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StartVirginia: Heard Around Virginia August 2024
Blacksburg is moving forward with the renovation of a former dry-cleaning business into a retail business incubator. Slated to open by the end of 2025, the Blacksburg Retail Incubator is planned at 414 N. Main St., a 5,000-square-foot building owned by the town. After the building has been improved, Downtown Blacksburg Inc. will locate there […]
SCCF to host national entrepreneurship conference
Shenandoah Community Capital Fund is hosting a national entrepreneurship organization’s summit in Harrisonburg, marking the first time the bi-annual event has convened in a rural area like the Shenandoah Valley, says Anika Horn, who directs SCCF‘s entrepreneurial ecosystem-building efforts. The Startup Champions Network (SCN) Spring Summit runs April 30 through May 2. Staunton-based SC[...]
Lighthouse Labs names new managing director
Debbie Irwin, the former director of the Shenandoah Community Capital Fund, will be the next managing director of Lighthouse Labs, the Richmond accelerator announced Friday. She begins her new role Feb. 26. Irwin is leaving her role at SCCF, another entrepreneurial support organization based in Staunton, where she served for six years, first as director […]
SCCF exec director to depart
Debbie Irwin, executive director of the Shenandoah Community Capital Fund, an entrepreneurial support organization based in Staunton, is leaving her role in March, the organization announced Tuesday. SCCF‘s board of directors will begin a national search for her replacement. When Irwin leaves, Ryan Hall, director of growth and revenue, will take over the responsibilities of […]
Pivot points
Talk to those on the front lines of startups — entrepreneurs, investors and those running incubators and accelerators — and one word comes up over and over: pivot. If an entrepreneur isn’t able or willing to be flexible, chances are poor their business will succeed. “Those unduly connected to what they started with must understand […]
Valley of the entrepreneurs
The Shenandoah Valley has long been recognized as fertile ground for agricultural endeavors, but it’s now being seeded to grow an entirely different kind of crop — entrepreneurs. During the past few years, local and regional governmental bodies, nonprofits, and private and educational organizations in the valley have been coordinating efforts to create an entrepreneurial […]
Regional biz mentorship program jump-starts startups
Ruth Rau started her business as a hobby. Now, seven years later, her Winchester-based toy company — Mouse Loves Pig — is on track to generate revenue in six figures. The entrepreneur‘s toys for babies and young children are sold in more than 250 stores in nine countries, and she’s partnered with a manufacturing company […]
