Come for information, resources, connections, hard truths + inspiring stories to get you well prepared to bring your food truck dreams to life.

PART 4: Rules + Regs For Foodservice: Prepare For Inspectors And Inspections With Confidence

Mark your calendars for Tuesday evenings in January for a 4-part series that will help you get a strong start for your small food business (caterers, bakers, food trucks, restaurants).

This series is for dreamers, planners, culinary students, and business owners in need of a reset or refresher.

Class 1, Class 2 and Class 4 can be taken alone: Class 3 builds on Class 2, so 2 and 3 should be taken together!

Presented by James Sprunt Community College’s Small Business Center

Join us for an intense review of the material, then the exam. Always the last Monday of the month, and only if folks have registered, so pay attention!

This will be a paper + pencil (old school!) exam administration.

THIS IS NOT A CLASS. Please be careful: this is for people who know their stuff. Unless you are already a master, you will need to obtain a book or an online course (look at Servsafe.com) AND STUDY THE MATERIAL ahead of time.

PART 3: Strength In Numbers: How Food Shows Up In Forecasting

Mark your calendars for Tuesday evenings in January for a 4-part series that will help you get a strong start for your small food business (caterers, bakers, food trucks, restaurants).

This series is for dreamers, planners, culinary students, and business owners in need of a reset or refresher.

Class 1, Class 2 and Class 4 can be taken alone: Class 3 builds on Class 2, so 2 and 3 should be taken together!

Presented by James Sprunt Community College’s Small Business Center

PART 2: Penny Ballgame: Cost, Prices, Profits in Food Business

Mark your calendars for Tuesday evenings in April for a 4-part series that will help you get a strong start for your small food business (caterers, bakers, food trucks, restaurants).

This series is for dreamers, planners, culinary students, and business owners in need of a reset or refresher.

Class 1, Class 2 and Class 4 can be taken alone: Class 3 builds on Class 2, so 2 and 3 should be taken together!

Presented by James Sprunt Community College’s Small Business Center

PART 1: Food Is The Product For Sale: What’s Unique about Business Planning for Food Business?

Mark your calendars for Tuesday evenings in January for a 4-part series that will help you get a strong start for your small food business (caterers, bakers, food trucks, restaurants).

This series is for dreamers, planners, culinary students, and business owners in need of a reset or refresher.

Class 1, Class 2 and Class 4 can be taken alone: Class 3 builds on Class 2, so 2 and 3 should be taken together!

Presented by James Sprunt Community College’s Small Business Center

Part 2 of 2 (take Class 1: Penny Ballgame before this!)

Most of us didn’t learn this stuff in school, but we’re in business anyway! It’s never too late to learn “your numbers” and some basic definitions to find your way. Bookkeeping and accounting, profit and loss, income and expenses, forecasts and reports: we’ll find your food in all of them, and show you how this understanding can help build a strong, profitable business.

Presented by Brunswick Community College’s Small Business Center

Join us for an intense review of the material, then the exam. Always the last Monday of the month, and only if folks have registered, so pay attention!

BRING YOUR LAPTOP and charger: it’s an in-person event, and an ONLINE exam administration. THIS IS NOT A CLASS. Please be careful: this is for people who know their stuff. Unless you are already a master, you will need to obtain a book or an online course (look at Servsafe.com) AND STUDY THE MATERIAL ahead of time.

How can you know whether you'll make money in food business? Do the math!

Sometimes smart, talented people who are very good at food might plan or start businesses without the basic “food math” needed to get profitable. Gaps show up over time, not overnight. Don't let fear of the unknown (or of math) hold you back.

Come learn the fundamentals of how food becomes revenue, and revenue becomes profit in a restaurant, food truck, bakery or catering business. You'll get great basic skills and tools to make smart money decisions and to base your creative venture on a solid business foundation. Even if math is ‘not your thing', you'll learn what the most vital metrics are, and how to achieve them.

Presented by Brunswick Community College’s Small Business Center

SO excited to be IRL in Hoke County! Sandhills SBC’s Spring “Setting The Table” series gave folks plenty to think about, and this day’s session will be your chance to put it all into gear for your food business (or prepare for the next series!)

You KNOW your food is great: are you ready to move from notebook or home production to legit business? How can you make money at it and do it legally, without getting getting in over your head? This lively, in-person class will help clarify your concept, anticipate expenses, and connect you with resources to build a strong food business foundation.

Presented by Sandhills Community College’s Small Business Center

*Photo by Alex Perez on Unsplash

PART 4: Rules + Regs For Foodservice: Prepare For Inspectors And Inspections With Confidence

This series is for dreamers, planners, culinary students, and business owners in need of a reset or refresher.

Class 1, Class 2 and Class 4 can be taken alone: Class 3 builds on Class 2, so 2 and 3 should be taken together!

Presented by Sandhills Community College’s Small Business Center

*photo by Caroline Badran for Unsplash

Loving how WE Power Food is figuring out how to keep people safe AND still go on with the show! Come join the gathering in Havelock and be inspired.

