Lean Green Brings Organic Cuisine to Northwest Arkansas

Lean Green Cuisine

Owner: Judy Paynesmith

Address: 908 Rolling Hills Dr., Suite D, Fayetteville

Phone: 479-443-2327

E-mail: [email protected]

Web site: www.leangreencuisine.com

Startup date: January 2010

Judy Paynesmith smiled when asked about her inspiration for opening Lean Green Cuisine. Lean Green prepares bulk organic meals – eight dishes containing three or four servings each costs $70 – that are available via pickup or delivery.

“I love meeting people and helping them be healthier,” Paynesmith said. “That means a lot to me.”

Located in a 1,000-SF space that formerly housed Sharp’s Lock & Key, Lean Green’s team is made up of Paynesmith, lead chef William Najger, three other chefs and a delivery driver who uses a vegetable oil-powered car. Najger said the rotating  menu currently comes from a pool of 200-plus recipes.

Najger has opened three other such stores and came up with the concept after working at a Whole Foods Market-type store and as a private chef. The idea was to create “a healthier, natural version” of Meals on Wheels.

Paynesmith said the response has been almost overwhelming. After filling 20 to 30 orders the first couple of weeks, they’ve handled almost 100 per week of late. Najger said they have the capability to fill more if needed.

“This area is hungry for affordable, organic, heart-healthy food,” Najger said, adding a person would spend $110 at a Whole Foods Market to buy the ingredients needed to make what’s offered in Lean Green’s package.

Ordering is done primarily online or by telephone – 3 p.m. on Saturdays is the cutoff – and scheduled pickup is from 2-6 p.m. on Mondays. Lean Green’s delivery area stretches from Bella Vista to Fort Smith, though Paynesmith said the bulk of business has been in Fayetteville.

Study Shows Ties To Startup Activity

Entrepreneurial activity in a county or state often reflects similar activity in neighboring areas, according to a study of geographic and other patterns in new business formation across the United States.

Findings from the study recently were made available by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy. The study used business startup and closure data, provided by the Census Bureau’s Statistics of U.S. Businesses from 1990 to 2006.

Among the findings:

• Retail trade has the highest rate of new firm births, followed by local market industries.
• High technology is the only industry sector specifically favored in counties with access to an educated workforce and a local research and development structure.
• New startup rates in high technology are tied to startup rates in business services, an indication that business service firms may form in response to high tech entrepreneurial activity.

Submit tips about new businesses in Northwest Arkansas to Rob Keys at [email protected] or 479-725-0394, ext. 323.