A new plan for the historic pump house building in Peoria Heights reimagines the space as a place to grow food businesses in the region.
A Matter of Taste Kitchen is described as a shared commercial kitchen and business incubator. It’s the outcome of a partnership between the Turner Center for Entrepreneurship at Bradley University and the village of Peoria Heights.
A wide range of community members officially cut the ribbon Monday outside the Kingman Avenue property.
The kitchen is meant to give local food entrepreneurs a place where they can access a licensed, commercial kitchen while getting their business off the ground. It also features an event space where the entrepreneurs can host meals and test their ideas.
“[Business owners] go through a process where they have to get certified through the Peoria City/County Health Department. They have to get insurance. There’s other steps they have to go through, but after that there’s membership packages where they can pre-book a number of hours per month that they want to come in and use the facility,” explained James Foley, director of the Turner Center.
“Not only that, but we wrap around that kitchen all of the services of the [Turner Center], including the Small Business Development Center, which is already working with a lot of food entrepreneurs on helping them succeed and grow and get financing, social media, that sort of thing.”
Foley said Bradley has no similar partnerships yet in the region.
The Turner Center is funded through grants from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and U.S. Small Business Administration, with matching funds from Bradley.
Foley said the idea for the kitchen came from conversations with Connie Randall,whose A Matter of Taste catering business was a fixture of the community for 47 years. She said after her retirement last year, she wanted to find a way to give back to the community that had supported her business, herself and her child for so long.
“I donated all my major equipment to this project. I had worked with [Foley] catering for many years,” said Randall, standing in the fully-equipped kitchen of the new food business incubator. “When I told him what I was thinking of doing, he said his department had thought about this kind of project and [asked if] I would be interested in teaming up with them. I thought it was a win-win for all.”
Randall describes herself as the “arrow shooting the project forward,” adding the entire experience feels very full circle, as her own business started with support from an “incubator” of sorts after her time at Bradley University.
“There was a group of retired business people that gave advice, and then I was the project for the end of the semester for Bradley and they took me on,” Randall said. “I asked them, ‘Would this community support what I wanted to give this community,’ and they came back and they said ‘go for it,’ and I did.”
Randall said the extra support was extremely important to starting her business.
For some small business owners, access to a commercial kitchen also is extremely important to scaling up.
Andre Ware is the owner of Ware’s Cookie Shack. The business is a Peoria fixture, founded by Ware’s mother Brenda in 2001.
Brenda Ware died just over two years ago, and Andre has been running the business since then. The Cookie Shack is a regular at Peoria’s Riverfront Market.
“[The kitchen] means a lot because it helps me to be able to, just in case, if I need something where I have a significant order, this is the perfect space to be able to do it,” said Ware. “Because where I’m at currently, I can’t do that, so this is perfect.”
Ware said the kitchen also is a huge boon for a business just starting out and he plans to be an advocate for the space with other food entrepreneurs.
“This is a perfect chance for them to be able to get their feet wet, get a chance to see it before they decide to do something like a storefront,” he said.
Peoria Heights connection
The opening of A Matter of Taste Kitchen puts an end to a long decision-making process for the Village of Peoria Heights. The village spent some time looking for a new tenant for the pump house property after its lease with the KDB Group ended and Popcorn Works ended operation there.
“It was a little bit controversial at first,” said Peoria Heights Mayor Matt Wigginton. “What did we want here? It’s kind of a unique place.”
“We have a neighborhood, commercial, we have [state Sen. Dave Koehler’s office] right here as well, so we really needed the right fit. I think seeing this come into action, seeing it all come together with all the partners, I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”
Wigginton and Foley don’t see the kitchen as just a resource for Peoria Heights or Bradley University. Both say it has broad potential for motivating food business growth in Central Illinois.
“We’re going to be able to foster [talent] and then hopefully be able to have it here, right on Peoria Heights’ restaurant row, but also spread it out to the Warehouse District in Peoria, Uptown Normal, all across Central Illinois,” said Wigginton.
Randall is ready to see what sort of businesses will spring from A Matter of Taste Kitchen.
“This community is so kind and so embracing and I just feel like it’s time for me to help pass it on and help the younger generation,” she said.