PART 3: Strength In Numbers: How Food Shows Up In Forecasting

This series is for dreamers, planners, culinary students, and business owners in need of a reset or refresher.

Class 1, Class 2 and Class 4 can be taken alone: Class 3 builds on Class 2, so 2 and 3 should be taken together!

Presented by Sandhills Community College’s Small Business Center

*photo by Caroline Badran for Unsplash

PART 2: Penny Ballgame: Cost, Prices, Profits in Food Business

This series is for dreamers, planners, culinary students, and business owners in need of a reset or refresher.

Class 1, Class 2 and Class 4 can be taken alone: Class 3 builds on Class 2, so 2 and 3 should be taken together!

Presented by Sandhills Community College’s Small Business Center

*photo by Caroline Badran for Unsplash

Join us for an intense review of the material, then the exam. Always the last Monday of the month, and only if folks have registered, so pay attention!

BRING YOUR LAPTOP and charger: it’s an in-person event, and an ONLINE exam administration. THIS IS NOT A CLASS. Please be careful: this is for people who know their stuff. Unless you are already a master, you will need to obtain a book or an online course (look at Servsafe.com) AND STUDY THE MATERIAL ahead of time.

Planning a food business involves lots of rules about spaces, equipment and operations to maintain food safety. Understanding the principles, lingo and processes builds confidence in the planning and inspection process, helping to engage inspectors as mentors.

Topics Covered:

❖ food safety as a practice ❖ risks and liabilities ❖ kinds of food businesses ❖ who inspects whom ❖ rules and regs for foodservice ❖ training requirements, options ❖ where to produce ❖ permitting processes ❖ working with inspectors ❖ types of commercial kitchens

Presented by Piedmont Community College’s Small Business Center

Who inspects you and your food? What do they expect from you?

Prepare for inspectors and inspections with confidence!

Presented by Piedmont Community College’s Small Business Center

*photo by Jacky Zhao for Unsplash

PART 1: Food Is The Product For Sale: What’s Unique about Business Planning for Food Business?

This series is for dreamers, planners, culinary students, and business owners in need of a reset or refresher.

Class 1, Class 2 and Class 4 can be taken alone: Class 3 builds on Class 2, so 2 and 3 should be taken together!

Presented by Sandhills Community College’s Small Business Center

*photo by Caroline Badran for Unsplash

Ready to fire up your food truck dreams? Come hungry for knowledge, leave with a plan!

Presented by Piedmont Community College’s Small Business Center

*photo by Micheile Henderson for Unsplash

Part 3: Facility Planning

This session provides a deep dive into what it takes to create a functional, compliant, and efficient food production space. Entrepreneurs will gain an understanding of how food safety principles are built into facility design, including the rulebooks and standards that guide the layout, finishes, and equipment required for approval. The conversation will walk through the Plan Review process and application, offering practical insights on how to collaborate with inspectors, architects, and contractors from the very beginning. Participants will also learn how to assess and select potential buildings or facilities, ensuring that the space they choose supports their concept, meets regulatory requirements, and streamlines operations for long-term success.

Presented by Central Carolina Community College Small Business Centers

Part 2: Rules + Regs for Foodservice

This session demystifies the complex world of foodservice rules and regulations so entrepreneurs can plan with confidence. Participants will explore food safety as a daily practice, gaining a clear understanding of the risks and liabilities involved in different types of food businesses and how those factors determine who inspects what. Through practical explanations of permitting processes, regulatory requirements, and training options, attendees will learn how to navigate the system effectively. The class will cover where food can be legally produced, the types of approved commercial kitchens, and how to build collaborative relationships with inspectors, positioning them as valuable mentors rather than obstacles.

Presented by Central Carolina Community College Small Business Centers

Part 1: Food Is The Product For Sale

Business planning is a practice, not a report with a deadline. You’re probably already great at your food and menu, but that’s not the most important part of this work.

What needs your attention are things like rules and regs, food safety, financial forecasts and other operational realities, and that can feel overwhelming.

Planning for a safe, legal, profitable food business means having good basic knowledge about how these parts work together. This builds a strong foundation, and the planning process will make you a stronger, smarter, entrepreneur, more confident in your business model.

Presented by Central Carolina Community College Small Business Centers

Who inspects you and your food? What do they expect from you?

Prepare for inspectors and inspections with confidence!

Presented by Piedmont Community College’s Small Business Center

*photo by Jacky Zhao for Unsplash

Anyone can cook, but NOT everyone is cut out for entrepreneurship.

Are you ready to move from notebook or home production to legit business? How do you know if it's for you, and what the next steps should be?

Presented by Piedmont Community College’s Small Business Center

*photo by Alex Perez for Unsplash

Ready to fire up your food truck dreams? Come hungry for knowledge, leave with a plan!

Presented by Moore County Chamber of Commerce

In one fast-paced day you'll access the accumulated wisdom of fun successes and heartbreaking failures by many food entrepreneurs who've come before you, and come away with great information to grow your business wisely and well. Lunch is included.

Presented by Sandhills Community College’s Small Business Center