Restaurant Recovery Workshop Applications Open

The Biz Foundry and Cookeville’s Small Business Development Center are bringing in resources to help restaurants recover and navigate the pandemic.

The Biz Foundry Vice President Tiffany Anton said free workshops will be provided by a Chattanooga company called Proof Incubator, who do food and beverage consulting. Anton said these workshops will help local restaurants prepare for a potential second wave of COVID and successful practices after the pandemic.

“Restaurant mentors and subject matter experts, and so they’ll cover topics such as navigating risks and regulations,” Anton said. “Managing menus and supply chain, optimizing marketing efforts and channels and employee management.”

Anton said this kind of help is needed for local restaurants, based on work The Biz Foundry has already done. She said whether it’s a restaurant with a small dining space, or a restaurant who opened right when the pandemic hit.

“We’ve helped people out that are having to pivot of having a smaller space and having less people in there or even a restaurant that was going to open a small, kind of eat-in cafe area, but she opened right in March,” Anton said. “She just strictly did delivery only, right from the beginning and so, people are having to adjust and pivot.”

Anton said the workshops will meet twice a week, and include one on one sessions, once a week. She said the skills offered during these sessions will extend past the pandemic.

“It’s really going to be some great insight,” Anton said. “Not just if you’re trying to pivot your restaurant but really skills that will be useful, post COVID.”

Anton said there are 15 spots available for these workshops and the deadline to apply is January 6. The workshop will begin on January 12.

Anton said applications are available at TheBizFoundry.org/recovery.