Kitchen space Survey

June 5, 2017 | News

 

We need your input. The Port of Seattle is conducting a market assessment for a shared kitchen and food processing/packaging space that will serve the needs of food businesses in our region. We are supporting this effort through distribution of a survey to our members to gain your perspective on the needs of food entrepreneurs and businesses, including equipment, facilities, services and other assistance that would be valuable to you, as well as to share the challenges you face in starting or growing your business. Two leading consultants on food business incubation programs, Business Cluster Development and Food Spectrum, have been hired by the Port to guide a Seattle area needs assessment.  We appreciate your support and the survey will only take 10-15 minutes.  Please complete the survey no later than June 23rd.

 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M2CVWZJ

Healthy Kids Day

May 5, 2017 | News, Stories

Last Saturday, FIN advocates, along with other partners, attended the YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day and hosted a cooking station to demonstrate to kids and parents how fun and easy it is to eat healthy food.

Here’s what Gladis had to say about the experience:

“It was a great experience for me to participate in the Healthy kids event at Matt Griffin YMCA. It was the first time that I have the opportunity to teach hands on how to make guacamole, which is a food that represents my culture  and it is also a healthy dip made from vegetables.I really enjoy knowing that a healthy recipe can  make a difference in somebody’s life,  especially with children and since this event was family friendly, many families could taste and learn from scratch how to make this food.I am very thankful to FIN for  give me the chance to connect with the community through food.”

                    – Gladis Clemente

 

Zozan Shamdeen – Advocate Profile

May 5, 2017 | Stories

One thing Zozan’s family has taught her is not to be afraid. But as a refugee, she hasn’t always been able to freely go after her dreams – even after making it to the US. Her family came this country as refugees from Iraq when Zozan was in middle school. By high school she dreamed about becoming a pediatrician and was on track to receive her green card and enter college.

Zozan with fellow advocates.

A clerical error over a date in her documentation caused all of that to be put on hold. She spent the next five years in legal limbo – all documentation had been revoked. And while her siblings all received citizenship, she was working with an immigration lawyer. Deportation loomed as an ever-present threat. Immigration officials told her not to worry, that in the event of deportation she would receive $200 and a plane ticket to Baghdad. As if a small amount of cash and a plane ticket to an unfamiliar city felt reassuring.

 

In the end, she was approved for a green card with the condition that she would never visit the middle east. During this process, Zozan learned the power of helping people gain a voice. Just hearing other people’s stories and volunteering allowed her to forget her own problems for a short time. She found herself providing language support to newcomers and soon after became a medical interpreter.

 

Zozan with her sisters.

While she still thinks about going back to school, her dreams now are a little different that they were in high school. Instead of children, she is now more focused on supports for refugee parents. Kids learn faster than their parents and are the focus of a lot of support already. Zozan believes parents need a lot of extra support in cultural and language barriers. For now, she does this through medical interpreting and as an assistant teacher in the ESL department at Highline College. “If someone needs help and I can do it, I will be there. If I can’t do it, I will try.”

 

In her spare time, Zozan runs a catering company with her sister and advocates for food system change in South King County. Becoming a FIN Food Advocate was a natural fit because she is passionate about helping people see their options and keep moving toward the future. She and her sister have also received training and help in their business through FIN. “You get and you give,” she says, “it’s a circle that way.” She asks us all to be open to possibility, if you don’t try new things and ask for help you will never get what you want.

The 2nd Annual FIN Resource Fair is Here!

April 19, 2017 | News

We are excited to host the 2nd Annual FIN Resource Fair
May 12th from 5:30-8pm at Foster High School.

This year we will be bringing together resources for both entrepreneurs and community members. Folks can get help starting a food business, finding a job in the food industry, or taking food and nutrition classes.

More than 20 resource providers will be participating. We will have fun children’s activities and feature food from the FIN entrepreneurs.

 Join us in celebrating the diversity of South King County through food!

If you are interested in coming or want to invite others, visit us on Facebook.

