The Cochrane CookHouse is putting out a call to the community to step forward to offer suggestions and support for the artisan market and community kitchen to become self-sustaining by this time next year.
A local ‘foodie’ initiative, the multi-faceted business seeks to build community by providing discounted rates for local artisans and new businesses to sell their wares, affordable rental space in their commercial kitchen and to facilitate educational and social opportunities through cooking classes, private rentals and workshops.
Opened up under the town umbrella in 2012, the CookHouse is looking to drum up more revenue in 2014, becoming less reliant on grant monies for operations.
In one year from now, the CookHouse will no longer be under the wing of the town. The objective is to find a way to make the CookHouse more profitable, without taking away from the social core.
“There’s so much good that has come out of it, it would be a shame to close the doors,” said Susan Flowers, project lead and manager of Cochrane Family and Community Support Services (FCSS).
Flowers added that the fixed costs of the CookHouse are quite high, resulting in the need to redesign the business model in order to generate more revenue.
“The CookHouse is experiencing higher costs than originally predicted,” said Paige Milner, senior manager of corporate services for the town. “Every community has a need and a niche (market) for social products…is there enough of a demand for it?”
Milner said the intention since inception was that the town would step away from the CookHouse once the right partner was found.
A task force of town staff has been put together to strategize a new business model, setting up to present options to council in early 2014; the multi-disciplinary team is comprised of CookHouse coordinator Tara Anderson and town staff including Susan Flowers, Suzanne Gaida, Mike Korman and Paige Milner.
Tara Anderson, who has been involved with the project since the beginning, said the CookHouse has not been exempt from the growing pains any new business goes through.
“When we look at social enterprise, it needs to be a long-term foundation…Just in 2013, there were eight new businesses that got their start in our CookHouse kitchen…in total there are 15 businesses that use this kitchen as the base of their business,” explained Anderson, adding that she feels the business is “moving in the right direction” and is looking forward to feedback from the community on how to proceed.
With flexible hours and rates, Anderson said the CookHouse can accodomate unconventional hours as well as provide an affordable platform to help new businesses get their start.
Both Anderson and Flowers acknowledged that while some local businesses may regard the CookHouse as a competitor, this is a misconception.
“I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding around that — we’re helping, not competing,” said Anderson.
“We have Alberta-based businesses selling their products out of our store (artisan market), that otherwise wouldn’t be able to sell their products in Cochrane.”
The CookHouse has 32 vendors within a 300-km radius of Cochrane selling their products in the artisan market.
In 2012, the CookHouse received $37,502 through various grants. Town council approved the FCSS contingency reserve for capital costs ($86,000) and startup of the social venture ($33,000).
In 2013, the CookHouse received $78,400 from grants; the 2014 town budget predicts a shortfall of $38,354, which will be funded by the town through the FCSS contingency reserve.
So far in 2014, $37,700 in grants have been secured. The total budget is $82,875 and according to Milner: “the town is actively exploring options for transitioning the CookHouse to the community in 2014 with no additional cost to taxpayers. The town has done this successfully in the past with Cochrane Home Treasures, for example. If a shortfall in 2014 is experienced, the town will use contingency reserves to cover the one-time cost.”
Learn more at cochranecookhouse.ca.
