Annette Hurd-Runcie, Pa-Nash
Did you know that New York City has the highest number of women entrepreneurs in our neighborhoods? According to New York City Small Business Services, women across the five boroughs employ over 190,000 people and generate approximately $50 billion in sales. This month, we’re proud to present our annual Women’s issue—dedicated to all the innovative women chefs, food entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, bakers, mixologists and more who help feed the borough everyday.
Coinciding with the print issue (you’ll be able to pick up a copy soon!), every weekday throughout the month of May, we’re featuring a different Queens woman in the food industry. From Flushing’s dumpling maestro Helen You, to Long Island City’s Brazilian baker, Daniela Martins-Schwarzbauer and Last Dragon Pizza’s Nicole Russell in Rockaway, each woman reflects the diverse and independent spirit of Queens. Oh, and did we mention that our woman-owned magazine produced this women’s issue with a team of all-women writers, photographers, illustrators, designers and editors (save for our photo editor, Ed Lefkowicz)? No big deal.
Annette Hurd-Runcie, Pa-Nash
This Kingston, Jamaica, emigre experienced early success in the United States. And it had nothing to do with food: Runcie earned an MBA and forged a promising career as a computer systems analyst, eventually leapfrogging to IT plant manager for consumer goods titan Procter & Gamble. Still, her entrepreneurial urges remained unfulfilled. Leaving the white collar world behind, she purchased a Golden Krust franchise before joining forces with her husband to open Pa-Nash in 2013 and went on to coin a unique brand of fusion she christened “EuroSoul.”
And while feeding people fine fare (such as jerk salmon gravlax and honey pineapple fried chicken) is a primary goal of Runcie’s, so too is nourishing the neighborhood. In addition to making daily donations to City Harvest, she organizes free annual health fairs for the residents of Queens Village, founded the Alexander Youth Etiquette Success organization, sponsors two children at the primary school she attended in Jamaica and plans on a future PhD in business, so she can become a professor and use her skills to further better her community.
