Making Monsters
By Emily Winters Phil Barbato makes stuff – monsters, mostly. He has had a creative streak ever since he was a child, using whatever instrument he could to make a mark on something. His high school teachers and parents gave him the encouragement he needed to pursue art at Virginia Commonwealth University in mid-1990s. […]
Making Spaces and Furniture
by Jim Johns With at least one foot in the frequently separate worlds of designing, building and making, 510 Architects and 510 Builders fill in the gaps between the three with a passion to create. From the shop in Scott’s Addition, they are turning out chairs destined for a home in South Beach Miami. […]
Making Stones, and Groundbreaking innovation
By Jeff Kelley Central dispatch needed a better way to control the hundreds of dump trucks hauling Luck Stone rocks to customers throughout Virginia. So the proposal from an engineer within the company came forward as this: Stick iPads in every subcontractor’s truck, link each tablet into GIS technology already in place, then use it […]
Making a Place for Artifacts
By Ashby Day What exactly is an artifact? Merriam-Webster offers simply, “an object made by a human being.” But that’s only half the appeal behind shopping at Carytown’s Modern Artifacts. Owners Bill and Sharon Montgomery have long shared a passion for curation and a contemporary aesthetic, and it’s their mutual urbane taste that comprises […]
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.
Never Wait On Hold Again: The LucyPhone Story
Early one evening in the summer of 2009, I called Comcast customer service only to hear the dreaded words, “I’m sorry, we are currently experiencing higher than normal call volumes, please hold as your call is very important to us.”
SeedRVA: A Community of Contributions
Those of us who keep a close eye on the business press see a lot of headlines about millions of dollars pouring into chosen startup companies, locally and around the country. And that’s great. But we also know that for every growing company that needs a million-dollar boost, there are probably 25 scrappy founders and their teams who could get a lot done with $25,000.