Incubator

Our Food Business Incubator

We support entrepreneurs through training, mentoring, and affordable commercial kitchen space. Small businesses rent the kitchen for catering, farmers market and festival vending, and preparing packaged foods.

Before renting the kitchen, entrepreneurs receive help with required permits, licenses and insurance, and a basic business plan. Then business owners are paired with a coach for additional training and mentoring. StartZone at Highline College and Ventures Nonprofit provide coaching.

How to Apply

Entrepreneurs start working with us 3-6 months before they are ready to use the commercial kitchen space. Once a business is permitted and insured to use the kitchen, we work together to build a market and customer base. We enroll businesses twice a year (in December and July) — three months before they become licensed to use the commercial kitchen.

Every applicant is screened to ensure they meet basic program qualifications, including being a resident of South King County. We require applicants to complete a basic business development training course (see options here) to be eligible to apply. For more information about applying, please email Njambi Gishuru or call her at 206-291-7407.

We will share the application for the Tukwila Village Food Hall retail stalls in spring 2019. Please sign up for our newsletter to receive this information.