Live Work Play: BuCu West; where business and culture combine - Tuesday, April 5, 2011 (KUSA-TV 9News Denver)

http://www.9news.com/news/article/191587/346/Live-Work-Play-BuCu-West-where-business-and-culture-combine - Click Here.

DENVER - BuCu West, located in the Westwood neighborhood west of downtown, is rich with Latino, Asian and Native American culture.

It is a place where you are likely to smell chilies roasting and hear native drums, BuCu West's name is a combination of business and culture.

"BuCu West is a name that we have come up with that we felt basically depicted this area quite well. It's a business culture neighborhood, and we're in the process of developing that and bringing that forth right now," said owner of Kitchen Network Denny McFerrin.

As one of the 10 nominees in the Denver Regional Council of Government's (DRCOG) Live Work Play 2011 campaign, BuCu West brings commerce, culture and creativity together to create a unique living experience.

The local art program has turned outside walls into murals by redirecting gang members into artists. The sculpture "Un Corrido Para La Gente (A Ballad for the People)" was installed to celebrate the area's culture. Art education programs have also been started for youth.

Small businesses and affordable housing have brought new life to once-derelict lots.

One business that has made an impact in BuCu West is the Kitchen Network, a commercial kitchen that has helped launch businesses in the area.

"The Kitchen Network is a building that's about a 12,000-square-foot facility with 11 kitchens," McFerrin said.

The kitchens are separated into three areas. One is available for leasing on an annual basis. Another is a commissary kitchen available for caterers and personal chefs.

"We also have a Kitchen Network Bottling Company, where we bottle about 40 different products for Tony's Markets, and Safeway, and King Soopers and Whole Foods," McFerrin said.

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Kitchen Never Closes - Friday, December 28, 2009 (Denver Business Journal)

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/12/28/smallb2.html# - Click Here.

What’s cooking? Or more to the point, who’s cooking?

Well, an attorney, a paralegal, mortgage banker, information tech pros, one truck driver and other refugees from the corporate world, as well as many food-service industry professionals. They’re among the 80 people who rent space at the Kitchen Network, formerly known as the Morrison Road Complex, creating new food products they hope will be the next big thing.

“Everyone recognizes the need to eat; it’s a basic thing,” said Dennis McFerrin, co-owner of the Kitchen Network along with his wife Elaine. “It seems to be the path of least resistance that people want to try. And it’s not terribly expensive to get involved.”

The kitchen, which has 11 cooking stations in 3,000 square feet, is open 24 hours a day and is busy most of the time. Overall, there’s 12,000 square feet; the McFerrins also run the Kitchen Network Bottling Co. in the same building.

Vic Papazian, owner of Primo Specialty Foods, bottles his cherry chutney at the Kitchen Network owned by Elaine and Dennis McFerrin, in the background. The McFerrins have worked with Papazian for more than four years. They help clients build their food businesses, along with providing them kitchen space and equipment.

Dennis and Elaine McFerrin, co-owners of the Kitchen Network, rent space to 80 people in the 3,000-square-foot kitchen.

Elaine and Dennis McFerrin, owners of the Kitchen Network in Denver, with some of the products from businesses that have taken advantage of their kitchens, equipment, bottling facility and one-on-one business consulting services.