Soozveen Catering

April 19, 2017 | Stories

Startup Q&A: Soozveen Catering

Soozveen is a mediterranean catering company started by two Kurdish-American sisters in Des Moines.  Co-owners Sheelan and Zozan Shamdeen discuss how they got their start and give invaluable advice on beginning a small business.

 

Hours/Availability: All hours, just give us 48 hours notice
Founded: 2013
Contact: 206-734-0932; zshamdeen@gmail.com

 

Q: Tell us about your business?
Soozveen is a Mediterranean catering company run by two Kurdish-American sisters. We cook for events – but really anything more than 5 people.
Q: What inspired you to start this business?We always wanted to start a small bakery – ever since we finished high school. We watched our grandmother, mother, and aunts cook all the time. From memorized family recipes, they cooked complicated dishes without measuring a thing, and even when they were exhausted. It was when our mother got sick that we started helping out more in the kitchen. We would cook so much food and then take it to Highline College, where we were working at the time – and still work.The staff and teachers would tell us we made so much food that we should just open a restaurant. Dean Alice Madsen was the first to seriously encourage us to think seriously about opening a business and connected us with classes and support.. We thought it was just going to be a side job and that it would not become anything real but before we knew it there were orders coming in and we were going through the process to formalize our business.

Q: What makes you different from other types of catering business?

We cook with love. Soozveen actually means ‘the promise of love’. We have a true passion for this work and care about everything from flavors to presentation. There are a lot of Mediterranean/Iraqi restaurants but we are one of only two Kurdish in King County. We are unique in our use of spices that we get from Northern Iraq – it’s really the taste of the land. Our specialty is our stuffed grape leaves (dolma) and baklava.

Q: What is your business’ biggest challenge?

Finding clients. Right now, our biggest clients are through our personal and professional networks. Word of mouth is really successful for us but it takes a lot of time. We would really like to build a base of businesses and event spaces to serve.Q: What do you like best about your work?

Meeting different people. Hearing people’s experience with our food and making them happy and smile. When people see good food it’s easy to forget your worries. We don’t like to change the recipes, we want to keep it like we cook it at home for our families. But we make a lot of dishes and it’s just a matter of finding the right dishes for a client’s palette. We do, however, make a big effort to meet people’s dietary and health needs. Some things we may bake rather than use the traditional methods of frying in oil because a lot of people have become so health conscious and we want to meet those needs.

Q: What is something people might be surprised to learn about you or your business?

There is a story behind every dish – you will have to ask us when you make an order. The other thing is that people have a lot of misperceptions about middle eastern people – one thing you may not know is how open and welcoming our culture is – to eat together brings people together. To go to a middle eastern person’s house is to eat a lot of food – food is how we share our stories and our love for each other. Even a very poor person will find a way to share food with a guest.

Q: What types of services or programs have been helpful?

StartZone at Highline College has a lot of workshops around marketing, labelling, accounting. Project Feast helped us in nutrition and food safety. FIN has helped us to get our business license and permits and to connect us with more people – to help us build our network. Ventures provided training to help us understand how to plan and run a business.

Q: What would you say to other small food business owners thinking of working with FIN?

There are so many opportunities out there, you just have to believe in yourself. But at the same time, be prepared. There are a lot of logistics you need to learn – things will not happen right away and you need to take the time to be prepared and don’t react out of a sense of urgency. Believe in yourself and you must believe in any organization you are working with, the trust must be there when you are getting help from someone. 

Connect with Soozveen to make an order or volunteer.

P.S. They would love help with professional photography and designing a website.

It’s official…FIN Entrepreneurs have launched!

April 7, 2017 | News

FIN is excited to support the launch of four new local caterers cooking out of our shared commercial kitchen in Kent. The catering businesses each received a small start-up grant and reduced rent fees and are now fully licensed and insured caterers. FIN partner, Project Feast, is a core tenant, training culinary apprentices who operate the lunch cafe, Cafe Ubuntu.

FIN is working closely with partners Ventures, StartZone and Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship to ensure each entrepreneur is matched with a business coach, receives ongoing training and identifies market opportunities such as catering events, farmers markets, and festivals.

