July 16, 2021

The new owner of a take-and-bake meal service in Harrisburg is moving the business to Sioux Falls.

Emer-GenZ Eats & Treats will use the kitchen at Liberty Hall, the former VFW building at Minnesota Avenue and 49th Street, and sell its meals through The Fruit Truck Market, which also is located there. Customers also will be able to order and pay for meals online and pick them up at the market, which is open Monday through Saturday.

“It’s convenient access for a lot of people,” said Nevin Icenogle, who bought the business from retiring founder Pam Harris.

He plans to be ready to reopen the first or second week of August.

“Pam’s been training, and she’s going to continue training over the first few weeks that we’re open,” he said. “She’ll be in the kitchen, so that way we’re making sure that as I take it over … it’ll be consistent in what the customers have already been used to. So nothing as far as flavors should be changing.”

Customers will continue to find the favorites: chicken enchiladas, “Million Dollar” spaghetti and shepherd’s pie, which are available daily. Other meals rotate will into the menu.

Icenogle has a “stack of recipes” from Harris, so there will be lots of variety. “I’d say half of them haven’t even been on the menu before.”

He’s thinking about adding single-portion meals to the family- and half-size entrees and making desserts too.

Long-term, he envisions expanding into frozen meals that would be available at grocery stores.

Icenogle worked the past 15 years doing custom flooring installation, and he managed pizza kitchens before that. He also manages his own investments, mostly trading in cryptocurrencies. That has given him the ability to buy his own business, he said.

“Investing only takes me a few hours in the morning. A lot of people are good when they have a lot of time, but me, I need to be busy. I feel like this will be a good fit for me.”