Meet The Brooklyn Navy Yard's Newest 'Food Entrepreneurs'

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn Navy Yard program that gives NYCHA residents the chance to launch their food-focused businesses at its kiosk is in full swing, with perhaps the best symbol of its entrepreneurial bent the new cupcake company whose idea came from a motivated kindergartener.

"Grace Kelli's Cupcakes," named for the ambitious now-second grader, is one of two businesses featured in this two-month cycle of the Navy Yard's "Local Bites" program. The baking business is run by Grace's mom, Sandra Mathis, who said it all started when the Parent Teacher Association at Grace's school was trying to brainstorm how to raise money for the kindergarten graduation.

Grace, who was playing with other kids at the PTA meeting, matter-of-factly pointed out that they could sell cupcakes and other baked goods, the way her mom sometimes did as a hobby. From there, the mother-daughter business took off.

"I thought it as pretty surprising for someone her age to say, 'Why don't we do this,'" said Mathis, who lives in NYCHA housing in Staten Island. "(But) she loves to be involved with a lot of things. She's my thumbs up or thumbs down when it comes to taste...and she likes to go out to sell. We go to outdoor markets and she is out there promoting her business."

Mathis, like all food entrepreneurs featured at the kiosk, would go on to enroll in Food Business Pathways, an education program managed by NYCHA and NYC Small Business Services that helps teach up and coming food-focused business owners. The featured entrepreneurs also get continued help from Start Small Think Big, an organization that supports under-resourced entrepreneurs to build businesses in underserved areas.

The second business owners currently featured at the Navy Yard, from Queens-based Sabor Restaurant and Bakery, said it is thanks to Start Small Think Big that their doors have stayed open since launching in 2016, despite the tough restaurant industry.

And now, the Navy Yard opportunity has let Sabor expand to neighborhoods it otherwise wouldn't have been able to reach, said Cristiana Franco, who owns the Dominican-Colombian restaurant with her husband.

Franco said she was nervous about how her "affordable comfort food" would stand up to some of the trendier, dietary-restricted options in Brooklyn, but eventually found that people embraced it.

"When I got there, I opened up and there was just an amazing response," she said. "I was overwhelmed by the reaction of everyone. I was so happy to be able to be there and let people know about this kind of food — people can still enjoy a well-cooked, home-cooked meal."

Franco will return Jan. 14 for another two weeks at the Navy Yard kiosk, found in the Food Manufacturing Hub on the ground floor of the Building 77. She added that she hopes to stay as long as she can to bring back homestyle, affordable cooking to areas that might lack it thanks to gentrification and high rent prices for smaller restaurants.

The ability to feature local businesses that might not have the opportunity otherwise was one of the Navy Yard's goals in its Food Manufacturing Hub. The program helps to equalize resources to small businesses, including access to new customers, according to a release from the company.

“The Navy Yard is glad to offer this valuable opportunity to entrepreneurs from under-served areas," said David Ehrenberg, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. "Providing this space aligns with our mission of working with neighboring communities to improve access to sustainable middle-class jobs.”

Mathis — who is selling her baked goods at the kiosk this week and the last two weeks of January — agreed that the Navy Yard feature has helped her expand in new ways. She previously would sell by word of mouth, her website or at various markets.

"This is the first time I’ve had anything like this, which is truly exciting," Mathis said. "I was really excited and honored that they picked me to feature to such a large crowd of people."

Both businesses will be open at the kiosk on their given weeks from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Photos provided by the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation.