When plans for a catering partnership fell through, Chef Gordon Lippe found himself in need of a hard pivot. Armed with a space in Gulf Gate and his own expertise, he created Your Culinary Place—a commissary kitchen and “chef incubator” where entrepreneurs with foodie dreams can find professional space and equipment to make those dreams a reality. He officially opened on March 1 of this year. He thought it might be a gamble. He started tearing down walls to expand into a second kitchen almost immediately. “I wasn’t even open yet, and someone told someone and it spread like wildfire,” he says. “Before I knew what happened, I already had three or four clients in place.”

And the business hasn’t stopped growing. Now barely open half a year, Chef Gordon just started knocking down another wall to expand into a third kitchen space.

The concept is simple. Plenty of entrepreneurs have food-related ideas, just as many professional chefs have dreams of starting their own business. For both, building out and maintaining a physical space up to legal standards often remains prohibitively expensive. Your Culinary Place leaves those business details to Chef Gordon, while spreading the cost across several entrepreneurs, who all share a kitchen open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, renting only as much space and time as needed. “I break down the high-cost barrier to entry,” says Chef Gordon, and he thinks it’s only the beginning of something bigger.

“Just like Airbnb did to hotels,” he says. “The food economy is getting ready to go through a major shift and disruption, just like every other major business.” In the future he sees, great chefs rely on reputation and UberEats far more than a costly brick-and-mortar.

Currently comprising a hot kitchen, a cold kitchen and 18 clients ranging from a microbiologist who pickles and a single mom who makes nutmilks to a vegan baker, a caterer for a private club, multiple food trucks and a bulk tea company, Chef Gordon plans for the third kitchen space to open by Thanksgiving, and introduce retail space to the enterprise. And by next year, he hopes to see Your Culinary PLace add a fourth kitchen.

Still, he says, the business model remains person-focused, and Your Culinary PLace is not simply a shared kitchen, but a chef incubator, where Chef Gordon supplies not only space, but a helping hand with everything from chopping and mixing to marketing and logistics. “We grow little chefs in the back,” he says, “and one day they’ll grow up to be big chefs.” 

Pictured: Chef Gordon Lippe in front of a wall he has not torn down to add space at Your Culinary Place.

Meet first-generation college student Kayla Collins. Entering her senior year at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, Kayla is pursuing a career in law enforcement. She expects to graduate next spring and is fast-tracked to earn a master’s degree in criminal justice the following year.

Kayla is like a lot of USFSM students. Bright and engaging, she commutes daily from North Port while also working 40 hours a week. She plans to stay in Southwest Florida after graduation.

And like other USFSM students, Kayla appreciates the importance of Bank of America Brunch on the Bay, USF Sarasota-Manatee’s signature fundraiser for college scholarships.

“Brunch literally makes a difference in my life,” she said. “I am a first-generation college student and I’m pretty much on my own when it comes to tuition and books. Any scholarships I receive are based on merit and being a first-generation student. That’s why Brunch is so important to me and other students. Without it, I don’t know how I’d pay for college.”

Held each November – this year’s event is Nov. 3 – Bank of America Brunch on the Bay raises funds for college students like Kayla who need scholarships for tuition, books and other costs. Kicking off the social season in the region, the event features an elegant menu by some of the top restaurants in the region, who prepare and serve fine cuisine on USFSM’s scenic campus.

But what really distinguishes the event is the generous support it raises for students like Kayla.

For more about Bank of America Brunch on the Bay, visit usfsm.edu/brunch. 

Brunch on the Bay

An investment from Manatee Community Foundation has provided startup capital for an expanded autism program at Easterseals Happiness House. The idea arose in response to a grant from the State of Florida, which will award Easterseals funds in excess of $2 million to add early diagnosis of autism and virtual reality for employment for young adults with autism. Startup costs are reimbursed after delivery of services, approximately 3-6 months from the beginning of the grant. The Program Related Investment (PRI) from Manatee Community Foundation of $300,000 will also allow Easterseals to hire staff and begin the program in an efficient and cost-effective way. 

