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FREDERICK’S SCHOOL OF FOOD

teaches business skills to budding entrepreneurs

BY GINA GALLUCCI-WHITE

Though that special family dish you make for family and friends always gets rave reviews, there are many steps between making food for fun and creating a successful food business to sell that delicious creation.

Enter the School of Food, which began in Baltimore, spread to Washington, D.C., and began in Frederick in 2020. This is thanks to partnerships with Frederick County and the City of Frederick’s economic development departments, Frederick’s Downtown Frederick Partnership and Platinum PR.

A School of Food passport gives each student unlimited access to every workshop, e-course, panel discussion, and networking opportunity through November 2021. Curriculum includes opportunities to learn about crafting a strong business foundation, finding a target audience, food safety and Maryland state health regulations, packaging and labeling laws, constructing a financial model and marketing strategy, as well as the basics of accounting and marketing.

Kim Bryden, CEO and founder of the food and beverage firm Cureate, said she noticed an education gap among small business food vendors while working for a variety of food service businesses over the years, and believes School of Food can help fill that gaps.

“People were really good at producing their goods, and we have lots of programs that help with culinary skills, but I saw a lack in education around the business side of running a food business,” she says.

Bryden partnered with a workforce development nonprofit to create the curriculum for School of Food in 2015. “We saw this opportunity to be very specific about the food industry because as you are growing, there are very specific things you need to know to tap into the food industry,” she said.

Students may enroll in one class or buy a passport which allows them to participate in the year-long curriculum. These will be sold until the beginning of April.

Bryden suggests purchasing the passport since those participants tend to get the most out of the program, often sharing resources among fellow students and even eventually doing business with one another once the course is complete.

“We have found Frederick County to be one of the hot spots for lots of new and unique food innovations,” Bryden says.

The curriculum includes a mix of virtual instruction using Zoom, some e-course video modules and panel discussions to illuminate areas of growth opportunity.

With the COVID-19 pandemic wrecking havoc on the food service industry, Bryden has heard from past participants on how their School of Food training helped them to diversify their revenue streams, such as caterers making a sellable product out of a recipe they used before only in their catering services.

With many food-service professionals seeking work, considering life transitions or exploring new ways to earn money, the School of Food provides a unique opportunity to aspiring food business entrepreneurs. Bryden hopes students in the School of Food walk away with a feeling of enhanced confidence in their business, or the knowledge that a food business may not be the correct fit for them. “If it is not a right fit for you, what an opportunity to save a bunch of money to learn that up front rather than spending a lot of money on the back end,” she says. “Conversely, maybe you do figure out it is a right fit for you. What are the tools and resources we can provide to make that growth more achievable for you?”

Find out more https://www.schooloffood.org/

For more about FCPS:

• Visit www.fcps.org • Parents get FindOutFirst school email news when they provide their email address to the school and can get emergency text messages when they log in to enter a mobile phone number. Community members are encouraged to sign up at www.fcps.org/fof • Like FCPS MD on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, Instagram,

Pinterest and YouTube • Read the FCPS Calendar Handbook • Watch FCPS-TV on Comcast cable channel 18 and online at www. fcps.org/tv • Contact the FCPS Office of Public Affairs, 191 S. East St., Frederick,

MD 21701, 301-696-6900

FRE FREDERICK COUNTYDERICK COUNTY

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