Kitchen incubator program receives $12,500 state grant from state initiative

The Delaware Division of Small Business and Sen. Darius Brown, D-Wilmington, recently hosted check presentation ceremonies for some of the Delaware Grocery Initiative’s first award winners.

The DGI, created in 2024, is a healthy foods initiative that provides financial assistance to eligible organizations that are seeking to eliminate food deserts in communities across Delaware. 

The Sussex County presentation was held Aug. 4 at Delaware Technical Community College in Georgetown.

During his remarks to attendees, Brown explained that the Delaware Grocery Initiative aims to expand access to healthy foods and maximize economic diversity in the First State. It makes grant support available for small ethnic grocery stores as well as other small businesses and nonprofits that support underserved areas known as food deserts.

The local grant recipient was the Sussex County Kitchen Incubator, an 1,800-square-foot, commercial-grade kitchen that provides working space for caterers, food truck operators and other small businesses. It opened on the Delaware Tech Georgetown campus in late 2023 after a years-long collaborative effort among the county, college and state officials.