A new commercial kitchen and education center at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College celebrated its grand opening this week.
The Maui Food Innovation Center’s new facility houses non-credit courses to assist local entrepreneurs with concept-to-consumer, food manufacturing and value-added business start-ups.
The center is the state’s first college-based business incubator that fosters growth and education for agribusinesses and food entrepreneurs.
It offers non-credit certifications and professional development classes like food handler safety, business plan development, culinary arts and product marketing.
“Not everybody wants to go to 16 weeks of a class and have to get 80 credits to get a degree, right, to get where they want to get to," said Angela Gannon, instructor at the Food Innovation Center.
"So this is an out-of-the-box concept to help someone who’s a farmer or a homemaker or a young student who has a great idea. [An idea such as] chili pepper water… they want to come in, they want to bottle their product, they want to market their product. We’re here. That’s what we do.”
The Maui Food Innovation Center’s 4,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility came with an $8.5 million price tag.
The space is open to UH students, as well as high school students and community partnerships.
