Entrepreneurship in the Valley

Entrepreneurship in the Valley

The Shenandoah Valley is known for sweeping mountain ranges, a rich history, thriving downtowns, cultural offerings, and over 3,000 farms in the 11 counties that stretch along I-81 from Winchester all the way to Buena Vista. Family farms and independent vineyards dot the scenery as you travel through the Valley, and charming downtowns invite visitors to stay, stroll, shop, and dine locally. At the heart of these bustling towns are hundreds of local businesses – the makers, dreamers, doers, and tinkerers that make the Shenandoah Valley unique.

Starting, managing, and growing a business is a daunting endeavor for any entrepreneur. Support organizations, champions, and advocates have rolled up their sleeves to make the Shenandoah Valley a thriving interconnected ecosystem to help these local businesses succeed. 

The Valley Business Compass is an interactive platform to help dreamers and doers navigate their entrepreneurial journey, and making it accessible to find news and upcoming events, as well as resource and service providers that serve entrepreneurs in the Shenandoah Valley:

Valley Business Compass

Each quarter, we shine a spotlight on a different aspect of entrepreneurship in the Shenandoah Valley. We tell the stories of our visionaries, innovators, and entrepreneurs who are making it happen for themselves and their communities in the Shenandoah Valley.

Caffeine, Connections & Coworking

When Jenna Cauchi first started out as an entrepreneur, she figured things out on her own. As a mother of two, she resold clothes online that her children had outgrown. Over time, she also resold other families’ kid’s wardrobes until she eventually participated in in-person resale events. It was at a pop-up market in Harrisonburg that she met Nick Koger, community liaison for the Shenandoah Community Capital Fund (SCCF), who encouraged her to join SCCF’s Business Bootcamp. While learning some local business 101 in a cohort with other small business owners, she attended a networking event to mix and mingle with entrepreneurs from the Central Valley. Jenna was starting to look for a brick-and-mortar location and – unbeknownst to her – in the room was Kirsten Moore who was building out a space looking for small business tenants. Nick Koger recognized the opportunity and introduced the two. Asdelia Mae is scheduled to open its doors at Liberty St. Mercantile in early summer 2023. 

Such is the magic of serendipity.

The essence of an entrepreneurial ecosystem is its people and the culture of trust and collaboration that allows them to interact successfully. An ecosystem that allows for the fast flow of talent, information, and resources helps entrepreneurs quickly find what they need at each stage of growth. As a result, the whole is greater than the sum of its separate parts. ESHIP Playbook 2019

When it comes to growing and nurturing thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems, serendipity is key. The best – and easiest – way to move relevant information and resources from those who have them to those who need them is by having conversations with the right people at the right time. It’s collisions like the one between Jenna Cauchi, Nick Koger, and Kirsten Moore that move an entrepreneur from what-could-be to what-is. 

These types of collisions are hard to plan for and occur naturally in mature ecosystems where entrepreneurs run into each other at coffee shops, co-working spaces, at after-hours networking, and other events. In emerging and less centralized entrepreneurial communities – such as the Shenandoah Valley – a little intentionality goes a long way in creating serendipity and fruitful collisions. Where are entrepreneurs and innovators in the Shenandoah Valley most likely to run into each other and where do they gather to ideate and co-create? 

Hosting entrepreneurial events and creating spaces that invite conversations and collaboration is a key investment in an entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

Take a tour of the Shenandoah Valley’s best spaces to meet innovators and entrepreneurs, see creative collisions happen, and witness the power of serendipity.

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