We’re building a shared use commercial kitchen in Ithaca, NY.

A Not-for-Profit Community Enterprise

24/7 Commercial Kitchen Access for Local Food Entrepreneurs, Coming in 2024

Menu

Appetizer

Filling the Gap

The lack of accessible and affordable commercial kitchen space is a gap virtually every local small food entrepreneur wanting to grow their business will come up against. Some have the financial privileges to overcome it. The vast majority, and especially those from under-served and economically disadvantaged populations, have been blocked for decades.

Mains

Equitable Economic Development

Shared Kitchen Ithaca is a not-for-profit, grassroots, economic and community development movement working to bring together the facility, resources and people to bridge this gap by establishing an affordable and accessible commercial kitchen space run as a shared-use kitchen.

Think of it as an incubator for food entrepreneurs.

Sharing the costs amongst many dozens of local food entrepreneurs will allow economically disadvantaged and historically under-served community members to grow their businesses paving the way for a renaissance in the local food economy.

Sides

More than just a Kitchen

Shared Kitchen Ithaca has been cooking up a network of local organizations and individuals to provide business expertise, food industry technical skills and industry connections to assist our community food entrepreneurs through every aspect of establishing and growing a food business. In addition, this facility will assist with value-added food processing from agricultural surpluses as well as support local benevolent organizations providing food and meals to our locally food insecure.

Dessert

Won’t You Join Us?

We have garnered the support of Tompkins County Development Corporation, the City of Ithaca the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency, The Friends of the Ithaca Farmers Market and many generous individual donors. We are getting close to our financial goal which will launch this project in 2024.

“Bon Appetit”

What People Are Saying

“The model of sharing one central commercial use kitchen space has been proven across the U.S., it is likely that such a facility will thrive in Ithaca. Businesses, from startups to small established brands, will be able to meet their business needs, hire more employees, and create their products in a professional and licensed space purpose-built for their needs.”

— Industry Leader/Regulation Expert

“I am investing in the Shared Kitchen because this type of facility is desperately needed in Ithaca. We have so many amazing food businesses and not-for-profits that are eager to process raw ingredients and make meals for people. This is a rising-tide-raises-all-boats approach, giving a boost to the local food economy and investing in a facility that will help dozens of organizations and entrepreneurs in our community.”

— Donor

"As a small startup bakery, having access to a large kitchen with state-of-the-art equipment is an absolute game-changer. This will help us to scale quickly and efficiently while allowing us to form connections with other businesses in the community. The flexibility to schedule time as needed at a reasonable cost, as well as the resources that are provided to entrepreneurs, will be extremely helpful as we start this exciting venture of opening up our own food business!”

— Lee and Lauren
Gardella’s Goodies

Our Volunteer Board of Directors

  • Rod came to Ithaca after two decades as a food entrepreneur in California where he had multiple restaurants, a brand of packaged foods he manufactured and distributed nationally (Leaf Cuisine), a book (Raw Food for Real People), a DVD and a cooking school. He ran a shared use kitchen in Los Angeles. Previously, Rod worked as a program management officer for the United Nations Development Program in the Middle East. He also owned and taught at his scuba diving centers in the Sinai. 

  • Serial entrepreneur has founded four start-ups and served as an economic development advisor with the SBDC and IAED for seven years. He specializes in mentoring early-stage ventures and grant-writing. Board member at Sonostics, a biotech company spun out of Binghamton U., and Assistance in Motion, a spin-off from Ithaca College. He recently served as a mentor and judge in Cornell's Digital Ag Hackathon.

  • Dominick is the Communications Director for Tompkins County where he leads public information efforts for nearly thirty departments across the organization. He previously served as director of partnerships and strategic communications for the Tompkins Chamber where he advised local businesses and not-for-profit enterprises and led workforce development initiatives. He serves on several local boards of directors including the Center for Transformative Action, Tompkins County Public Library Foundation, United Way of Tompkins County, and Friends of the Ithaca Farmers Market.

  • Experienced – 40-year career as an educator, researcher, advisor, manager, planner, facilitator, and consultant, including with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County from 1980 to 2020. She is an agriculture & horticulture issue leader responsible for extension outreach with and in support of the farm community in Tompkins and surrounding counties. Monika is the President of the Friends of the Ithaca Farmers Market.

  • A longtime supporter of numerous local non-profits and causes, Jerry Dietz is the founder and retired owner of CSP Management, a firm that manages apartment units in the Ithaca area. The company serves a broad spectrum of the rental population, including students, professionals, and low-income families.

    The list of organizations Dietz has held leadership roles with is extensive. It includes the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce; Tompkins Center for History and Culture; Cancer Resource Center; Temple Beth-El; Hospicare; the annual Taste of the Nation event aimed at ending childhood hunger; and the annual AIDS Ride for Life, which he helped found in 1999 to raise funds for the Southern Tier AIDS Program. To honor his late wife, Judy Schapiro Dietz ’76, in 2013 he opened the Just Be Cause Not-for-Profit Development Center, which provides low-cost rental spaces to local nonprofit businesses.

  • During Jan’s past 40 years as an entrepreneur, she’s developed many specialty shops in the community, including Cat’s Pajamas and Alphabet Soup, a pair of children’s toy stores that still exist today under new ownership; Sweet Dreams, a Japanese futon furniture; her longest business venture as the designer for a men’s women’s and children’s casual clothing line called Silk Oak; and Ithacamade, a gift store located inside of the historic Dewitt Mall where visitors can find dozens of handcrafted items made by highly skilled local artisans.

    She is the co-founder of Local First Ithaca, a network of locally owned businesses and services, farmers, community members, and non-profits. She is also a Finger Lakes Reuse Board member, a GreenStar Council member and she serves on the Downtown Ithaca Alliance Board of Directors.

    In 2014, Jan was recognized by the Alternatives Federal Credit Union with the Jeff Furman Award for her social responsibility in business by exemplifying a commitment to socially-minded business practices, including being a certified living wage employer.

  • Deputy Director of Economic Development for the City of Ithaca. He is a driving force behind the city's initiative to revive small-scale manufacturing, of which this project is a key component. Tom's efforts helped shepherd the project through garnering city financial support and a Tompkins County Development Corporation grant for equipment acquisition.