Great question and best of luck, Tara! This is a huge question, so I'll keep it brief. First thing I'd do is contact my local department of health, as they will likely dictate certain things you NEED to have for health and fire code reasons, such as: a hood and fire suppression system over any gas burners, a three-basin sanitizing sink, and seamless flooring that typically wraps up the side of the wall. As for other useful stuff, I worked with a hodge podge of equipment inherited from the previous owner of my shop, so I am less brand-sensitive. (I generally think one can adapt to any oven, for instance, just by getting familiar with its nuances.) What you will need also depends a lot on the type of your operation, i.e., if you are going to supplement cookies with cakes or other sweets, etc. However, speed racks are key for cooling and storage of some items. I also think large Hobart mixers are key for large batch mixing. I needed large double door, low humidity fridges as well for cake storage and some of my large-scale chocolate work.
As for blogging about your startup, I could be interested in having you do that on Cookie Connection (I typically review a sample post or two first). So if you're interested, please contact me directly at sweetlife@juliausher.com to discuss more.
Again, best of luck on your adventure.