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Upgrading RVA’s Innovation Engine

By Ford Prior
Work

Richmond Entrepreneurs Launch Alps Dx to Modernize Lab Operations

By Richmond Grid
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Väsen Brewing Brings Beer, Community, and Kobop to Forest Hill Avenue

By Richmond Grid

#richmondgrid

🐾 This week, we’re excited to welcome Tamsen Kingr 🐾 This week, we’re excited to welcome Tamsen Kingry, CEO of the @richmondspca, as guest editor for Richmond Grid’s partner publication, @here.weekly, where local community builders share their favorite ways to explore and celebrate Richmond.

Tamsen has spent more than two decades helping shape one of Richmond’s most beloved nonprofit organizations, guiding the Richmond SPCA through continued growth while expanding programs that support pets and the people who love them across the region.

What began as an internship during her senior year at VCU turned into a 24-year career rooted in compassion, community, and connection. Since joining the Richmond SPCA full-time in 2002, Tamsen has worked across communications, development, and operations before becoming CEO in 2019. Along the way, she has adopted three dogs and two cats, fostered many others, and helped countless friends find new companions of their own.

This week, Tamsen shares some of her favorite ways to experience the city, including Bark in the Park with @gosquirrels and @carmaxpark, kayaking out to @sharpsislandrva, scenic walks through @hollywoodcem, and History Hound tours with adoptable dogs and @thevalentinerva. 

She also spotlights the Richmond SPCA’s Amazing Tails Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, May 30. This Amazing Race-inspired adventure through Carytown will be filled with clues, teamwork, local businesses, and community fun, all supporting the Richmond SPCA’s lifesaving mission. 

@here.weekly subscribers, check your inbox for Tamsen’s issue. Not yet subscribed? It’s free at hereweekly.com.

#noplacelikehere #richmondva
More than 60 acres of prime farmland in Varina hav More than 60 acres of prime farmland in Varina have officially been transferred to the Central Virginia Agrarian Community Land Trust as part of a broader effort to preserve farmland, strengthen regional food systems, and expand land access and ownership opportunities for farmers of color in Central Virginia.

The conservation initiative, led in partnership with @capitalregionlandconservancy, Henricopolis Soil & Water Conservation District, and others, protects more than 54 acres of prime farmland along New Market Road near @virginiacapitaltrail. 

The Central Virginia Agrarian Community Land Trust is a BIPOC-led nonprofit organization focused on supporting resilient regional food systems through greater community control of land access and ownership.

“The biggest risk to farming is development pressure and rising land values. The biggest impediment to farmers is having land tenure and ownership of the property where we work and invest to improve soil health and provide needed food for the community,” said @duronchavis, Board Chair of the Central Virginia Agrarian Community Land Trust. 

“CVACLT was founded to help address both of these challenges and we appreciate the partnership that CRLC has afforded us to secure these 60 plus acres.”

The property also carries important Civil War and United Colored Troops history, along with environmental conservation significance in eastern Henrico. Follow @capitalregionlandconservancy and @duronchavis for more.
One of our favorite Richmonders, Barry Bless, aka One of our favorite Richmonders, Barry Bless, aka “The Professor,” is widely known for writing music and playing a range of instruments, from the accordion and piano to various instruments made from gourds. On Thursday, May 21, you can catch @professorbless at Live at the Branch, another mini-concert hosted in one of the most majestic settings in Richmond.

Barry has performed at the Virginia Opera, the Virginia Folklife Festival, Virginia Arts and Letters Live, the James River Film Festival, the Smithsonian Institution, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Classical Revolution RVA, and the World’s Largest Gourd Show, just to name a few. He has also busked in Richmond and Cuba, as well as performed in India. Throughout it all, he maintains that his favorite place to play is in the kitchen.

The Professor is calling this concert “Transcending Time and Space through Rhythm and Place.” It will include music and stories inspired by local places, people, and events, viewed through a global perspective.

Admission is $35 and includes light refreshments and drinks from the bar. Live at the Branch is sponsored by The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.

