Think Little, Go Big: A fun, informal, can’t-miss-it workshop in Staunton this Saturday
In Staunton, the approach to economic development is that local businesses, jobs, community, and wealth are created here at home. This January, the city is celebrating the entrepreneurs, farmers, and dreamers who aren’t afraid to start small.
The Think Little, Go Big workshop sponsored by the Staunton Creative Community Fund will include special speakers who are making it happen here at home: building small businesses, growing nonprofit organizations, forming guilds, and starting consulting services, we’re coming together in this community forum to ask one question: How do we begin?
Topics include: Marketing, Funding, Creative Partnerships, Getting Started, No Excuse Entrepreneurism, and Open Discussion
Speakers include: Karen Lawrence (Staunton Music Guild, Karen Lawrence Creative Services, and Staunton Downtown Development Association); Erik Curren (Curren Media Group); Katie McCaskey (George Bowers Grocery and Katie McCaskey LLC); Jack Morgan (Queen City Market Place); Meghan Williamson (Staunton Creative Community Fund) and more to come!
Location: Queen City Market Place, 110 W Johnson St., Staunton
Date: Saturday, Jan. 22, 2 p.m.
Free and open to the public.
Project connects students, farmers, developers to design sustainable strategies for Valley
Local university professors, farmers, businesses, community development leaders, and students are gathering together this spring for a Permaculture Design Certification Course. Organized by New Community Project and hosted at their new Sustainable Living Center at 715 N. Main in Harrisonburg, the course is bringing together people and talents from all different areas of the Valley to design a more sustainable region.
Based on patterns and processes of ecological systems, permaculture is the art and science of creating healthy and resilient human environments abundant in food, water, shelter, energy, and community. This course will focus specifically on exploring sustainability strategies for the Shenandoah Valley, and participants will emerge as a thriving practitioner network, each with the ability to design and build gardens, homes, and communities modeled on living ecosystems.
“This is a great opportunity for partnership building in the Valley,” said Tom Benevento, director of New Community Project in Harrisonburg. “I am very excited to see this course unfold, and I’m especially inspired by its nontraditional approach that emphasizes hands-on work and play, group discussion, local site tours, student-driven design projects, and work parties that create a dynamic learning environment.”
Meghan Williamson, executive director of the Staunton Creative Community Fund and one of eight individuals on the teacher team, concurs. “Creating vibrant and sustainable local economies cannot be accomplished through the efforts of a single sector – it is inherently a community wide collaboration. I am honored to be part of a course that celebrates the interdependence of agriculture, economy, community, and family,” Williamson said.
Course registration emphasizes the creation of meaningful local connections between students and teachers, farmers and business owners, and public and private sectors. “We are limiting the course to 24 participants and prioritizing admission for residents of the Shenandoah Valley,” said Adam Campbell, Education Outreach Coordinator for New Community Project. “There are still slots available, but it is filling fast.”
The dates for the four weekend, 12 day course are: February 18-21, March 11-13, April 8-10, and May 14-15. Full bios for course instructors are available on New Community Project’s website at http://ncpharrisonburg.wordpress.com.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Food Co-op closes deals on loan, building contractor
The Friendly City Food Co-op announced today both the closing of a new $50,000 loan from the Staunton Creative Community Fund and the selection of its building contractor, Harman Construction Co.
“We couldn’t be more excited,” said Ben Sandel, president of the Friendly City Food Cooperative. “Launching the Friendly City Food Co-op has truly been a community-based effort, with our members, lenders, and volunteers all playing a vital role in the process.”
The Food Co-op’s latest loan proceeds come from the Staunton Creative Community Fund, a nonprofit community development lender that finances sustainable startups and business ventures generating positive community impact.
“The Friendly City Food Co-op epitomizes the type of projects we seek to support, generating downtown revitalization, forging community-based partnerships, and building infrastructure that supports local farmers and healthy eating choices. We are so proud to be helping the co-op reach its fundraising goals,” said Meghan Williamson, executive director of the Staunton Creative Community Fund.
