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Welcome to
The Ennovation Center.
Let's go see what
we've got cooking.
Well, honestly,
I think the word, "innovation,"
is very appropriate here
because along with me,
there's about 30 other companies
around here that are innovators
and creators,
and they're just breaking
the mold in every single way.
We're working here today at
The Ennovation Center, which is
in Independence, Missouri.
Really interesting place.
There are only 20 or 30
food business incubators
in the entire country.
Some of them are more
sophisticated than others.
This one is rather well set up.
When we came to check out
the facility,
we were really shocked
at what we found,
especially this oven over here
which is unbelievable.
It's just an incredible set-up
to walk into.
It's like someone saying,
"Here's everything you need,
go."
I mean, there's just--
there's nothing else like it.
Yeah, so, it was--I mean,
it was really incredible.
I was really emotional,
'cause that's what I do, I cry.
So, I got really excited.
It's really been wonderful.
You're trying to wear
so many hats and figure out
how to do so many things
from the beginning,
so it's nice to have
some expertise and people
you can ask things to.
My name is Stephanie Zamora,
I'm the Director
of Entrepreneurship
and Small Business
for the Independence Regional
Ennovation Center.
The Ennovation Center
is a mixed-use incubator.
We have three parts
to our incubator.
There's the culinary incubator,
biotech, and general business
and technology.
We have--currently have
two biotech clients
who use our facility.
One is a food science company
and the other is
a fertility company,
so we've got really innovative
things happening here
in our facility
from food to food science
all the way to making babies.
We cover the gamut.
This building was originally
built in 1909,
it was a hospital.
It closed in 2007,
and the city became challenged
with finding out what to do
with this building
that was 250,000 square feet.
We took the old kitchen,
which had previously fed
thousands of people,
and turned it
into a culinary incubator.
We have five individual kitchens
that the clients use
to start their businesses.
We say that when this
was a hospital,
people were born here,
and now that it's
a business incubator,
dreams are born here.
We have over 30 food businesses
who use our facility.
So, once again,
there's economic activity
happening in this building.
It's great to work side by side
with another food business,
but it can often be
really difficult to connect,
so we try to create
lots of outside opportunities
for our businesses to create
relationships and to really
just cheer each other on,
and they really help
support each other
and keep each other going.
♪
We have a variety of equipment
here at The Ennovation Center,
including chocolate temperers,
dough sheeters, dough proofers,
food processors, dough presses,
large mixers
that take that capacity,
that small KitchenAid you might
be working with at home
and takes it to the next level.
We spent $250,000 on equipment
here in The Ennovation Center
which allows people to do things
that they just could not do
in their home kitchen.
For example,
we have steam kettles
which are used to make
chocolate sauces, jams, jellies,
and even gourmet ketchup.
Our foodpreneurs
push the line on food
here in the Kansas City area,
including Bruce Steinberg with
Fine Vines Artisanal Ketchup.
Many times, people bring
a food product to market
because they make something
really good
and all their friends
and family really like it,
and they say,
"You should sell that."
And, in fact,
that happened to me.
I analyzed the market,
went through a number
of training programs
in entrepreneurship,
fully analyzed the data,
and we see
a tremendous opportunity
for the ketchup market.
In the entrepreneur world,
we hear a lot
about disruptive innovation,
and people say, "That sounds
great, but what is it actually?"
Innovation is creating
something new
which didn't previously exist.
Disruptive means
changing a market,
and when you hear that term,
in most cases, it's about some
kind of a tech product,
and what's gotten the interest
of a lot of people here
in Kansas City is that
this product is going
to change the ketchup market
and truly represents
disruptive innovation,
yet it's not a tech product.
This is a business
that I'm looking to scale
into a national brand
because it's changing
the largest condiment category.
That's a significant
piece of business to look at
rather than bringing
another product that's similar
to others in the category.
The ketchup market is so large
and there are so few choices,
this is literally
a game-changer.
One of the most noteworthy
collaborations for me
has been with Danny O'Neill,
who is the owner
of the Roasterie coffee company
here in Kansas City.
Together, we've collaborated
on this Roasterie coffee
flavored ketchup.
This is a true collaboration
among Kansas City entrepreneurs,
and it's one of the things
that I think makes this city
a great entrepreneur community.
And this is one
of our full kitchens.
Right next door,
we have another full kitchen
with Becky Ross
with The Freedom Chef
who is making a whole variety
of food today.
I run two companies
out of the kitchens here,
one of which is
The Freedom Chef,
which is a company
in which we deal with a lot
of local dieticians
and complicated dietary needs.
We've had a lot of success
in dealing with all sorts
of really hard types of diets,
and by just changing the food,
we've had successful outcome.
For instance,
a man with diabetes
was off of insulin shots
within a week and a half,
so we were thrilled
with those results.
We're all about natural.
Any way that we can bring
natural is much preferred.
What we try to do is bring
flavor into our food,
levels of flavor.
It's about the taste.
One of our most special
and unique products
which I'm very excited about
and we love,
see a big ole tub of it here,
it's actually called
quinoa granola.
We're here full time,
a minimum of 40 hours a week.
This is home base.
This is where we come,
this is where we office,
this is where all of our food
is stored and cooked.
So, from start to finish,
it's all done here.