Easterseals Southwest Florida

Of 41 University of Florida engineering students who recently completed summer internships on the Gulf Coast, 19 received stipends funded by Gulf Coast Community Foundation to help ensure a successful and rewarding work experience. The internships were coordinated by the UF Innovation Station Sarasota County—the Sarasota-based extension office of UF’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering.

The Innovation Station works on several fronts to help build the innovation economy in Sarasota and Manatee counties. Through its Engineering Innovators program, as the subsidized internship program is known, the Innovation Station promotes talented UF students to the local community and vice-versa. The $3,000 Gulf Coast-funded stipends supplemented students’ internship salaries, making the region a more attractive destination for students seeking internships. Gulf Coast Community Foundation has been a key local partner in the Innovation Station, along with Sarasota County and the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation. In addition to Engineering Innovators program, Gulf Coast supports an Engineering Innovation minor that helps engineering graduates think more creatively and entrepreneurially. Students who complete the minor and come to work for an employer in the Sarasota region after graduation have the opportunity for some tuition reimbursements. 

Engineering Innovators

On Friday, September 20, Goodwill Manasota and SunCoast Blood Bank will officially launch a partnership effort to encourage donations of gently used items and of critically needed units of blood. The organizations will begin by bringing both the Goodwill “Giving Mobile” and the SunCoast Blood Bank “Bloodmobile” to the campus of PGT Custom Windows + Doors from 8am to 8pm, where leaders from both nonprofits and PGT will be in attendance for an informal celebration and brief remarks.

The organizations are currently seeking additional locations in order to hold “Change a Life, Save a Life” donation drives at least once or possibly twice per month. Already in the works are events at FCCI Insurance Group (November 14) and Booker High School (date TBA). While the September 20 event at PGT is limited to PGT employees, the public is welcome to donate during select future events. For more information or to inquire about becoming a “Change a Life, Save a Life” location, call 941-355-2721, ext. 163 or email pavitra.ciavardone@gimi.org. 

SunCoast Blood Bank

Gulf Coast Community Foundation has added two philanthropic advisors to its philanthropy team, further strengthening the foundation’s ability to meet its mission of transforming the Gulf Coast region through bold and proactive philanthropy. In their new roles, C.J. Bannister and Matt Kahn work directly with Kirstin Fulkerson, a 16-year member of the Gulf Coast staff who was recently promoted to Senior Vice President for Philanthropy, to engage donors and grow philanthropic resources to benefit the region.

Bannister, who joined Gulf Coast in July, is an Air Force veteran as well as a former financial advisor. She transitioned into the nonprofit sector by joining Goodwill Manasota as its first Director of Veterans Services, and most recently served as Chief Development Officer for Sarasota Military Academy Foundation. Kahn joined the Gulf Coast team in mid-August after serving most recently as Regional Director of the American Jewish Committee’s San Francisco office. Before that, he worked as Associate Director of Interfaith Relations at Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation currently administers nearly 1,000 charitable funds established by donors to the foundation. 

Gulf Coast Community Foundation

Freddie Figgers, founder & CEO of Figgers Communications, donated 20 computers to cadets at Sarasota Military Academy, a local, public charter school. The donation comes as an extension of the Figgers Foundation August 2019 “Back-to-School” initiative, designed to help teachers provide for the needs of students in the classroom. Figgers, a 29-year-old entrepreneur, donated the computers to Sarasota Military Academy to replace old, outdated models in the language arts classrooms.

In addition to the patents and cloud-computing service, Figgers is the youngest person to be granted an FCC license to operate a wireless service. His company, Figgers Communications, has a net worth of over $62 million, and is the only minority-owned telecommunications company that manufactures its own phones and sells talk, text and data plans. 

Figgers Communications