The new loan was made possible through the creativity and flexibility of both the Friendly City Food Co-op and the Staunton Creative Community Fund. Lacking available collateral for a traditional business loan, 10 Food Co-op members stepped up to guarantee portions of the loan. Recognizing the local economic impact that will be generated by the Food Co-op, the Staunton Creative Community Fund was able to offer a below-average interest rate on the loan.
“Our focus is on building the local economy and helping farmers, entrepreneurs, and consumers keep their dollars local. That means building new systems that emphasize flexibility, as well as finding win-win solutions that reward investors, borrowers, and community members,” said Williamson. “We recognize that economic returns are more than just dollars, they are also jobs, vibrant communities, healthy eating choices, and sustainable development practices.”
The latest loan announcement arrives on the heels of the Friendly City Food Co-op’s summer member loan campaign, which raised more than $675,000 to support the renovation of the Co-op’s new store front and other startup costs.
“We are very fortunate to be operating in a community that understands the value of local investing and which creates its own development solutions,” said Sam Nickels, chair of the Member Loan Campaign. “We’re excited today, with the announcement of our new lender and building contractor, to begin the work of renovations, building construction, and the spring 2011 launch of the Friendly City Food Co-op store.”
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Conference focuses on small business
Virginia has come full circle since Jodi Raskind’s college years.
Raskind, the director of a microloan program in the U.S. Small Business Administration, started college at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College in Clifton Forge. This was before interstates and highway bypasses made it easy to get to Clifton Forge from Northern Virginia.
“My father once said to me, You know, we have to pass 13 colleges on the way to where you go to college. Why can’t you go to one of those?” Raskind said.
The trend toward building bypasses and interstates was meant to divert through traffic away from cities and towns.
“Now we want people to come off the bypass and come off the interstate to see what we have to offer in our cities and towns,” Raskind said in the keynote speech at the Revitalizing Neighborhoods through Entrepreneurism conference that wrapped Friday at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel in Downtown Staunton.
The conference, hosted by the Virginia Enterprise Network and Virginia Main Street, highlighted ongoing community-development efforts in Staunton, with a presentation on Staunton’s efforts to nurture small-business development from Meghan Williamson, the executive director of the Staunton Creative Community Fund, and talks led by several local and regional small-business owners.
Sustainable development was another area of focus, with seminars on the burgeoning green economy bringing attention to local and regional efforts to jumpstart ecofriendly business and industry.
Another highlight was Sam Nickels from the Friendly City Food Co-op in Harrisonburg, which is on track toward an April 2011 opening for its local, member-owned grocery.
“It’s an interesting time to open a grocery store, given the current economic climate,” said Nickels, who spelled out the co-op’s five-year effort to raise $1.8 million toward the opening of the store.
“We’re looking forward to becoming a significant social enterprise business and having an impact on Harrisonburg, Rockingham County and surrounding areas,” Nickels said.
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Business conference to highlight local success stories
A two-day statewide conference entitled “Revitalizing Neighborhoods through Entrepreneurism” will take a surprising look at Staunton-based success stories.
Hosted by the Virginia Microenterprise Network in association with Virginia Main Street, the conference, to be held Thursday and Friday, will combine national speakers exploring how entrepreneurism and microdevelopment have revitalized communities across the county with a highly-local examination of on-the-ground successes.
“We are excited to use Staunton as a showcase for integrated community development,” says Meghan Williamson, executive director of the Staunton Creative Community Fund, Inc. and Vice-President of the Virginia Microenterprise Network. “The conference will include walking tours and one-on-one discussions with Staunton-based entrepreneurs; panel discussions with environmentally sustainable businesses throughout the Valley; and presentations from local community leaders including Staunton Economic Development, Staunton Downtown Development Association, Valley Conservation Council, and Historic Staunton Foundation.”
