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).…
Lauren Mathena knows all about making a change for the better. In 2018 Hurricane Michael flooded the yoga studio where she was working in downtown Danville. Instead of changing jobs, she opened her own studio.
“The teachers at that studio decided that they wanted to keep teaching in downtown Danville,” Mathena explains.…
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.…
Picture a bowling alley with axes instead of bowling balls. If that sounds like a little too much excitement, how about an escape room where a team of people solve puzzles in order to get out. Thanks to Christie Wall you’ll find both of these new waves in entertainment in Danville’s River 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.…
When Audrey Sullivan opened Red Door 104 Art School and Studio in Farmville four years ago, she had a plan. It worked in Northern Virginia, so why not in Farmville? Pretty quickly Sullivan found out that business plans aren’t “one size fits all.”…
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.…