“We are the fighters out there, trying to make a go of it!”. So says Debbie Downing, one of the owners of the Gotta Love It! Kitchen, about small businesses in a rough economy.
Starting a small business is never easy and food businesses are no exception. Without help from an established commercial kitchen, they face high startup costs and a steep learning curve about the rules of engagement.
The Gotta Love It! Kitchen and Market puts self-employment and entrepreneurship within reach of people who want to bring their products and cooking skills to market. An energetic person with an idea can rent the commercial kitchen and test their products without investing thousands of dollars in building one themselves.
Debbie and Jerry Downing, owners, have experienced the difficulty of starting a food business firsthand. Their adventures inspired the idea that brought them where they are today.
Like all rises to stardom, it took time to bring the dream to fruition. Debbie had proposed it to her mother in 1995 when she was making garlic butter out of her family’s restaurant kitchen, McCalister’s Tavern in Colorado Springs. Debbie’s father eventually sold McCalister’s and Debbie & Jerry put their food business on hold for a while after their third child was born. Ever the intrepid baker, Debbie was back in the business a few years later. She built up the Love It! Bakery in the space owned by Canyon Coffee and Cafe. She got up a 4AM every morning to produce pastries Canyon’s customers could eat with their coffee.
Let me stop right here and say how I admire her commitment. Even my chickens aren’t up that early!
Canyon’s owner sold the coffee shop in 2010 and the need for a kitchen brought Debbie and Jerry back to their idea to support other local food businesses. “(This has) definitely been a passion of mine for almost 20 years!”, Debbie says. They found their current space at 2521 W. Colorado Ave and took the plunge! Four businesses rented space from them at first; Mountain Lightning Salsa, Creative Cakes of Colorado Springs, Beyond Pesto and Mya Bella Cupcakes.
The Kitchen helps launch new businesses, but their mission is bigger than that. As Debbie points out, there is more to buying local than buying raw produce from local farms. Consumers can buy finished products made in their own communities all year round!
The Kitchen supports the spirit of entrepreneurship in Colorado Springs. We urge you to check out all your local businesses. Stop in at our Market and try the products made here, visit a local restaurant next time you eat out, try the local hardware store next time you have a project or shop at the local boutique next time you need a sweater. If you like what’s offered, visit again. In a local economy, you are the big fish in a small pond. Every purchase counts!
Written by Bonnie Simon, Community Writing Services, LLC
Starting a small business is never easy and food businesses are no exception. Without help from an established commercial kitchen, they face high startup costs and a steep learning curve about the rules of engagement.
The Gotta Love It! Kitchen and Market puts self-employment and entrepreneurship within reach of people who want to bring their products and cooking skills to market. An energetic person with an idea can rent the commercial kitchen and test their products without investing thousands of dollars in building one themselves.
Debbie and Jerry Downing, owners, have experienced the difficulty of starting a food business firsthand. Their adventures inspired the idea that brought them where they are today.
Like all rises to stardom, it took time to bring the dream to fruition. Debbie had proposed it to her mother in 1995 when she was making garlic butter out of her family’s restaurant kitchen, McCalister’s Tavern in Colorado Springs. Debbie’s father eventually sold McCalister’s and Debbie & Jerry put their food business on hold for a while after their third child was born. Ever the intrepid baker, Debbie was back in the business a few years later. She built up the Love It! Bakery in the space owned by Canyon Coffee and Cafe. She got up a 4AM every morning to produce pastries Canyon’s customers could eat with their coffee.
Let me stop right here and say how I admire her commitment. Even my chickens aren’t up that early!
Canyon’s owner sold the coffee shop in 2010 and the need for a kitchen brought Debbie and Jerry back to their idea to support other local food businesses. “(This has) definitely been a passion of mine for almost 20 years!”, Debbie says. They found their current space at 2521 W. Colorado Ave and took the plunge! Four businesses rented space from them at first; Mountain Lightning Salsa, Creative Cakes of Colorado Springs, Beyond Pesto and Mya Bella Cupcakes.
The Kitchen helps launch new businesses, but their mission is bigger than that. As Debbie points out, there is more to buying local than buying raw produce from local farms. Consumers can buy finished products made in their own communities all year round!
The Kitchen supports the spirit of entrepreneurship in Colorado Springs. We urge you to check out all your local businesses. Stop in at our Market and try the products made here, visit a local restaurant next time you eat out, try the local hardware store next time you have a project or shop at the local boutique next time you need a sweater. If you like what’s offered, visit again. In a local economy, you are the big fish in a small pond. Every purchase counts!
Written by Bonnie Simon, Community Writing Services, LLC
