On the eve of Confituras’ remarkable 5 year anniversary, founder and jam-master Stephanie McClenny is finally ready to announce her next big venture: her own brick and mortar Jam & Biscuit store.
I know, I know, it’s about time, right? Well, not only is she venturing into a permanent and open-to-the-public jam factory, she’s taking it a step further and dedicating part of the space as a sliding scale community kitchen to offer affordable commercial kitchen space for small food startups. Wait, hold your applause, we’re not done. On top of THAT, the space is also slated to play host to an incubator program in which women endeavoring in their own small food businesses in Central Texas can be mentored by seasoned professionals in the legal, financial, and marketing areas of starting a small food business operation, eventually ‘graduating’ to take their business out into greater Texas food community.
Talk about paying it forward.
The idea sprouted from Stephanie’s own experiences as a woman working to make it in the Texas culinary scene.
“We feel so fortunate to have been afforded such an incredible amount of support over the years and it’s important for us to give something back ̶ we really want this to be a community-focused kitchen.”
“Beyond just continuing to build upon our own success with Confituras, we are passionate about helping other small businesses in the Central Texas area start up and thrive,” said McClenny. “There is a lack of affordable, quality commercial kitchen space to rent in the Austin area. This kitchen will be shared with other local food artisans and chefs, and will include an incubator component to support small, women-owned businesses, offering sliding scale kitchen rental space, mentorship, and access to professionals in the community in the areas of accounting, legal, and business matters.”
The next step comes at no small cost, however. McClenny is launching her Kickstarter today to raise the funds necessary to bring her vision to fruition.
“We really need everyone’s help to support not only local food artisans and chefs who will utilize this space, but also by extension local farmers’ markets, organic and sustainable farming, and the great restaurants and other businesses who rely on all of these resources. This is a grassroots campaign helping local businesses to be successful, and so we are asking folks who love food food and small businesses to support this campaign and give back to the local food community through their support.”
Want to get involved? Support the Confituras Kickstarter campaign here!
Or join in on a lively happy hour Kickstarter launch party tonight at Salt & Time Butcher Shop and Salumeria at 1912 East Seventh Street in Austin from 5-7 pm.
And save the date for other supporting events like the Jam & Biscuit Pop-Up with Farmhouse friend, I Knead That Bakery. Hosted at Métier Cook’s Supply South First Street, Saturday, September 26th, from 10am-1pm.