📸 Photo by Barbara Shore
Saturday’s launch of the Volunteer Market proved y Saturday’s launch of the Volunteer Market proved yet again that Richmonders show up when it comes time to give back. Here, local residents shopped for ways to support their community from an impressive lineup of purpose-driven organizations positioned throughout Gallery5 (@gallery5arts). 

This first-of-its-kind event, designed by @josh__epperson, created an opportunity to get connected and involved with local organizations while enjoying a bite to eat, a favorite drink, and live local music. 

The event brought together some of Richmond’s most impactful organizations doing meaningful work across the region, from mutual aid and housing to youth programs and environmental efforts. The following local organizations were featured in the inaugural event:

Girls For A Change (@girlsforachange)
Better Housing Coalition (@bhc_rva)
Southside ReLeaf (@southsidereleaf)
Happily Natural Day (@happilynaturalfestival)
RVA Repair Cafe (@repaircaferva)
Beyond Boundaries (@beyondboundariesrva)
RVA Community Fridges (@rvacommunityfridges)
ReEstablish Richmond (@reestablishrichmond)
RVA Light (@rvalight)
Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project (@rrfpva)

This unique initiative aims to lower the barriers to supporting the causes Richmonders care about. Whether you’re new to Richmond, want to become more involved in your community, or already volunteer regularly, this event offers a welcoming place to start. Follow @richmondvolunteermarket for more details!
Markiss Blowfish, the voice of the farmers market Markiss Blowfish, the voice of the farmers market this morning at RVA Big Market! 

There’s a good chance you’ve heard the music of Mark Branch, better known around Richmond as @markissblowfish, drifting through the trees @growrva’s RVA Big Market and South of the James Market over the years. 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Mark served in the Army before eventually making Richmond home in 1991. A member of the McGuire VA Veteran Band, former Richmond City school bus driver, father of three, harmonica player, songwriter, and longtime street musician, Mark didn’t begin playing blues harmonica and writing songs until the age of 40. To support his songwriting, he picked up the guitar and never looked back. 

For decades, he’s busked in Shockoe Slip and performed at local markets, bringing a blend of blues, soul, folk, and lived experience to Richmond’s sidewalks and gathering spaces. His songwriting talent has earned recognition from the Virginia Organization of Composers and Lyricists, including awards for Songwriter of the Year and Song of the Year.
A new kind of “market” launches this weekend in Ri A new kind of “market” launches this weekend in Richmond, one where instead of buying things, you show up to give something back.

This Saturday, May 9, the first Richmond Volunteer Market, designed by Josh Epperson (@josh__epperson), will bring together a lineup of local organizations and Richmonders looking for ways to get involved. Hosted at Gallery5 (@gallery5arts), the event will run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

This first-of-its-kind event will offer local organizations a chance to connect with Richmonders ready to “shop” for ways to support their community, all while enjoying a bite to eat, a favorite drink, and live local music.

Expect live music, a food truck, a full bar, and some of Richmond’s most impactful organizations doing meaningful work across the region, from mutual aid and housing to youth programs and environmental efforts. The following local organizations are featured in the first event:

Girls For A Change (@girlsforachange)
Better Housing Coalition (@bhc_rva)
Southside ReLeaf (@southsidereleaf)
Happily Natural Day (@happilynaturalfestival)
RVA Repair Cafe (@repaircaferva)
Beyond Boundaries (@beyondboundariesrva)
RVA Community Fridges (@rvacommunityfridges)
ReEstablish Richmond (@reestablishrichmond)
RVA Light (@rvalight)
Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project (@rrfpva)

Founder Josh Epperson started this unique initiative to lower the barriers to supporting the causes Richmonders care about. Whether you’re new to Richmond, want to become more involved in your community, or already volunteer regularly, this event is for you.

Richmond Grid is proud to serve as a media sponsor for this first-ever event.

➡️ Follow @richmondvolunteermarket for more details! 

📸 Logo by @mindhatch

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