Operating out of the Adrian Armory Events Center, Launch Lenawee entered phase II of their greater strategic plan by launching their fundraising campaign for a Community Kitchen on Friday, February 1, 2019. The goal of the campaign is to raise $50,000 through community support of individual, organizational, and corporate gifts. That money will be matched by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to provide the $100,000 to create a licensed commercial kitchen incubator for entrepreneurs in Lenawee County.
The Business Acceleration Team from Lenawee Now helped develop the business model for the Community Kitchen, which will help grow and develop the small businesses of many entrepreneurs in Lenawee County. While many operate under Michigan’s cottage-food laws, which allows them to prepare food in their own homes and sell at farmer’s markets and local fairs, they are also limited by these same laws.
A commercial, licensed kitchen available for rent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week will allow these businesses to grow and expand beyond those limitations. The community kitchen will offer resources and shared tools and will help these entrepreneurs produce products that will then be able to be sold in local restaurants and retail locations. In addition, they can now sell their products online, which means Lenawee-produced products could be shipped globally.
The fundraising was kicked off by check presentations from the Adrian Noon and Morning Rotary Groups with donations of $7,000 to the campaign. They now need the help of the community to reach their goal to get the matching donation from MEDC and begin renovations on the Community Kitchen.
“This is a community kitchen, and we need the help of the community to get the matching funds from MEDC,” stated Mark Murray, organizer of Launch Lenawee.
“This is going to be a great resource for Lenawee entrepreneurs,” stated Tim Robinson, Operations Director at Lenawee Now. 
“This will help take their previously limited business to the next level and allow us to help them grow their business even further.”
For more information, or to make a donation to the community kitchen, please visit the campaign website. If you are an entrepreneur who needs help getting their idea off the ground, contact us at Lenawee Now.