diff --git a/data-workflows/Dockerfile b/data-workflows/Dockerfile
index 07d59053b..f224c4d93 100644
--- a/data-workflows/Dockerfile
+++ b/data-workflows/Dockerfile
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/python:3.9
 
-COPY requirements.txt .
-RUN ["pip", "install", "-r", "requirements.txt"]
+COPY ./napari-hub-commons ../napari-hub-commons
+COPY ./data-workflows/requirements.txt .
+RUN pip install -r requirements.txt
+
+COPY ./data-workflows/ .
 
-COPY . .
 CMD ["handler.handle"]
diff --git a/data-workflows/activity/processor.py b/data-workflows/activity/processor.py
index 3c98d612e..3618a89f2 100644
--- a/data-workflows/activity/processor.py
+++ b/data-workflows/activity/processor.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 import activity.github_activity_model as github_model
 import activity.snowflake_adapter as snowflake
 from utils.utils import ParameterStoreAdapter
-import utils.utils
+import nhcommons
 
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger()
 
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ def _update_github_activity(start_time: int, end_time: int) -> None:
 def update_activity() -> None:
     parameter_store = ParameterStoreAdapter()
     last_updated_timestamp = parameter_store.get_last_updated_timestamp()
-    current_timestamp = utils.utils.get_current_timestamp()
+    current_timestamp = nhcommons.utils.get_current_timestamp()
     _update_install_activity(last_updated_timestamp, current_timestamp)
     _update_github_activity(last_updated_timestamp, current_timestamp)
     parameter_store.set_last_updated_timestamp(current_timestamp)
diff --git a/data-workflows/activity/tests/test_processor.py b/data-workflows/activity/tests/test_processor.py
index efe9a1b3a..3bd1209e8 100644
--- a/data-workflows/activity/tests/test_processor.py
+++ b/data-workflows/activity/tests/test_processor.py
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@
 import activity.processor as processor
 from activity.install_activity_model import InstallActivityType
 from activity.github_activity_model import GitHubActivityType
-import utils.utils as util
 from utils.utils import ParameterStoreAdapter
+import nhcommons
 
 START_TIME = 1234567
 END_TIME = 1239876
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def _setup_parameter_store_adapter(self, monkeypatch):
 
     @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
     def setup_method(self, monkeypatch):
-        monkeypatch.setattr(util, "get_current_timestamp", lambda: END_TIME)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(nhcommons.utils, "get_current_timestamp", lambda: END_TIME)
         self._install_transform_and_write_mock = Mock(
             spec=activity_iam.transform_and_write_to_dynamo
         )
diff --git a/data-workflows/requirements.txt b/data-workflows/requirements.txt
index cddf79145..723ea696a 100644
--- a/data-workflows/requirements.txt
+++ b/data-workflows/requirements.txt
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@ snowflake-connector-python==3.0.0
 boto3==1.26.77
 pynamodb==5.4.1
 python-slugify==8.0.1
+./../napari-hub-commons
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index b492172f6..2200563f2 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -115,7 +115,8 @@ services:
   data-workflows:
     image: '${DOCKER_REPO}napari-hub-dev-data-workflows'
     build:
-      context: data-workflows
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: data-workflows/Dockerfile
       cache_from:
         - '${DOCKER_REPO}napari-hub-dev-data-workflows:${STACK_NAME}'
       args:
@@ -124,8 +125,6 @@ services:
         - HAPPY_BRANCH
         - HAPPY_TAG
     restart: always
-    depends_on:
-      - localstack
     ports:
       - '5000:5000'
     environment:
diff --git a/napari-hub-commons/requirements.txt b/napari-hub-commons/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9d41f264a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/napari-hub-commons/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+gunicorn==20.1.0
diff --git a/napari-hub-commons/setup.py b/napari-hub-commons/setup.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f509e1a28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/napari-hub-commons/setup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+from setuptools import setup, find_packages
+
+description = "shared utilities and models"
+
+setup(
+    name="napari-hub-commons",
+    version="0.1.0",
+    author=", ".join(["Napari Hub Team"]),
+    description=description,
+    long_description=description,
+    package_dir={"": "src"},
+    packages=find_packages(where="src"),
+    python_requires=">=3.8",
+)
diff --git a/napari-hub-commons/src/nhcommons/__init__.py b/napari-hub-commons/src/nhcommons/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..78eb38905
--- /dev/null
+++ b/napari-hub-commons/src/nhcommons/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+from nhcommons import utils
diff --git a/napari-hub-commons/src/nhcommons/utils/__init__.py b/napari-hub-commons/src/nhcommons/utils/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..62281b1f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/napari-hub-commons/src/nhcommons/utils/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from nhcommons.utils.time import (
+    get_current_timestamp,
+)
diff --git a/napari-hub-commons/src/nhcommons/utils/time.py b/napari-hub-commons/src/nhcommons/utils/time.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c1d251e60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/napari-hub-commons/src/nhcommons/utils/time.py
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import time
+
+
+def get_current_timestamp() -> int:
+    return round(time.time() * 1000)