Entrepreneurs and small businesses in southern West Virginia were recognized and celebrated Friday at the historic Black Knight Municipal Park during the West Virginia Hive’s annual open house and awards ceremony.
This year’s ceremony recognized the success of nine companies from various industries, all of whom received support from West Virginia Hive.
WV Hive is the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority’s entrepreneurship program, offering everything from business advice to training programs and other business resources.
The 13-county service area includes Raleigh, Fayette, Summers, Nicholas, Webster, Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Monroe, Mercer, McDowell, Wyoming, Logan and Mingo counties.
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One of the businesses recognized by WV Hive this year was Auntie E’s Custom Order Bakery, located in Beckley and owned by Erica Bowden.
Bowden received the Survivor Bee of the Year award, which is given to business owners who demonstrate resilience and can withstand difficult circumstances and recover quickly.
Bowden said she started Auntie E’s Custom Order Bakery in late 2020 to raise money for her cousin’s baseball team, but the popularity of her tasty treats quickly turned the side project into a full-time venture.
Bowden said at the time she was working as a manager at Walmart’s Vision Center in MacArthur.
“After 15 years as a manager, (Aunt E’s) continued to grow and it finally came to a point where I had to make a choice between my business or my job in retail,” Bowden said.
She added that the reason she chose to take a gamble with her small business and leave her long-term job was because of something that happened at her mother’s funeral 17 years ago.
“At my mother’s funeral, my name was mentioned once,” Bowden said. “My dad and sisters, there were praises being sung and things like that, and when my name was mentioned it was said, ‘And Erica for just being involved.'”
While the lack of recognition hurt, Bowden said it was also her “aha moment.”
“I thought you would never hear my name, or now Aunt E’s name, again and think we were just involved,” she said. “We want to leave our footprint… So that’s where the problems started in the beginning, and ultimately it was like, I’m going to make something of myself, and my company and my talents.”
Bowden operates Aunt E’s from her home in MacArthur. She takes custom orders and has a rotating menu of items that customers can order and pick up from her home.
For a look at her menu, visit Facebook.com/p/Auntie-Es-100063698284718 or call 304-673-8214.
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WV Hive also received recognition for a company founded by Manuel Furmento, a civil engineering student at West Virginia University Institute of Technology.
Furmento was named WV Hive’s Collegiate Entrepreneur of the Year for its innovative TV mount design, which is provisionally patented.
Furmento’s TV mount design, called SkyMounts, consists of a pole anchored to the floor and ceiling with mechanisms on the pole that allow a TV to be mounted.
Furmento, an international student from Uruguay, said the concept for the design came to him three years ago when he was trying to mount a TV on the wall with his father.
“I hurt my hand raising it, and I thought, you know, there’s got to be a better way to do this,” he said.
Not long after, Furmento came to WVU Tech to play golf and study engineering.
It was at Tech that Furmento said he could find a way to bring his concept to life.
“I think engineering is one of the majors that expands your mind to be more innovative,” he said. “And also (Tech) served as a bridge to meet the people who have the skills and other techniques to help you.”
Furmento said he is working on his second prototype, which he hopes to patent and eventually commercialize.
To view his design, visit sky-mounts.com
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Judy Moore, executive director of the WV Hive and deputy director of the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, said she is excited to be able to recognize businesses in the area.
“This is the part of our work that means the most to us, which is to be able to see that these companies are really successful, and those are the ones that have evolved, and we’re celebrating that here today,” Moore said. “We take great pride and ownership in being part of that journey, and this is exactly the day where everything comes together for us.
Moore said WV Hive currently works with 125 companies.
Other WV Hive winners included:
• 2024 WV Hive Small Business of the Year: Trails Edge Cycles from Beckley
• 2024 WV Hive Startup of the Year: Mountain Table of Renick
• 2024 WV Hive Startup of the Year: Clifftop’s New River Farms Sawmill
• WV Hive Entrepreneur of the Year 2024: Bill and Ashley Chouinard/Wild Blue Adventure Co. from Fayetteville
• 2024 WV Hive Social Enterprise of the Year: JarHead Farm of Alderson
• 2024 WV Hive Minority Small Business of the Year: Paramount Records, LLC of Beckley
• 2024 WV Hive Innovative Company of the Year: Seven Rivers Design & Build of Lewisburg
• WV Hive Partner of the Year 2024: Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce
• WV Hive Community Advocate of the Year 2024: Ryan Thorn of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
• WV Hive Vendor of the Year 2024: Monika Jaensson of Jaensson Law, PLLC
