DADE CITY, Fla. — For five years, the East Pasco Incubator Kitchen has given entrepreneurs a place to fine tune their personal recipe for success and get their food startups going.

Arlettle Williams said it helped her get her catering operation, Mz. Letts Kitchen LLC, off the ground.

What You Need To Know

  • The Fifth Annual SMARTstart Food Vendor Fair was recently held at the UF/IFAS Pasco Extension One Stop Shop 

  • People were able to sample and purchase products developed by local entrepreneurs in the East Pasco Incubator Kitchen

  • The kitchen opened in 2019 and has incubated 55 food businesses

  • PREVIOUS COVERAGE: East Pasco Incubator Kitchen Offers New Resource For Entrepreneurs

"It was very instrumental because I needed this kitchen in order to get my catering license," Williams said. "I wouldn't have been able to get it without it."

Williams has been cooking pretty much her whole life.

"Since I was eight years old," she said. "My first cooking lesson was collard greens and snapping peas."

She was hooked.

"I'm actually living out my dreams. So, when people say, 'What did you want to be when you were growing up?' I wanted to be a chef, and I'm actually doing that," Williams said. 

Williams, 41, started her business two years ago, but three days a week, you'll still find her in the incubator kitchen, making lunch specials she delivers to customers.

"It's such a blessing because I don't know how I would be doing this and making this extra money that I'm making during the week," she said. 

The kitchen opened at the UF/IFAS Pasco Extension's One Stop Shop in 2019. The Pasco Economic Development Council's SMARTstart Program Director, Daniel Mitchell, said the kitchen lets people test out and launch an idea without some of the financial risk.

"We've got a fully licensed and inspected commercial kitchen that's licensed for manufactured, wholesale, retail, food permits, catering. So, you don't need to go spend $30,000, $40,000, $100,000 equipping your own kitchen. You can do it here," Mitchell said. 

Coaching and collaboration with other business owners is also offered at the center.

The incubator kitchen is part of a growing movement. According to a 2020 report on survey responses from 180 shared kitchen facilities nationwide, two-thirds of those kitchens were established after 2010. Earlier research cited in the report states incubated businesses have more than double the success rate after six years in operation compared to non-incubated businesses.

Mitchell said 55 food businesses have incubated at the one stop shop. This month, the public got to sample some of their work at the Fifth Annual SMARTstart Food Vendor Fair. Williams featured her seasoning line. It's the latest step for a business that she said has already changed her life.

She said there are many perks that come with turning a lifelong love into a livelihood.

"It's given me so much freedom," Williams said. "Financial freedom, freedom with my time. I can create my own schedule."