“We are excited to be breaking the mold of the traditional conference structure, where expert-led power points dominate the discussion. We’re hoping to put feet on the street and to inspire in-person discussions between community developers, local business owners, arts and cultural destinations, and national policy leaders,” adds Williamson.
Staunton and Shenandoah Valley businesses to be featured during the conference include the Friendly City Food Co-op, George Bowers Grocery, Mockingbird restaurant and music room, and Sunspots Studio, along with non-profit ventures such as the American Shakespeare Center, Staunton Green 2020, Friends of the Middle River, and Mary Baldwin College.
In addition to its local focus, the conference will also feature national economic development leaders including Jodi Raskind, Director of the Office of Capital Access, Microloan Program Branch for the U.S. Small Business Administration and Connie Evans, President and CEO of the national Association for Enterprise Opportunity. A full conference agenda, which includes presentations from the Aspen Institute, Handmade in America, Virginia Main Street and Virginia Enterprise Initiative, is attached to this release.
The conference will be held in the Stonewall Jackson Hotel and Conference Center. Registration is still open to the public and will remain so throughout the event.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
The sweet sound of small business
As the 2010/2011 school year begins, new business Tiller Strings combines local teaching, quality stringed instruments, and microfinance to serve the next generation of local musicians. Tiller Strings, operating out of Harrisonburg, Virginia opened in July of this year. Owned and operated by Virginia native and longtime musician, Megan Tiller, Tiller Strings offers a local option for the purchase and rental of quality stringed instruments and accessories. Tiller, originally from Salem, has been a resident of the Shenandoah Valley for almost eight years, six of which she has spent as a Suzuki violin instructor at Eastern Mennonite University’s Preparatory Music Program.
In her six years of teaching at the Preparatory Music Program, Tiller began to recognize a need for a local option for purchasing, renting, and maintaining stringed instruments. Hundreds of strings students were being directed to purchase instruments, music, and accessories online from companies sourced too far away to ever achieve consistent and reliable customer service. Tiller states, “as a teacher, I know the quality of the instrument can make such a difference in the student’s experience, but finding good quality and affordable instruments within driving
distance of Harrisonburg was impossible.” Understanding the value of face-to-face, experienced service, and in an effort to help connect her students and their families to existing local options, Tiller has now dedicated herself to filling this void in the greater Harrisonburg area.
Tiller Strings specializes in violins, violas, cellos, and string basses, all for purchase or rental and also offers bows, strings and other accessories, a wide variety of books and music including Suzuki method materials, as well as access to quality local instrument repair. Targeting the teacher/student market in the Harrisonburg area, Tiller Strings provides a high-quality, face-to-face purchasing opportunity from a knowledgeable source which will only offer “teacher approved” instrument outfits and materials to suit all ages and levels of experience.
Tiller Strings prides itself in connecting with and utilizing outstanding local luthiers and will also provide a venue through which interested buyers may purchase local Virginian and regionally crafted instruments, including guitars, mandolins, banjos, dulcimers, and more. Tiller hails from a variety of musical traditions and seeks to provide products that will meet the needs of a diverse clientele and serve to strengthen a local network of musicians, luthiers, teachers, and students in the musically rich Shenandoah Valley.
Tiller Strings launched in July of 2010 with a start-up business loan from the Staunton Creative Community Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to enriching communities both culturally and economically by supporting and funding local entrepreneurs.
Tiller sums up her experience with local microlending with enthusiasm: “I simply would never have been able to do this, not without their help and advice and patience! They explained everything and were with me for every step, and for someone with no prior business experience. … I just couldn’t have done it without them.”
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Grant helps SCCF relaunch small-business training
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
A $10,000 grant from a community-development group based in Southwest Virginia will enable the Staunton Creative Community Fund to relaunch small-business development training.
“It’s an opportunity, from our perspective. We really believe in the concept of microenterprise development and are impressed with what you’re doing here,” People Inc. President and CEO Robert Goldsmith said today at an event at the SCCF office on New Street to announce the grant. Read more
