Meet this week's guest editor, Paul Trible. As many Richmonders know, Paul is the co-founder and CEO of Ledbury, a luxury shirtmaker and menswear brand that has been on fire since 2009. A Virginia native, Paul launched Ledbury in Richmond with his good friend, Paul Watson, after apprenticing under a master shirtmaker in London. Together, the two set Ledbury's businesses strategy, leading to rapid growth and loyal customers here in the River City and far beyond. Paul is joining us today with three tips for venturing out while social distancing. As he puts it, "trying something new might make you feel right at home again...but not at home...again." Take it away, Paul!
Hardywood Virtual
Tasting Panel
Each weekend, our friends at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery host a virtual beer tasting panel. Even though you’re socially distant, you can still drink great beer with your neighbors. Sign up for a weekend session, and beer is dropped off on your front stoop. Who doesn’t want to try a Bourbon-Barrel-Aged Belgian Quad blended with an Apple-Brandy-Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout fermented with figs? No tapped kegs or socially distanced lines. This is one Zoom meeting you will want to attend.
It’s a Ledbury tradition to host our Hunt/Gather Field Party at Orapax, a beautiful hunting preserve just outside the city. It’s a special place as it gives you the sense that you’re in the hills of Charlottesville, without the drive. There’s a fully stocked pond where you’re able to fish from the shore or rent a boat. It’s the perfect place to fish (think 7-lb bass), hunt when in-season, or take your family for an afternoon picnic on the hillside.
As of today, Virginians will be mandated to wear a mask when in public spaces. We at Ledbury have always tried to make your wardrobe fit better and feel better, so our masks follow "suit." Buy one, and we'll donate one to non-profits in Richmond to protect our city's most vulnerable. We recently released our "Love is Why We Wear Them" video featuring friends and family from the neighborhood. Check it out (you might see someone you know), and help our community spread the love, not the virus.
Hand-illustrated letterpress charts detailing flora and fauna native to the Commonwealth of Virginia by The Wild Wander now available at Grid Supply Co.
Meet this week's guest editor, Anedra Wiseman Bourne. As the deputy executive director at Venture Richmond, Anedra works to enhance the vitality of the Richmond community, in particular downtown. A Maryland transplant who's made the River City her home, Anedra spends her professional and personal time exploring RVA and making the area's resources known far and wide. She's also a serial volunteer and dedicates her time serving on local boards focused on underserved populations of women and children. Take it away, Anedra!
I came to Richmond nearly 18 years ago and I feel fortunate to call RVA home — especially in recent weeks. The age old saying, "You don't know what you got 'til it's gone," has never rang more true than in the past 10 weeks under our stay at home order. Here are three of my favorite parts of RVA now more than ever. Here's to venturing forward!
Local
Coffee Shops
Urban Hang Suite, Brewer’s Café, Lamplighter, Blanchard’s, Lift, Urban Farmhouse – you name it, and I’ll check it out! I enjoy a great, bold coffee. Well, actually, I’m more of an extra shot latte kinda girl (hot or iced!) But, the atmosphere of a local coffee shop – both as a gathering space or as a simple getaway – is one of my guilty pleasures. Locally roasted beans, creative caffeinated beverages, and partnerships with other local businesses (bakeries, breweries, artists) rounds out Richmond's coffeehouse experience for visitors, too, who get a small taste of RVA in one spot!
In nearly 18 years of living in Richmond, I’ve ONLY worked downtown and I can’t imagine working anywhere else! The commute is easy. Downton offers an endless variety of places to host a meeting, restaurants where you can meet a friend or colleague for a meal, or grab a happy hour cocktail after work. It's spectacular that all within reach you can spend your lunchtime enjoying a museum exhibit; taking a walk, run, or bike ride on urban streets; exploring the Canal Walk; or jumping into the wild of the James River Park System.
