A new project being planned in Pine Grove Mills is aiming to open up opportunities for local farmers and entrepreneurial food businesses.
Centre Kitchen Collective is planning an incubator commercial kitchen and food hub to be located in the Ferguson Township village. The nonprofit organization is seeking a $500,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture Local Food Promotion grant, and on Tuesday night Ferguson Township supervisors approved a $20,000 commitment from economic development funds toward the required 25% grant match.
The USDA grant would provide funding for an operations manager, kitchen and storage equipment, incubator support services and local food promotion, marketing and outreach.
Sabine Carey, founder of the online farmers market Centre Markets, and Webster’s Bookstore Cafe owner Elaine Meder-Wilgus established Centre Kitchen Collective earlier this year “with a mission to cultivate a resilient community where people are nourished by locally grown and prepared food, while nurturing vibrant connections between farmers and our local food economy,” according to information submitted with the donation request to the township.
The incubator kitchen will address a need for shared commercial kitchen space and offer an opportunity “to increase farm viability through the creation of value-added farm products,” according to the request. It also will provide business support through training and workshops, as well as resources like reliable internet, computer, printer and meeting space.
The facility also will establish a brick-and-mortar location for Centre Markets, which Carey founded in 2020 to provide a safe and convenient platform connecting local farmers and producers with the community. Expanding to an in-person, year-round market is expected to open up additional sales channels for the local agricultural community and food entrepreneurs.
Centre Markets has six part-time employees and has outgrown both its rented warehouse space and sales model. A retail store also will serve as a base to expand into serving restaurant wholesale needs and local food subscriptions, according to the request.
While the two entities are separate — Centre Kitchen Collective is registering as a 501c3 nonprofit and Centre Markets is a LLC — they will partner in the Pine Grove Mills space.
A location has been secured, but Carey said it would be premature to reveal the address, though she did confirm it is in the heart of Pine Grove Mills.
She anticipates that the retail market will open this summer. The USDA grant awards will not be announced until the fall and so the incubator kitchen is expected to be completed sometime next year.
“Our mission is supporting our local farmers and small food producers through this commercial kitchen endeavor, which will include basic business support as well as rental of this commercial kitchen, shared kitchen space,” Carey told StateCollege.com. “We’re going to be sharing the building but they are two separate entities. One is just retail and the other one is a nonprofit that will be focusing on education, workshops, training and providing technical support.”
The project is the result of three years of growing success and community building with Centre Markets, Carey said.
She and Meder-Wilgus believe the effort will boost the Centre Region “by creating jobs, improving local farm viability and strengthening the resilience of our local food system — as well as bringing healthy food and a community space to the heart of Pine Grove Village,” according to the donation request.
Plans are also in process to establish a collaborative support program for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) access at farmers markets. Centre Kitchen Collective is working to secure a grant to operate a pilot SNAP administration and Double Up Food Bucks program (which doubles the value of SNAP dollars for fruit and vegetable purchases at participating markets) in 2024.
In addition to the commitment from Ferguson Township, Carey said Centre County government is expected to contribute to the grant match, along with community support and in-kind donations. They also have approached other municipalities about potential contributions.
Carey said Centre Kitchen Collective is an idea that has been long sought-after in Centre County.
“I keep hearing from more and more people that have been trying to do this for so many years,” she said. “We’ve all been trying to do this for so long, so it’s pretty exciting to see that it seems like finally everything is lining up and we can actually make it happen.”
