Small Business Profiles
Couple Welcomes Guests to North Carolina Mountain Getaway
When Michele Azan and Elisabeth Perez visited North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains in 2007, they fell in love with the area’s natural beauty. In 2015, they purchased a century-old property near picturesque Hendersonville that had once been part of a mountain resort. After transforming the property’s two-story stone guesthouse and several other rundown buildings into…
Montana Ranchers Keep Western Traditions Alive
Run by the Kelsey family for 80 years, Montana’s Nine Quarter Circle Ranch offers guests a magnificent mountain-and-river landscape, traditional Western activities including horseback riding and fly fishing, and old-fashioned family-style meals that promote conversation and community. Many of the ranch’s original buildings are still in use, and the Kelseys continue to breed, raise, and…
Husband-and-Wife Team Offers Logo-Embroidered Apparel to Businesses Nationwide
Laid off from his corporate job in 2001, Minnesotan Jeff Taxdahl turned a moment of crisis into a moment of opportunity. With a single embroidery machine, some spare room in his basement, and years of marketing experience, Jeff and his wife, Wenda, started a new business: embroidering local companies’ logos onto hats and shirts. Within…
Photographer Showcases Properties Across Kentucky
When 16-year-old Kentucky native Ben Childers received a drone camera for Christmas in 2011, he didn’t realize it would help him launch a business. But when his drone footage of a popular local waterfall received nearly 200,000 views on YouTube, he knew he was onto something. He started posting more footage, and soon local property…
Virginia Wine Shop Provides a Welcoming Community Space
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, longtime friends Kristen Gardner and Lance Lemon put their plans to open a wine shop on hold and launched RichWine, an online delivery service offering natural and biodynamic wines throughout Virginia. In 2022, after the success of that venture, they cofounded Penny’s Wine Shop, a brick-and-mortar wine bar and restaurant…
Chicago-Based Entrepreneur Brings Quality Saffron from Afghan Farms to U.S. Kitchens
Mohammad Salehi grew up on his family’s 10-acre saffron farm in Herat, Afghanistan. After serving as an interpreter for U.S. forces, he immigrated to Chicago in 2014 — but missed the rich, fragrant spices of home. When a classic Persian rice dish didn’t taste right with the saffron available in U.S. stores, he realized there…
Pittsburgh Entrepreneur Helps Businesses Succeed Online
Long fascinated by digital tools’ capacity to boost businesses’ growth, Jason Anthony started helping businesses improve their digital marketing when he was still in high school. As an adult, he continued offering his digital-marketing services as a side-gig — but when he lost his full-time sales job in 2011, he decided to turn his side-gig…
Michigan Photographer Helps Professionals Look Their Best
After years of working in the insurance industry as an analyst and product manager, Scott Lawrence realized many professionals dreaded one of the most minor parts of their job: getting a headshot. In 2015, he launched Headshots by Scott Lawrence with a simple goal: to make the headshot process fast, painless, and even fun for…
Small Business Helps Virginians Protect the Environment, One Petroleum Tank At A Time
After watching their parents navigate the frustrating process of working with contractors, regulators, and suppliers to remove and replace underground tanks at their general store, brothers John and Matthew Stump saw an opportunity. In 2007, they launched Hill Top Contractors, a Roanoke, Va.-based business specializing in storage tank removal, installation, and environmental remediation. Hill Top…
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Couple Welcomes Guests to North Carolina Mountain Getaway
Montana Ranchers Keep Western Traditions Alive
[Op-Ed] Proposed delivery tax: Last thing Illinois small businesses need right now
