What’s cooking? A lot less

Jane Heiskell has a garage full of kettles and preserves.

Since the closure of a commercial kitchen that was used by 15 to 20 small businesses, the inventory for Aunt Jane’s Jams and Jellies no longer sits in an industrial locker but instead straddles a used Lexus.

“I loved that kitchen. We’re very sad about it. It has served so many small businesses — I don’t know what’s going to happen to them,” Heiskell said.

The kitchen, located inside Building 1378 at the Spokane International Airport, is closing for good this weekend after 20 years of serving as an affordable rental where owners of small businesses could prepare their food products. The entire building was once a business incubator operated by Eastern Washington University that served fledgling companies from a variety of different sectors.

Businesses that couldn’t afford to set up dedicated kitchens that met the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s licensing requirements could rent the place, with its stainless steel countertops and industrial equipment, for less than $9 an hour with an added $2 an hour for use of the convection oven. The cost was significantly less than other kitchens, which can run about $25 an hour and more.

Under Eastern’s direction, companies received help with business plans, labeling and marketing. But budget cuts forced the college to close the incubator in 1996. Eastern let its building lease, through Spokane International Airport, lapse and transferred the kitchen inventory to Spokane International Airport for $10, said Todd Woodard, airport spokesman.

Although the airport continued renting the facility for more than a decade, businesses never received any mentoring or other traditional incubator services, Woodard said. He added that the building is under-utilized and the kitchen facilities needed significant upgrades.

“We just don’t have the expertise to do those types of services,” he explained.

Judy Gifford, property and contracts manager for the airport, said airport representatives started meeting with municipalities more than a year ago to look into transferring the equipment to reestablish the kitchen elsewhere. They also took proposals for anyone wanting to lease the kitchen or purchase the mixers and other equipment, she said, adding that they received one low bid of about $500 for the equipment.

“We tried everything we could think of,” Gifford said.

Sherrie Peterson operates a seasonal business called Brown’s Forest that sells packaged caramel dessert mixes at craft shows and through a Web site. She rented the kitchen for five to 20 hours a month in September through March.

Renting the commercial facility enabled the companies, many family-owned, to control cost, she said, adding, “It was very, very reasonable.”

Since learning of the facility’s closure, Peterson has called churches and other places in hopes of finding another kitchen to rent.

“We’re currently trying to think of businesses that maybe have a kitchen facility” that’s open at night, she said. “I don’t really know what the possibilities are.”

Heiskell said the loss of the kitchen happens at a time when she was selling about 1,500 cases of preserves a year, some at Great Harvest Bread Co. in South Spokane, and had just introduced a new product that was gaining momentum. Her mini-jams and jellies with personalized labels were attracting customers who used them as favors for parties, golf tournaments and wedding receptions, she said.

Now the U.S. Department of Agriculture is preparing to do a kitchen inspection as part of the relicensing process. Heiskell told an agency representative that she was temporarily without a kitchen.

“I understand why they’re closing it. It’s probably not making any money,” Heiskell said. “But it sure serves a nice purpose.”