DECATUR - Jeremy Maupin was looking for a small business that could expand the possibilities of employment for developmentally disabled adults.

He found it in pasta.

Maupin turned to Pasta Alley, owned and created by Nancy Chilcote in Robinson.

"We bought rights to her recipes and her customer list, and the price was right for that type of venture," Maupin said.

So, when Pasta Alley began production in Decatur this spring, neither the name nor the recipes which Chilcote had developed were changed, said Maupin, who now owns the manufacturing venture.

"That's what this building houses," Maupin said of the facility on East William Street, a workshop and production area for clients of A Step Forward and for residents of J&J Maupin Group Homes Inc. of which Maupin is president.

"We wanted a small business that we could continue," he said, one with a market but with employment opportunities.

"Our goal is to employ 10 people."

Pasta Alley operates five days a week, its pasta production depending upon orders.

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"Full production really depends on order size," Maupin said.

The business' employees range in age from 21 to 78, and their tasks vary from labeling to trimming pasta and readying it to dry to packaging.

Monica Penderghest said she has been employed at Pasta Alley about a month, working Monday through Thursday. "I do labeling and packaging, and I'm off every Friday," she said.

"I like my cool boss," she added.

Most of the production uses semolina wheat, Maupin said. The organic spices used are purchased from an Oregon-based company, and the only products that involve eggs are the egg noodles. There's no waste, because the soup buds which Pasta Alley sells are formed pieces of dough ends.

In response to customer requests, they manufacture some pasta which is gluten-free. Those are slightly higher in cost because the specialty flour is more expensive to purchase, and those pastas are more difficult to produce because it's harder to keep the dough together.

The pastas are made, cut and put to dry in a humidity-controlled environment before packaging, a process for most of their products that takes roughly 24 hours.

"We heat seal the pasta, so the shelf life is pretty long for it," he said.

One of the sites where Maupin has placed pasta for retail, besides the business' own showroom, is The Gathering Place at Haines & Essick. Manager Kaye Moran said she carries much of the company's pasta product line plus some bread, sauce and soup mixes and the coffee cake mix.

"I sell out of it quickly," she said.

Not only does she think the product tastes good, but she thinks the price is reasonable for the consumer.

The only product marketed by Pasta Alley that isn't produced in the Decatur facility is the dipping oils.

amannlein@herald-review.com|421-6976

What's available:

Seventeen varieties of fettuccini and linguine: chive and onion, garlic and herb, lemon pepper, sundried tomato, rosemary champagne, sweet basil champagne, spinach, simply plain, Habanera, Nancy's special recipe plus others.

Angel hair pasta: Nancy's special recipe, garlic pepper, sweet basil herb, spinach herb.

Soups: Nancy's chicken noodle, cheesy broccoli, potato dill, zesty Italian noodle, chili mix with pasta (mild or hot).

Bread mixes: Nancy's biscuit/gravy, cinnamon streusel coffee cake, Nancy's buttery hot rolls, focaccia bread, jalapeno cheese focaccia bread, cheddar garlic biscuits, Mexican cornbread, cheesy garlic beer bread, caraway beer bread.

Whole wheat pasta (no eggs): Italian herb, garlic and herb or sweet basil.

Nancy's egg noodles, wide or thin.

Pasta sauces (or dips): American spaghetti sauce, creamy dill, creamy mushroom, creamy garlic, creamy Italian or sundried tomato basil and Alfredo, creamy Alfredo and zesty garlic Alfredo.

Dipping oils: roasted red chili pepper, garlic herb, spicy Italian and Parmesan cheese and roasted garlic.

Prices vary by product.

All products are available at Pasta Alley. Other sites to find products include Dale's Southlake Pharmacy, The Gathering Place, Jumpin' Java and Decatur Memorial Hospital Gift Shop; G&S, Macon; Moweaqua Foods; IGA, Blossoms & Beans, Clinton; IGA, Sullivan.

More info

www.pastaalley.com

Contact: Pasta Alley, 5310 E. William Street Road, Decatur, IL 62521; 422-6361 or fax 422-6365