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.…
You could say that Pete and Bonnie Riddle built a romance with sheet metal and tools. Now, with help from the Longwood Small Business Development Center (SBDC), they’re making a business of it.
Pete and Bonnie, who were good friends in high school, grew up about two or three miles from each other.…
Michael Duncan came to the Longwood Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for advice when he was starting his sixth business in 2005. Now an SBDC consultant, Duncan’s the one giving the advice.
Duncan started working for Longwood SBDC in 2014, initially specializing in financial projections for small businesses.…
In little over a year Shannon Facchhina turned a love for children into a successful South Hill business. Caring Hearts Academy opened its doors in October 2018.
“We started one year ago with 23 families, and yesterday I took in my 45th enrollment,” Facchina says.…
Small business has a friend in Central Virginia. It’s a friendship that’s expanded and grown since 1989 when the Longwood Small Business Development Center (SBDC) opened its doors in Farmville. In the 30 years since, Longwood SBDC has served more than 6,000 new and existing businesses from Petersburg to Martinsville.…
Sunae Pletcher started a beauty supply business 16 years ago with a loan from her cousin in Korea. Today she owns two stores in Farmville and plans to build another in the near future. Pletcher credits her business success to determination, hard work and a helping hand from the Longwood Small Business Development Center (SBDC).…
In 2017 Lauren Tetterton and Taylor Jennings decided to open a women’s clothing store in Downtown South Boston (SoBo) that would offer more than a no-frills shopping experience. The result was Southern Frills, a trendy boutique with a focus on customer service.…
Michael Scales, business analyst for the Longwood Small Business Development Center Western Region, knows business from the ground up. The Martinsville native owned and operated a family construction business for over 30 years.
Scales, who will base his operations in the Patrick Henry Community College (PHCC) Dalton IDEA Center located at 26 Fayette Street, Uptown Martinsville, is looking forward to building relationships with SBDC clients.…