Businesses are still trying to rebuild after the Pilotworks shutdown, but many also want to rebuild the food community they shared at the incubator space.
About 50 businesses shuttered after Pilotworks abruptly closed its doors, Jay Solly, co-founder of Brooklyn Quality Eats, a prepared meals business, told Bushwick Daily. Brooklyn Quality Eats is not currently in production since the closure. In November, Solly and his business partner, Barbara Pangilinan, or “Chef B,” joined with businesses and community leaders to start Sustainable United Neighborhoods (SUN), an initiative to advance the green economy and support local, independent businesses. They applied for 501(c)3 status in January. Part of that effort has been planning how to move forward after Pilotworks.
Brooklyn Independent Food Collective started as a group of food businesses that formed to pursue legal action against Pilotworks. Though a judgment of illegal lockout allowed eight businesses to return to Pilotworks after the shutdown until Dec. 8, they were unable to receive any money owed.
