And Dr. Pat Mitchell, director of economic development for Ashe, has been instrumental in the planning of the commercial kitchen as well as obtaining funding for its implementation.

Supporters of Creative Food Ventures includes: County of Ashe, $17,500; RAFI- Rural Advancement Foundation International, $60,000; Appalachian Regional Commission, $198,635; NC Department of Commerce CDBG, $269,700; Golden Leaf Foundation, $92,000; NC Rural Center, $90,000; USDA- Farmers Market Promotion Project, $45,235; Z. Smith Reynolds, $60,000; and Project for Public Spaces and the Kellogg Foundation, $29,800.

“This could not have happened without the support of the community,” said Julie Landry, retired director of the Ashe Partnership for Children and Cooperative Extension. She said it all began in 2002 with a group of people looking at locations for a commercial kitchen. The closest was in Asheville, too distant for Ashe County people to take advantage. The Angelou Economics Report issued in 2003 in Ashe noted the need to boost opportunities for economic development in the region and entrepreneurship in the food business, so a feasibility study was done to gauge community interest in a commercial kitchen. The prime reason for the project, she said, was to support local farmers as well as local growers for sale of their products or for personal use. The long range goal is for the kitchen to support itself and the Partnership programs. “All you’ve seen here,” she said to those attending the grand opening, “is to support our children and families.”

The group studying the need for a family service center went to the commissioners in October 1998, said Chris Robinson, director of the Ashe Campus of Wilkes Community College. He was chairman of the Partnership board of directors which started planning Family Central at the old Ashe Central High School site. The board saw this facility as a continuum of immediate and long range services for the families of Ashe County. “We’ve seen thousands of families use this facility,” he said. “It has truly become the hub of activity in Ashe County. I don’t ever see it stopping its growth.”

North Carolina legislators Rep. Cullie Tarleton and Sen. Steve Goss attended the grand opening to offer their praise for Creative Food Ventures and Family Central.

“A public/private partnership to promote jobs and entrepreneurship is what the kitchen is all about,” said Tarleton. “Carol, thank you for your vision. Without that, probably none of this would have happened.” He and his wife Sylvia were happy to take home a loaf of bread made at Creative Food Ventures.

“This is a remarkable feat you have accomplished,” said Goss to those who made this project a reality. “I often use Ashe County as an example of successful entrepreneurial efforts. You give people some pie dough and some equipment and a purple potato, and they’ll show you what can be done with those incentives.” An Ashe County native himself, Goss said he was really touched to see generations of Ashe County people continue to work and live together along with the new people coming in and making Ashe County their home. “It is an honor to serve Ashe County and help these efforts,” he said.

Representing U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, Kathy Manship said Burr was concerned when industry was being lost in Ashe County and greatly respects the county’s efforts to grow and change without looking back.

Carol Coulter said that while people keep looking at her as the vision for Creative Food Ventures, she said she is just the face. Many people have played a part and done much of the work themselves to accomplish this project, she said. Coulter introduced Bob Grooms with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture responsible for inspections at Creative Food Ventures. The kitchen is highly inspected by various agencies on a regular basis, she said, and the staff members are working on becoming an inspected facility for full scale meat products for wholesale and retail sales. Hopes are to create a buying club to expand opportunities for meat, produce, eggs and more.

Grooms said he was from the business development division of the NCDA in Asheville representing Commissioner Steve Troxler who couldn’t be at the event due to dealing with the ongoing drought issues in the state. He talked about Blue Ridge Food Ventures in Asheville, an 11,000 square foot facility (Creative Food Ventures is about 4,500 square feet), the second largest in North Carolina and one of the largest in the United States, noting that these commercial kitchens really help people realize their potential. “It helps them realize their dream,” he said. “These kitchens have a positive economic impact and help small farmers stay on their land and continue their way of life.”

Coulter then introduced Lynn Robinson, director of the Partnership for Children, the instigator, she said, of the idea for Family Central. Lynn found the site and got the people together and in the building, Coulter said. They convinced Commissioner Larry Rhodes and others to support the project, and started with six old classrooms where they began the Even Start program to improve the success of schoolchildren through early childhood development.

“This facility is a vision that everyone shared,” Robinson said. “The Even Start grant got us in the door and our supporters got it going. We’re here to serve families in every capacity. We have to support our families in every aspect. The whole county is better off by starting small and helping families in every way we can.” She then put in a plug with the state legislators for capital funds to finish the building and start a small incentive package for a micro lending program to help the “little guys” start a business. She said many lending institutions can’t afford to offer loans under $5,000, but sometimes an entrepreneur just needs a couple thousand to purchase a special piece of equipment or to get started on a small business. She would like to be able to help in that capacity.

Attendees at the grand opening of Creative Food Ventures braved a tremendously rainy day (not seen here for awhile in Ashe) to tour the kitchen and see its processes. Staff members Rhonda Church, Jacky Brown and Julie Goodman demonstrated equipment and showcased their cooking skills. A ribbon cutting ceremony was conducted by the Ashe Chamber of Commerce and everyone got to sample pie made by the Purple Sweet Potato Company, a new commercial venture at the kitchen creating products from purple sweet potatoes.

Creative Food Ventures offers opportunities for catering and personal chefs, specialty food producers, herbal products for human consumption, farmers adding value to produce, baked goods, dried products, and classes to teach people how to cook or how to produce and market their products. For information, call 982-5127.