Construction has begun on the Center for Culinary Enterprises (CCE) at 310 S. 48th Street (the site of the former Food Rite store). When completed in July 2012, this project will be one of the nation’s most comprehensive commercial kitchen centers, designed to be an engine for creating food-related jobs and businesses, and to provide resources to emerging food entrepreneurs. The CCE is a 13,000+ square-foot project, including three state-of-the-art commercial kitchens for rent to culinary entrepreneurs, a youth-run training restaurant, the eKitchen Multimedia Learning Center, and two additional retail spaces. It will renovate a long-vacant eyesore and bring new restaurants to the community. The project is being developed by The Enterprise Center CDC. The general contractor is Perryman Building and Construction Services Inc., a West Philadelphia-based, certified minority-owned business. The architect is Friday Architects/Planners. The project is supported by a number of government and private funders, including major investments from the City of Philadelphia and U.S. Economic Development Administration. While the capital project is funded and underway, we are now looking for individuals and organizations from the community to step up as partners, and help support the project’s year-one operations. You can find more information and become a supporter at www.philafood.org.