Kitchen Ponderay set to cook up success

PONDERAY — Over the course of 26 years, Gem Berry products have been made in many different kitchens.

Making the many huckleberry products takes a commercial kitchen with just the right equipment. Since the Sandpoint business incubator, which included a commercial-grade kitchen, closed in 2014, owner Harry Menser has struggled to find a home for making his products. Over the past few years, he has traveled to Rathdrum and Blanchard to use kitchens in the Salsa Factory and the Blanchard Community Center, among other spaces. In the end, none of them worked out. He is currently occupying a space in the Ponderay Events Center.

Soon, however, he will once again have use of the equipment from the original incubator. After 18 months of planning, development and fundraising, the Bonner County Economic Development Corporation has all of the ingredient to begin the construction of Kitchen Ponderay.

“Things are falling into place,” Menser told the Daily Bee a few months back, as the BCEDC began to see funding and support come through for the kitchen.

Menser will be the first to use Kitchen Ponderay, which will inhabit the 1,540-square-foot space in the Bonner Mall, previously occupied by the Hideaway Lounge.

“It’s a great place,” Paul Kusche, BCEDC executive director, told the Daily Bee. “It’s accessible to the community, it’s accessible to users and it’s a good use of dead mall space.”

Construction is scheduled to begin next week, though he said no target date has been set for a grand opening at this time. With the kitchen equipment from the incubator to be used as a starting point, BCEDC officials raised the funds necessary to complete the design, engineering, construction and installation of what will be an “efficient and modern commercial kitchen,” Kusche said in a statement.

Kusche estimates the project will cost $80,000, and with six grants and the support of the Bonner County commissioners, the city of Ponderay and the Panhandle Area Council, funding fell into place this week.

It was when the BCEDC received the lead grant from the Northwest Business Development Association for $30,000, Kusche knew it was time to make the “all-out effort” to complete the project.

“Perseverance pays off,” Kusche said in the statement.

Ponderay Mayor Steve Geiger told the Daily Bee that Kusche has been “very passionate” about bringing a commercial kitchen back to the area and found that Ponderay was good fit.

“We are hoping it is going to turn out to be a really good asset for our community, to give folks out there who do not have access to an accredited, certified facility, a place to make their jams or barbecue sauces, or whatever they want to market,” Geiger said. “It gives the small guy an opportunity to do something.”

While the kitchen is a project of the BCEDC, management of the kitchen will fall under the umbrella of Kitchen Spokane. With experience in operating Kitchen Spokane and Kitchen Coeur d’Alene as nonprofit organizations, it is “logical” to have the same model throughout the region, Kusche said in the statement.

Kitchen Ponderay will be a natural extension of the organization’s affordable model, Jayme Cozzetto, president of Kitchen Spokane, said in the statement. It will be a certified facility where new food companies and others can operate under their personal licenses.

“Nonprofit commercial kitchens allow food entrepreneurs to start up their businesses at a fraction of the cost, and helps them maximize profits when they need it the most,” Cozzetto said. “With the support of the skilled chefs, we hope they will create food products that may one day result in them being one of the top chefs in the region.”

While the kitchen’s primary purpose is to serve new business startups, it will also be used for some charitable work in the future, Kusche said. Cozzetto said Kitchen Spokane has implemented a Feed-The-Needy program which, once established, Kitchen Ponderay will work with volunteer organizations in the region to provide food and facilities necessary to prepare and distribute meals.

Construction will also be a local job creator, Kusche said, as the BCEDC will be using local contractors — to the best of their ability — to complete the project, including Pend Oreille Mechanical, Sandpoint Electric, Will's Plumbing, In and Out Painting, Reader Concrete and Lauca Construction. 

Kusche said the project would not have been possible without the support of those who have helped bring the kitchen to fruition, including the Magnusen family and Tom Hix for the space in the Bonner Mall, and Matt Kerr with Sayler Owens Kerr Architecture. The Bonner County Board of Commissioners provided the equipment, as well as $7,500 for maintenance. A $15,000 GEM grant for planning, design and maintenance was provided by the Idaho Department of Commerce.

Funds for equipment, construction and installation have also come through the NBDA’s $30,000 grant, a $3,000 GEM match from the city of Ponderay, a $10,000 BNSF grant, $15,000 from the Inland Northwest Community Foundation, a USDA Rural grant in the amount of $25,000, $500 from Litehouse, Inc., and $2,500 from the Avista Foundation, as well as interim financing though the Panhandle Area Council and a pending request to the Equinox Foundation.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.