THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300564
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 72 lines
Move over, Willy Wonka.
A number of Bowling Green youngsters have launched a cookie factory business that looks to be a winner.
For the past six weeks, 15 young entrepreneurs have been busy baking up big batches of Otis Spunkmeyer cookies and selling them door-to-door in their Norfolk public housing neighborhood.
The biz whiz kids not only stay productively occupied, but they also earn money to pay for school supplies and clothing.
Of course, they have had a little help from their friends.
The project is an outgrowth of a pizza delivery business begun by five youths last fall in the nearby Roberts Village public housing community.
Like the pizza project, the cookie factory is supervised by the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority. The Bowling Green Cookie Factory got off the ground with a $5,000 American Youth Resources grant.
The odor of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies wafted through the hallway of the Bowling Green Recreation Center. That's where the kids pop the cookies into and out of ovens.
Jackie Baker, NRHA's youth program manager, is excited about the venture's success.
``It keeps them off the street, out of trouble, and they learn how to earn an honest dollar,'' she said, watching them slide the gooey confections from pans onto cooling paper.
``You have to start young. Gives them a reason to say `no' without getting hurt or going to jail. It leads to other good choices. You have to have the dream.''
The company motto is, ``It's a Cookie Dream in Bowling Green.''
Nicole Baker, 15, Jackie Baker's daughter, was one of the five youths who got the Pizza-Ria! business up and running, bringing Pizza Hut pies into Roberts Village and Bowling Green.
Pizza houses won't deliver their wares in those neighborhoods, out of concern for their drivers' safety.
The pizza project was so successful that it has expanded its offerings to include hot sausages and beef franks.
Next, Jackie Baker said, may be a T-shirt business for kids in Young Terrace.
A year into the original project, the pizza entrepreneurs are on their way up the business success ladder, with college scholarships for public housing kids a top priority for profits.
As for the younger business set in Bowling Green, they are doing a booming business in sweet confections.
How many cookies have they baked and served in six weeks?
``Whew,'' said P.J. Gary, 24, NRHA youth advisor, trying to add up batches in her head.
Nicole Baker thought she had the answer: 2,400.
``Wow, that's a lot of cookies,'' Gary said.
Landing a job in the cookie business was so easy that 12-year-old Derick Bishop figures the sky's the limit.
``The first day, I came and asked could I just help, and by the end of the day, I had a job,'' he said, readying to start running his hot goodies around the neighborhood Thursday afternoon.
When he grows up, Derick thinks he just might go into sales.
Of course, that's not a done deal. There are engineering and sports stardom to consider, too, he says.
He shared his sales technique:
``I say, `Mrs., would you like to buy some nice, hot, delicious cookies or a cold soft drink? Sometimes, they say, `Come back later,' but mostly they say, `Yes.' '' ILLUSTRATION: VICTOR W. VAUGHAN
Anthony Harris, left, Antreon Woodard, Antone Brehon and Noah Smith
help with a batch of cookies at the Bowling Green Recreation Center
in Norfolk. The center serves as kitchen and headquarters for the
Bowling Park Cookie Factory. by CNB