Without The Ennovation Center,
I don't know that we would
have been able to launch
so quickly as we did.
We would not have had
all of the equipment
and the support needed.
I tell you what,
Stephanie in particular has
really just gone the distance.
She thinks of things that I
never would have thought of,
and it really has just put
our best foot forward
so we were able to jump
right into the market
and be successful.
Stephanie has connected me
with people
and all sorts of resources
to help me grow my business
and make it successful,
and I am struggling
to keep up right now,
quite honestly.
We are running
each and every day,
but it's so exciting,
it's so fulfilling.
You've got to have the dream,
and you've got to lay out
your steps on how to get there,
because nothing's impossible.
It doesn't matter
how much work it's gonna take
because if you dream it,
you can do it.
I know it's a saying,
but it's absolutely true.
And stay positive, you know.
Put in the time,
put in the hard work,
because it will be worth it.
If you believe in something,
you can really push
to make it happen
and go further than anyone's
gone before doing it.
Starting a business
is one of the hardest things
you'll ever do.
Probably one of the most
worthwhile, but definitely
one of the hardest things to do,
and to be honest,
it's not for everybody.
To be a successful entrepreneur,
you have to have good ideas
and be able to execute them.
You have to be able to handle
things on a day to day basis
as well as think strategically
with your business,
and that's not something
that just anybody can do.
We tell people often,
"If you're self-employed
and you don't feel
a little bit crazy,
you're probably doing
something wrong."
To be an entrepreneur,
you need to be hard-working,
be dedicated, and be able
to keep a hold of your passion
when things get tough.
You're gonna feel like quitting
at any given time,
but it's important to remember
why you started this business
and what change you're trying
to stir in the world.
Casey and I met
when we were working at a bakery
in City Market together,
and we always knew
that we wanted to start
our own business,
and we waited a while
to kind of get more experience,
and last year,
the beginning of last year,
I thought, "It's time."
So, Casey and I
had a little meeting,
and Milk & Honey was formed,
and we knew that we wanted
to do French macaroons,
they're kind of the new cupcake,
but they don't have much
of a presence in the Midwest,
so we wanted to introduce
them to the Midwest
so people can love them
as much as we do,
or learn to love them
as much as we do.
Absolutely.
Starting a business
is really scary,
but you also have to remember
to have fun, you know, enjoy it.
Even though it can be stressful,
it's still really fun,
so you have to laugh.
And it takes all types
to run a business.
You can't just be good
at cooking
or great at baking
to start a business,
that is not what it's about.
It's really more
about the entire process.
I think that's something
we've learned, definitely.
But--and we also have
completely different strengths,
and that's been incredible
because we don't step on
each other's toes with things.
There are things that
I'm good at that Karina
would never want to do,
and there are things
that she's amazing at
that I would just break out
in hives if I had to attempt it.
Anything in a spreadsheet,
and I am anxious beyond words.
I can't even handle it.
We definitely learned
to hire the expert in things
that we are not experts in,
like web design
and graphic design and...
Do not take shortcuts
on things that really matter.
In the end,
you will regret it.
For sure, 'cause then you'll
just end up wasting money
and have to do it
all over again.
And learning to let go
of that control to give it
to someone else
in the beginning is really scary
because you put so much
of yourself in your business,
and then you start to realize
that it's the only way
it can grow is if you give it
a little more room to breathe
and take some of that
responsibility off yourself,
'cause there's no way
you can do it all.
Well, there was no initial
startup cost, which was
a really big deal for us.
Rent actually turned out
to be about the same
for another place,
but the initial startup cost
is what really gets
small businesses, and so--
because we didn't have
to deal with that,
it's been a life-saver.
All this equipment in this room
is extremely pricy,
and the thing
about a professional kitchen
is to start a professional
kitchen, you have to have
all professional equipment.
So, to get certified,
you have to have
the high-cost items,
and it's been nice
because this facility
has given us the ability
to slowly start to build up
our inventory on items
that would be really
expensive otherwise,
and this oven is magical.
Another big thing is storage
because refrigerated
and freezer space is...
Installing a freezer
and a refrigerator is super--
a walk-in is super expensive,
so we also saved a lot.
We had some really wonderful
workshops where Danny O'Neill
from the Roasterie
and John McDonald
from Boulevard Brewing,
Leroy Shatto from Shatto Dairy,
all came and they gave
this incredible seminar
about what it's like
to start your own business,
and it's so nice to have all
these incredible entrepreneurs
who've done really well
and been successful in this city
care about the next ones
that are coming along,
so that's been really wonderful.
And, I mean, the one thing
that I have to say
is that people have been
so extremely supportive here.
You know, most of the businesses
that we work with
are local businesses that have
been started in Kansas City,
so they understand
what it's like to be a startup,
and they've been
so incredibly supportive of us,
and it's--it's just been
a great--they made it
a great experience for us.
♪
It's great that people
are paying attention
to entrepreneurs
here in Kansas City,
but we've really always
been entrepreneurial,
and we're growing
on that every day.
As Google's come to town,
our entrepreneurs are finding
new and creative ways
to network through organizations
like 1 Million Cups.
Kansas City's making it happen,
and we are becoming
the most entrepreneurial city
in the world.
A co-production of KCPT
and Outpost Worldwide
at home in Kansas City.
♪
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