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Business-course grads ready to enter economy

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“Businesses are often born out of frustration—frustration with the economy, the state of the environment, or from an unmet need in the community,” says TiCo Colada of Passion-Knit Living Studios. “But as business owners, we are all committed to being the change we want to see, and to supporting each other along the way.” 

This group of business owners is the latest to graduate from the Staunton Creative Community Fund’s business plan development course, which seeks to pair business owners with the tools for financial and marketing success, while at the same time encouraging local entrepreneurs to help the broader community grow and flourish. In the words of Linda Seigfried of Messer Landscape, one of the current graduates, “We live here, and we want to give back to the community that has supported us. Our goal is to help build a thriving local economy.”

Members of the current graduating class include the following creative and service-oriented businesses:

– Being Lightness: A start-up business that will assist clients in unearthing grace, ease, and flow in the midst of daily life—primarily through group and private yoga instruction, along with some extra sidekicks like Reiki, bodywork, and a few handcrafted items.

– GreenRight: A start-up nonprofit that bridges environmental, social justice, and economic issues in order to make eco-products and services more affordable for everyone.

– Inner-Wilderness Institute: A newly formed business for nature-based counseling in the Central Shenandoah Valley. Inspired by her passion for nature, and her 13 years serving the community as a mental-health professional, Kate Guenther LPC is launching a counseling institute that blends the nature arts with the art of the psyche.

– Karen Lawrence Creative Services: A Staunton-based business, KLCS promotes independent musicians and writers, connecting creative people and businesses with their audience, and supports the continued growth of a strong arts and culture scene in the Shenandoah Valley.

– Messer Landscape Inc. is a Staunton-based landscape company that has been serving the Shenandoah Valley for thirty years. MLI has recently undergone an ownership and management change; Linda Seigfried, the Messer Landscape Business Manager for 12 years, is carrying on the tradition and intends that Messer Landscape will continue serving the Valley’s residential and commercial landscape needs.

– Passion-Knit Living Studios perceives knitting as an expressive art and strives for quality products and services. “We teach students the rules, so they can bypass them for creative expression.” The studios are located in Hot Springs.

– Shanti Yoga and Retail: A Downtown Staunton business, Shanti is a traditional yoga studio, offering exotic retail, yoga that aims to improve your physical and emotional health, and massage services.

– Transilience is a planned non-profit organization (pronounced tran sill´ yens) whose name means a leaping or passing from one thing or state to another. The nonprofit will help unsigned and small indie label musicians achieve greater success by advising them on a consultation basis.

The Staunton Creative Community Fund’s CORE FOUR Business Planning Course is helping to bring these visionary entrepreneurs together in a peer-to-peer education environment that allows each of them to develop their business plan while learning from, challenging, and supporting each other.

“The beauty of this course is we’re looking out for each other at the same time we’re looking out for our community,” says Kate Guenther of the Inner-Wilderness Institute.

Jerry Robinson, who is also a current course graduate and is planning on opening and expanding a hobby shop in Staunton, agrees. “I listen to each classmate’s idea. But I’m also constantly thinking about how to make his/her idea better.” TiCo of Passion-Knit Living

SCCF’s Director of Operations Tanya Brockett presents a certificate of completion to TiCo Colada of Passion-Knit Living Studios.

Studios echoes his thoughts immediately: “I highly recommend this course to solve those mysterious business concepts and start you on your way to the business that expresses who you are while making your personal difference.”

“CORE FOUR training has made terms and concepts that have been bouncing around in my head suddenly make sense,” says Linda Revis co-owner of Shanti Yoga and Retail. “As a result of taking this course, I feel that I have a better handle on the direction I need to take to make my business a success. Tanya’s clear-cut presentation of the information has made what once seemed a daunting task more achievable.”

SCCF strengthens socially equitable, environmentally sound, and economically viable enterprises through finance and development.

More information about the organization can be found on its website at www.stauntonfund.com.

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