Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. X I X S TA R T U P S / E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P F O C U S S alsa, lobster rolls, French maca- rons, flavored crackers and oat- meal bars are all in production one recent morning at Fork Food Lab, a shared commercial kitchen and food business incubator in Portland's West Bayside neighborhood. On the ground floor of the ware- house-like brick building, Chris Fawcett is processing tomatoes for Plucked Fresh Salsa — weekly production is up to 6,000 pounds — as Bill Linnell chops celery for lobster rolls he'll peddle on his Cap'n Bill's Lobster red tugboat-on- wheels lunch cart. Linnell also makes crabmeat rolls and whoopie pies from an old family recipe. One floor above, Tara Canaday of Suga Suga is decorating macarons in bright colors as Nina Murray of Mill Cove Baking Co. and Alicia Danielson of Alicia Bars are busy baking. Fork Food Lab, a hub of culinary creativity and entrepreneurship in Bon Appetit's 2018 "Restaurant City of the Year," is home to 45 food-related busi- nesses and set to hit 50 by Oct. 1, a year after a new owner stepped in to keep it from closing. But success also brings grow- ing pains. e Sustainability Lab, a Yarmouth-based nonprofit headed by Bill Seretta, bought Fork Food Lab last year from New York-based Pilotworks, the same month that Pilotworks unex- pectedly went under. After doubling Fork Food Lab's membership, Seretta is searching for bigger space as he sets out to raise $150,000 from private donations to cover a loss. He's looking for a build- ing of 10,000 to 12,000 square feet and ideally on one floor that would be better suited to production. "is is a neat building," Seretta says, "but it's not a manufacturing facility." Having to walk up and down stairs is a hassle for the producers, on top of a P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2 0 » Fork Food Lab 72 Parris St., Portland 207.558.0881 www.forkfoodlab.com Description: Shared commercial kitchen and food business incubator Owner: The Sustainability Lab, Yarmouth What's next: Finding a bigger building and raising $150,000 to recover a loss S E P T E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 9 18 F O C U S Cooking up a storm OPENING DOORS FOR STARTUPS Fork Food Lab's next chapter B y R e n e e C o R d e s Andy Rowell, left, and Eric Wentworth, co-owners of Hi Bar Bakery, at the café pop-up they have Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 8–11 a.m.at Fork Food Lab in Portland.

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