The seven entrepreneurs are operating under 4 catering businesses and will be cooking up cuisines from around the world. Swahili Seattle Food, Soozveen, Rekebot Coffee House and Mian Dian cater dishes and flavors from Kenya, Iraq, Ethiopia and China.

Many thanks for the support from Seattle Foundation, Communities of Opportunity, Port of Seattle, and City of Kent. Their generous support has helped FIN and partners to build out the commercial kitchen and ensure the entrepreneurs and apprentices have the support services needed. And a special thank you to Project Feast for spending the many hours managing the remodeling project!

 

If you have a catering or special event coming up, please give a FIN entrepreneur a call!

SeaTac Community Garden

February 7, 2017 | News

City of SeaTac’s first community garden is scheduled to open the spring of 2017 at North SeaTac Park adjacent to the botanical and Japanese gardens.  The community garden will have small garden plots available to SeaTac residents for rent (April 1-October 31). Plants grown on the rented plots are for personal use, donations or to share with others.

Eligibility
~ Plot holder must be at least 18 years of age.
~ City of SeaTac residents have priority in receiving a plot. Non-residents may apply and be assigned a plot if available. Residency will be confirmed by a valid State of Washington driver’s license or utility bill.
~ A maximum of 2 plots can be assigned to a household if all other eligible gardeners have received a plot.

Registration Opens Tuesday, January 3rd!
~ You may register at the SeaTac Community Center. Link to application form is below.
~ Registration fee is $40 per year.

Registration information provided in links below.
SeaTac Community Garden Brochure (Information, Rules & Regulations)

FIN’s newest staff member shares views on cultural identity as an Iraqi-American.

January 9, 2017 | Stories

Sheelan making baklava

Sheelan Shamdeen, FIN Program Assistant

Sheelan Shamdeen, a Kurdish-Iraqi refugee, began working with FIN as a graduate of Project Feast’s Apprenticeship Program. Also a client of StartZone at Highline College, she and her sister found support in planning their own Iraqi catering company – Soozveen. But catering is only a small part of her story. In fact, Sheelan looks at their catering company as tool to bridge her two identities as a Kursdish-Iraqi refugee and an American citizen – food is a platform for dialogue she says.

“We had 24 hours to leave and weren’t sure where we were going.” Sheelan and her family fled Iraq in 1996 when Saddam Hussein announced anyone associated with the UN would be publicly hanged. They, along with countless others, spent 3 nights under a tent with no passports – their only keepsake from home a teddy bear her sister had saved. Although they were safe once they reached Turkey, they had a long unknown journey ahead of them. Arriving in Guam, many families squeezed into tight living quarters for months while official paperwork was filed to enter the US with green cards.

Twenty years later Sheelan, her mother, and seven siblings are all US citizens. Many of those years have been spent teaching English to other immigrants and refugees at Highline College. Although she remembers every detail of her life in Iraq, she also embraces American culture and encourages newcomers to do the same.

“Many refugees feel this is only temporary – that this is not their home. But this is the place that helped my family survive and I believe I have two homes now.” To her, she is truly accepted in America as a human being – not a Muslim or an Iraqi but as a person. Despite the things sometimes said in media and politics, she feels like she belongs here. Sheelan doesn’t want any immigrant to lose their language or culture but believes it is important to also feel at home here. In America it is possible to celebrate both patriotism and cultural diversity in the same breath. Sharing Iraqi food with people is just one way that she can start conversations about cultural identity.

A dish made during Project Feast trainingOver two years have passed since Sheelan was first introduced to FIN. She was part of the first group of Community Food Advocates, recently joined the first cohort FIN Entrepreneurs and, in September 2016, took a staff position as FIN’s Program Assistant. Being a refugee means Sheelan knows what it feels like to start something from nothing. She brings compassion into her work and is quick to respond in a moment of need. All she asks of those around her is to be open minded.

Sheelan’s advice to all people: “Ask questions before assuming you know someone’s story. Keep learning –there are so many free resources out there. And if you can’t find anything to learn then start a conversation with someone new.”

by Allison Mountjoy
January 9, 2017, 10:30AM PST