MEET THE TEAM
Kathrine Gregory
Managing Consultant
Kathrine has been in the food and beverage industry since 1976, managing restaurants, catering halls, pizzerias. She has done it all, from dishwasher to garde-manger, to publicity, to managing an annual New Year’s Eve party for 3500 people. For the last 20 + years she has had her own consulting firm Mi Kitchen Es Su Kitchen® working with nonprofits to help them create and operate kitchen incubators nationwide. She has lectured at Johnston & Wales; Culinary Institute of America; New York University. Her vision for the incubator concept is a place where passionate food people who want to create a business based on their love of cooking, becoming successful through nurturing and business advisory support services.
Niel Velez
Facilities Manager
A love of baking spurred him to take the Artisan Baking Center’s intensive baking course. From there he joined the staff of the Entrepreneur Space as a CA (Culinary Assistant). His innate knowledge of the ins-and-outs of machinery (as well as computers) made him the perfect person to become Facility Manager. He oversees all the CA’s (hiring and training), sharing his knowledge with the clients. He maintains the Incubator facility to a very high standard of sanitation and function.
Patricia Richter
Client Services Manager
Patricia has been in the Food and Beverage industry for 30 years, specializing in the sales and marketing of products and beverages. Patricia assists all the clients of the incubator through the sharing of information available via the weekly e-blasts. She will review websites, packaging and discuss opportunities with the clients to help them grow their revenues. She facilitates in assisting all the clients to obtain the required licenses and documents they need to grow. Patricia’s main objective is to make sure everyone has good food to eat and has the opportunity to share their culture with others via the dining table.
Victoria Singer
Office Manager
Victoria is our Jill of all Skills. She came to the Incubator as a referral from a prior front office staff person and just took over. Her varied work history has given her the knowledge to handle all the front office tasks: accounts payable/receivable, computer tech issues and working with the clients. She even handles the myriad of handyman repairs that need to be done. She oversees the office staff and maintains the records we are required to keep.
CA’s (Culinary Associates)
Our CA’s are experienced in various kitchen skills, from vegetable prep to recipe mixing, to dishwashing. They are knowledgeable about the various pieces of machinery we have available, teaching the clients as to the proper usage. As one of the services we offer all the clients, is the use of the CA for two dedicated hours on each shift to assist in prep, scooping cookies, packaging or whatever is needed to assist the foodpreneurs to manufacture. They are also experienced in various shortcuts and techniques and are happy to share their knowledge. They are also responsible for maintaining the high level of cleanliness and proper sanitation we require. The facility is under the auspices of State and City food protection agencies, and we must follow their sanitation standards.