My career in tourism has afforded me a front row seat for appreciating and promoting Richmond’s complicated history. From Historic Tredegar to Lumpkin’s Jail/Devil’s Half Acre to 2nd Street in Jackson Ward, there are no shortages of places where you can feel the true spirit and soul of those who came before us. Random fun fact, I also love the trains spotted downtown. Whether it’s Main Street Station or elevated along the riverfront, seeing and hearing them regularly has been a treat. Watching people – young and old — wave to the train conductors during events is a simple pleasure. And best of all, working for Venture means having Brown’s Island and the Canal Walk as a “seasonal satellite office.” Whether walking up or down hill, across the footbridge to Belle Isle or catching the river’s breeze from the “T-Pott,” I always notice something new downtown.
While the Riverfront Canal Cruise 2020 season is canceled, you can still enjoy a new virtual 360-degree experience that simulates an actual tour of the canal and Richmond's history that kids and adults of all ages will enjoy!
vol. 117 / sprint 🏁Big ideas needed. Time to sprint.
VOL. 117 / SPRINT
Meet our guest editor Erin Powell, the new executive director of Lighthouse Labs. You may also recognize her as the founder of Ginger Juice. Erin is here to tell us that it’s time to sprint. In today's issue, Erin shares a handful of ways those with big ideas in Richmond are rolling up their sleeves, adapting fast, and pushing our region forward.
Now is the time to offer budding entrepreneurs and those with new ideas the support they need to bring their big thinking to life. We need innovators now more than ever to help create a happy and healthy community. At Lighthouse Labs, we’re currently offering a summer program, called Startup Sprint, for up to 60 new companies and founders with solutions to share. It’s free and offered online to anyone who has graduated from a Virginia college or university in the past ten years. In addition to summer opportunities, we're also launching a fall cohort that serves as Virginia's only health-focused accelerator. As inspiration, here are three Lighthouse alums that are currently responding to today’s challenging environment and serving as examples of what's possible. Let's use their tenacity, resilience, and ability to quickly respond as a model for impacting this place we love to call home.
Roundtrip
Roundtrip is the perfect place to start when thinking about the journey our local startups have traveled to bring their vision for a healthier community to life. Roundtrip was created as a way to provide a simple, comprehensive patient ride ordering software to make available a community of ride providers ready to complete valuable transport to medical appointments and non-emergency medical transportation. As a result, they've helped increased access to care for all. In response to COVID-19, this Lighthouse alum has proven their flexibility by flipping its model to now coordinate rides for clinicians in order to safely and efficiently transport critical staff members to medical facilities. As health systems work to show their gratitude to their frontline employees, Roundtrip is being leveraged as a way to transport the most needed healthcare teams to the right place at the right time -- without public transportation.
Babylon, a recent Lighthouse Labs alum, is known for making high-end hydroponic systems that allow anyone to grow their own fresh, organic produce in a sustainable manner year-round at the push of a button. In the midst of supply chain anxiety and empty shelves at grocery stores due to COVID-19, Babylon has quickly revamped its business model to offer fresh products with 99.9% less transportation, 71% fewer carbon emissions, 95% less food waste, and 99% less plastic waste. While much of Babylon's work has traditionally been installing indoor farming units in restaurants, the recent health crisis has led the startup to begin offering its technology and farming system to vulnerable populations such as senior living communities.
Totem, a Richmond based startup founded by three UVA students with a passion for cause-related organizations, has proven itself as a user-friendly donor engagement software platform for do-gooders. Built for nonprofits by people who have worked in nonprofits, Totem is today used by the likes of Chesterfield Food Bank, Autism Society of Virginia, American Civil War Museum, Startup Virginia, and Lighthouse Labs. Now more than ever, at this time of crisis, Totem is being tapped into by nonprofits across the country looking to manage donations, constituents, members, events, programming, and volunteers when needed most.
Registration closes tomorrow for the free virtual Startup Sprint for qualified Virginia founders. Registration is first-come, first-served for 60 companies and those with big ideas. And make sure to check out fall programming too!
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