A business risk pays off for this favorite Chester hangout. Nearly 15 years ago, Connie Hissam was looking for a bigger kitchen for her catering business when she—and her bank—took a chance on a restaurant venture in her hometown of Chester. Hissam approached the owner of a downtown restaurant about a partnership that would allow her to use the kitchen…
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Grant County Mulch recycles organic waste into a thriving business. In the early 1980s, Janie Berg’s husband, Larry, worked as a coal truck driver. Once that work died down, he started hauling raw byproducts from West Virginia sawmills to a company in Fairfax, Virginia. The company then asked him to take one of their grinders to West Virginia and grind…
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This South Charleston nonprofit is feeding hungry people and helping addicts get back on their feet—all while serving up really good food. Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the doors, and see charmingly mismatched tables and chairs, a coffee bar, and a cafeteria-style buffet line serving up hearty dishes made from locally grown produce and locally raised…
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Bil Lepp draws inspiration from his daughter and his home state for a feisty new children’s book. As a native Appalachian, Bil Lepp has storytelling in his blood. Lepp, who grew up in South Charleston, started his storytelling career in 1990 at the West Virginia Liar’s Contest at the Vandalia Gathering, an annual celebration of West Virginia arts, culture, and…
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An inside look at how The Health Plan celebrates West Virginia’s creative spirit. Corporate art collections are not a new concept. David Rockefeller is credited with starting the movement in the 1950s when he decided that Chase Manhattan Bank should acquire art. Other banks and businesses quickly followed suit. Today, more than 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies have art…
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