Step Up To The Plate - Support Entrepreneurial Success For Food Entrepreneurs

All Businesses Start As A Dream

It all started with a dream to serve the community.

“What’s very important about food businesses is that they need the same education and training as any other entrepreneur. And we understood that – myself and my co-founders, being in the food industry, having our own companies – we know what they need to succeed. And everyone who comes through, We know the secret sauce and will share it with every member who comes through our doors.” Charlynda Scales, founder, 6888 Kitchen Incubator of OH Taste

Four years ago, a serendipitous encounter brought together Dabriah Rice, Charlynda Scales, and Jamaica White, three seasoned food business owners who shared a passion for their craft. As they delved into a deep conversation, they discovered a common thread: the challenges they had faced when starting their own food businesses. From the scarcity of mentorship to the perpetual need for capital and the struggle to find affordable, high-quality commercial kitchen space, these women had navigated countless obstacles on their path to success.

Despite overcoming these hurdles themselves, they realized that many aspiring food entrepreneurs in their community were not as fortunate. Every day, they were approached by individuals who shared the same dreams but lacked the resources and guidance to turn them into reality. These under-resourced entrepreneurs sought answers to the same questions: Where can I find a mentor to guide me? How can I make my business profitable? Is there an affordable commercial kitchen space I can use?

Inspired by their own experiences and driven by a desire to make a difference, Dabriah, Charlynda, and Jamaica decided to take action. Their response was clear: "Let's create an organization that addresses all these needs and more!" From that moment, the concept of the 6888 Kitchen Incubator was born – a beacon of hope for aspiring food entrepreneurs, providing them with the mentorship, financial support, and access to facilities they needed to turn their culinary dreams into thriving businesses.

Paying respect to American Heroes

6888th Battalion of the Postal Service

The 6888 ("Six Triple Eight") Kitchen Incubator, located in the historic Arcade of Dayton, Ohio, is a food business incubator that provides training, business support resources, and commercial kitchen space for under-resourced food entrepreneurs. With 8 current members and open to accepting more, the 6888 Kitchen Incubator is dedicated to helping start-up food entrepreneurs and established food businesses overcome common hurdles and succeed.

Founded by Dayton businesswomen Charlynda Scales (founder and CEO of Mutt's Sauce), Dabriah Rice (owner of Divine Catering and Events), and entrepreneur Jamaica White, the 6888 Kitchen Incubator was born from their shared belief in the need for a shared kitchen concept in the Dayton Region. The Downtown Dayton Partnership played a crucial role in connecting the trio and bringing their vision to life.

The 6888 Kitchen Incubator caters to a wide range of food professionals, including:

* Food startups and entrepreneurial chefs
* Food truck owners
* Caterers & meal prep companies
* Bakers and Pastry Chefs
* Delivery-only restaurants/ghost kitchens
* Food product innovators
* Food educators and cooking instructors

In addition to providing a space for cooking, the 6888 Kitchen Incubator will serve as a venue for events, culinary training, and classes. Foodies in the Dayton area can look forward to purchasing delicious creations made by the talented chefs and entrepreneurs in the kitchen.

The primary goal of the 6888 Kitchen Incubator is to assist home-based business owners in scaling their operations from a home kitchen to a commercial-based setup. By providing the necessary resources and support, the incubator aims to foster the growth and success of the local food business community.

Dreams Require A Plan

"I've been doing this for 15 years, and I believe if there was a program like this (when I first started), I could have gotten more guidance and mentorship. This is personal because I've been in the industry for so long. I know people here passionate about getting to the next step, so this will bring us all together." Dabriah Rice, founder, 6888 Kitchen Incubator of OH Taste.

Pre-Launch

The saying "success leaves clues" has been a guiding principle for many, but at the 6888 Kitchen Incubator, we take it a step further. We believe that "success leaves a plan" – a comprehensive, step-by-step roadmap that empowers determined and aspirational entrepreneurs to achieve their goals. However, in the greater Dayton region, a clear path to success for food entrepreneurs has been notably absent, until now.

One, Establish the Sharpen The Axe Course

The first step in the success plan is a full understanding of how to start and scale a profitable food business. The Sharpen the Axe (STA) Course is a comprehensive financial literacy and business coaching course for food businesses created taught by our Executive Director, Charlynda Scales. The STA Course includes the following:

Food safety instruction
Food business permitting education and facilitation
Legal requirements instruction
Business finance lessons
Sourcing and distribution information
Marketing support

STA students receive financial literacy training and access to funding institutions. Students participate in discussions on business structures, finances, financial management, and business plan development. Every student is educated on options for accessing start-up capital.

The STA Course was fully funded for its first year thanks to the generous donations of Wright Patt Credit Union and Fifth Third Bank. It officially launched in 2022. Forty-four (44) food entrepreneurs have graduated from Sharpen The Axe.

From 2024 to 2025, we expect up to 100 food entrepreneurs to enroll in the program. Of those who complete the STA Course, up to 50 graduates will be offered an opportunity to become the inaugural members of the kitchen incubator.

Two, Build a State of the Art Commercial Kitchen

A customized commercial kitchen offers Sharpen The Axe graduates 10,000 square feet of space to conceptualize, experiment and produce food products under their unique brands. The kitchen features:

A large classroom for training
A community-use kitchen and individual cooking pods
A bakery kitchen
Wet and Dry Storage
Retail space to sell goods

This space opens the door of opportunity and support that is critical to small businesses. Further, these owners can access customized food business training and mentorship.

Dreams Require Support

“Our mission is simple: we are razor focused on growing the local economy by providing resources to food entrepreneurs,” Jamaica White, founder, 6888 Kitchen Incubator of OH Taste.

Dreams come with a price tag- a significant one

We are pleased to report that we have secured over 80% of the funding required for the complete build-out of the 6888 Kitchen Incubator, and we are on track to be fully funded by June 2025. However, we have several STA graduates who are ready to step up to the plate and take the next step in their entrepreneurial journey as members of the kitchen. As these individuals prepare to take one of the most significant swings of their lives, we want to ensure that they have the support they need to knock it out of the park.

Our graduates have the dream of becoming thriving food business owners. Each graduate has a food product with a proven proof of concept – a solid foundation upon which to build their enterprise.

Moreover, our graduates have a game plan. Through their completion of the STA Course, they have acquired the knowledge necessary to elevate their emerging businesses to the next level.

The final ingredient is the community – specifically, the vocal and financial support of the Dayton Region. We need you to step up to the plate alongside these entrepreneurs.

The individuals we aim to support are those who lack access to capital. They have exhausted personal finances and tapped into the resources of friends and family to reach this point. While they have a solid product and knowledge, they have not yet achieved sufficient financial success to secure business loans or participate in funding opportunities and pitches that typically require several years in business and have earning thresholds of $75,000 or more.

We firmly believe that with the support of the 6888 Kitchen Incubator, many of these entrepreneurs can hit a home run, but they need seed money to step up to the plate. This is where you, as a member of the community, can make a difference.

We are establishing the Kitchen Scholarship Fund to provide up to one year of partial financial assistance (up to $7,500) to new kitchen members.

We are calling upon community members to step up to the plate and support these entrepreneurs by contributing to this fund and by sharing this worthy cause with your network, both online and in person. We are asking you to help us give these entrepreneurs their turn at bat. We are asking you to be a part of their team and support this hand-up to these deserving individuals in our community.

**How You Can Step Up to the Plate Right Now**

We are seeking donors to support

Step Up To The Plate - Donate to the 6888 Kitchen Incubator

Help emerging food entrepreneurs launch and grow their business

Team Members