Charles and Mary Walker started Ma’s Cakes four years ago in their kitchen. Thanks to the River District Association’s Dream Launch program and the Longwood Small Business Development Center (SBDC), they’ll soon have a brick and mortar location in downtown Danville.…
DeShanta Hairston, owner of Books and Crannies in Uptown Martinsville, knows all about books, but when it comes to running a business, she relies on the Longwood Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to fill in the “crannies.”
Hairston recalls her first visit to SBDC’s business analyst Michael Scales.…
Shelia Reavis, controller for the Family YMCA of Emporia-Greensville, discovered the Crater Small Business Development Center (SBDC) of Longwood University while looking for information on Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. She considers it her lucky day.
“I sent out a generic email to the Crater SBDC to ask about applying for PPP loans,” Reavis says.…
Although she had spent years in the foodservice industry, Shakiva Robinson always knew her real passion wasn’t inside a kitchen, it was on the road.
Robinson, who has a degree from Johnson & Wales College of Culinary Arts in Food Service Management, felt her intentions solidify as the years passed.…
Dr. Japhet LeGrant, owner of the Back and Neck Pain Relief Center in Martinsville, and the Longwood Small Business Development Center (SBDC) work well together — both follow a practice that looks at the “big picture”.
Holistic care, or looking at the whole patient before prescribing treatment, is a concept LeGrant decided to pursue while a student at Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.…
When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in late March, Farmville’s kayak accessory business lived up to its name. Yak Attack’s owner Luther Cifers attacked the economic slowdown with a common sense solution. In a matter of weeks, his company switched production from kayak accessories to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).…
In mid-March when the COVID-19 crisis arrived in Martinsville, Will Pearson called Longwood Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Business Analyst Michael Scales. He considers it his lucky day.
“We heard rumors about grants coming out when everything shut down,” Pearson relates.…
Tonya Haley, owner of Haley’s Honey Meadery in Hopewell, opened her business two years ago with a simple motto: be prepared. To achieve that goal the beekeeper turned mead-maker connected with the Crater Small Business Development Center (SBDC) of Longwood University.…
Kristen Gusler’s business started with a dream.
“For as long as I can remember, I dreamed about opening my own business,” Gusler says. “I’ve always had a love for art and knew at a young age that I wanted to make it a career.”…
Two years ago Anne Eakes launched The Busy Bean with a leap of faith, a leap that landed her at the regional office of the Longwood Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in South Boston.
She considers it the best business decision she’s made for her coffee shop in South Boston’s downtown district.…