Making Richmond First
Here’s a pop quiz for you. What metropolitan area has the honors of starting the first hospital, chartering the first university, and creating the first canned beer in America? Here’s a hint: It’s the same region that saw the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams basketball team make an improbable run in the 2011 NCAA men’s basketball […]
Making an Innovative Region
By Taylor Beck Hey, you. Want $10,000 cash and free office space in Greater Richmond for half a year? Are you a Richmond-based entrepreneur with a creative startup idea, high on imagination but low on funds? Well then, the i.e.* Startup Competition may be right for you. The i.e.* (short for “ideas evolving”) initiative was […]
Hardywood and James River Association Make Rain Barrels
By Stephen Robertson In the spring of 2012, Patrick Murtaugh and Eric McKay, founders of Richmond’s own Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, struck out on the James River with Jamie Brunkow and Ryan Corrigan of the James River Association (JRA). They toured the JRA’s James River Ecology School and Presquile Island National Wildlife Refuge, just […]
Making a Community of Food Trucks
By Karen Atkinson “Look Mommy! It’s a food truck,” exclaimed a wide-eyed toddler at the South of the James Farmers Market last summer. I had to smile as I reflected on the fact that terms like “Farmers Markets” and “Art Walks” were the new buzz words when my, now seventeen year old, son was the […]
Making It – From Doodling to Dough
By Chris Gatewood It is easier than ever to make and sell things. You can bang out a prototype of your widget with a 3D printer, by hand, or in a hackerspace that gives you access to its gear. You can connect with a manufacturer in the U.S. via Maker’s Row or offshore through the […]
Making Artisan Salame
By Jeff Kelley “National?” I reply to Oliviero “Olli” Colmignoli. I could’ve sworn he’d just said his two-year-old company’s artisanal salames are available nationwide in Whole Foods Markets. Yes, he confirms “National.” From this unsuspecting factory in a row of nondescript office suites in Mechanicsville, the two dozen employees of Colmignoli’s namesake Olli Salumeria […]
There Is A Better Way: The CarLotz Story
CarLotz is a consignment store for used cars that I co-founded with my partners Michael Bor and Aaron Montgomery in Richmond in early 2011. The company was born out of an unmet need in the marketplace. Buying and selling cars is an activity nearly every adult goes through, yet most consumers genuinely dislike the process.
At The Center Of It All
Brothers Chris and Phil Ray have recently found themselves at the center of it all. As the owners of the newly opened Center of the Universe Brewing Company, the duo has morphed their hobby into one of the latest in a string of quality, craft breweries opening in Greater Richmond.
Return on Health: The HDL, Inc. Story
The recent success of Richmond-based Health Diagnostic Laboratory is not about any one person. It’s about a family of people willing to roll up their sleeves and work around the clock for the past three years to save lives. It’s representative of the spirit found by the many startups, organizations, and nonprofits in Greater Richmond who are dedicated to a cause worth fighting for. It’s who we are.
State of the App in 2013
CapTech Ventures wrote the book on iPhone and iPad development, and that’s literal: iOS Network Programming, authored by three of the Richmond information technology company’s developers, is available on Amazon for $30.