Albuquerque nonprofit plans 4-day culinary entrepreneurship workshop in Farmington

FARMINGTON — Officials from an Albuquerque-based nonprofit organization are encouraging anyone in San Juan County who is interested in starting a small culinary enterprise to register for a free, four-day workshop it will hold in Farmington later this summer.

The Street Food Institute, an entrepreneur-focused culinary project dedicated to inspiring the success of small, local businesses in New Mexico, will offer the workshop July 31 through Aug. 3 at the Farmington Municipal School District’s Career and Technology Center, 301 N. Court Ave. in Farmington. Sessions will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.

Tina Garcia-Shams, the executive director of the institute, said the workshop will be presented under the terms of a $400,000 grant her organization received from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to help New Mexicans interested in starting a small, culinary-based business get their project off the ground, especially folks who don’t live in the Albuquerque area.

Street Food Institute officials chose to present workshops in San Juan and Grant counties this year, she said, because both counties are located a considerable distance from the Albuquerque area and her organization was looking to add some geographic diversity to the markets it serves.

While workshop leaders will spend much of their working with participants on the ins-and-outs of starting a food truck operation, Julian Griego, the institute’s program coordinator, emphasized that the sessions are designed for anyone who envisions starting a small, culinary-based operation, such as a small bakery, an online business or a food cart.

Garcia-Shams said the influx of tourists that communities such as Farmington and Silver City — where the Grant County event was held in April — are seeing these days made them good choices for the workshops.

“We are seen as a state with a strong food culture, so being able to help people grow that point of interest, especially through our small business programs, is really critical,” she said.

The nice thing about food trucks or food carts, Garcia-Shams said, is that they allow entrepreneurs to get into the culinary business for a relatively small investment. They also allow those entrepreneurs to take their operations to where people are gathered instead of having to lure diners to an anchor spot, according to Griego.

“The fact that food trucks are mobile is such an advantage in a lot of ways,” he said. “We’ve done weddings out in the middle of the forest. … You can go to where people want to eat.”

Griego said the institute offers 12-week programs in Albuquerque, but the workshops are designed to condense much of that material into four days. The workshops include individual coaching sessions.

“It covers all aspects of starting a food business,” he said.

Those who complete the workshops are not left to their own devices afterward. Griego said they are encouraged to work with the institute through online workshops that will be offered throughout the fall.

The workshops typically are limited to the first 20 people who register, Griego said, but if additional people express an interest, he said he would be willing to work with school district officials to see what can be done to accommodate them. He said at one point in the workshop, all the participants are cooking at the same time, and that does limit the number of people who can take part.

“That’s the pinnacle of the event,” he said.

Griego said one of the more gratifying aspects of the workshop the institute presented in Silver City in April was the way all the participants bonded into a community throughout and after the event, creating an instant support network.

“That group is now working together,” he said.

Griego said institute officials advise food entrepreneurs to make the smallest investment possible when they are entering the business, even if they someday aspire to own a bricks-and-mortar restaurant. That can be as little as $300 to sell packaged products or fresh produce at a growers market, or as much as tens of thousands of dollars for a food truck.

Smaller enterprises like that allow new entrepreneurs to learn the business before they jump in with both feet, he said.

Griego acknowledged that only a small percentage of workshop participants go on to start their own business — and he’s fine with that. One of the main benefits of the workshops is the fact that they provide potential business owners with a realistic idea of what the need to do to succeed.

“There are some folks who are ready and some folks who are not ready,” he said.

To register for the workshop, call 505-504-1018 or email julian@streetfoodinstitute.org. Registration closes on Monday, July 24.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Budding entrepreneurs encouraged to sign up for free culinary workshop