Business is at the forefront of the current national dialogue. In West Virginia and across the U.S., small businesses are the heart and soul of numerous communities, creating jobs, rebuilding downtowns and attracting tourists. In spite of the international impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world economy, many businesses are staying the course, and with the important role exporting is playing in the Mountain State, hope for a brighter future remains.
As always, West Virginia Executive (WVE) is committed to celebrating the successes of West Virginia’s business community, large and small. Despite significant changes in operation for the time being, these all-star companies—all of which have at least one facility in West Virginia and have taken their unique products and services across state lines or even around the world—have continued to create art, solve problems with innovative solutions and feed the hungry.
In conjunction with its energy, manufacturing and development issue, WVE is proud to present the 2020 installment of Winner’s Circle. Nominations were received from around the state, and these winning companies stood out as tried and true assets, proving that West Virginia companies produce high-quality products enjoyed around the country and the world.
Welcome to our winner’s circle.
Allegheny Treenware, LLC
By Cathy Bonnstetter
Susan and Stan Jennings, founders of Allegheny Treenware in Evansville, WV, started selling their hand-crafted, wooden kitchenware at craft shows in 1990 and soon realized their art could become a business. From measuring cups and bowls to forks and knives, their line grew to approximately 170 different utensil designs, each crafted from West Virginia hardwood and sanded before being branded with the species of wood, shop signature and year the piece was made.
The designs are practical, and for Susan and Stan, they’re also personal. The designs for their salad hands products—Sammy’s Salad Hands, Nicky’s Salad Hands and Lorena’s Salad Hands—started as tracings of their grandchildren’s and niece’s hands. As they grew, so did Allegheny Treenware. In fact, orders doubled every year for nearly 20 years after it opened.
“Our growth on the wholesale side put our work across the country,” says Susan. “We have chefs, culinary institutes and private individuals around the world using our work.”
Allegheny Treenware has been featured in local and national publications, including Southern Living, Martha Stewart’s Living and Country Woman magazines, and Chef Damaris Phillips, host of the Food Network’s “Southern At Heart,” featured the utensils during three of the five years the show aired.
“We are still riding that wave of popularity,” says Susan. “We are also consistently the number one wood seller at Tamarack and have been for years. Having been in the doors of Tamarack when it opened has been a cornerstone of our business.”
Allegheny Treenware has customers throughout the U.S. and Canada, and its internet presence includes a website and an Etsy store.
“Stan and I have worked hard at our business for 30 years, and we feel very lucky this all took place in West Virginia,” says Susan. “We have the abundance of hard wood, and we are located in the center of a large wheel, where traveling four or five hours gave us access to dense population venues.”
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stan and Sue have been working solely from their Preston County farm and workshop, but they are working toward reopening their showroom to tours this summer.
“Keeping our friends and neighbors in our community earning a fair living and bringing every cent of what our company earns back to Preston County is a source of pride,” says Susan.
Island Mould and Machine Company, Inc.
By Maggie Hatfield
In 1939, Joseph Dewey “J.D.” Weishar purchased shop equipment from Central Glass Works and moved it to a three-car garage on Wheeling Island where he hand chipped moulds to be used in the glass industry. Soon after, Island Mould and Machine Company got its start and was incorporated in 1947. J.D.’s son, Joe, followed in his father’s footsteps and went on to raise his sons within the family business. Today, Joe’s sons, Thomas and John Weishar, serve as the company’s president and vice president respectively.
What makes Island Mould stand out is that it is the only company in the U.S. that specializes in moulds for the glass industry. Since its inception, Island Mould has made moulds for more than 100 different hand shops, automated factories and glass studios. Island Mould’s customer base includes Imperial Glass Corporation, Fostoria Glass Company, Fenton Art Glass Company, Appalachian Glass, Blenko Glass Company and Lenox Corporation.
A wide variety of products have been made using the company’s moulds, including traffic light lenses, wing tip lenses for airplanes, multiple types of industrial lights and commercial lighting fixtures, as well as tableware, giftware and collectables.
Island Mould currently has four employees, as glass mould manufacturing requires a very specialized skill set.
“There are certain skills needed in this profession,” says John. “Employees here need to have good math skills and artistry skills and must serve an apprenticeship to gain experience.”
Thanks to the company’s location in Wheeling, it has found great success in shipping products outside of West Virginia.
“Since day one, we have been shipping moulds to all the surrounding states because we are centrally located for shipping to the glass factories,” says John. “Some glass items have even been shipped out of the country from the moulds we have made.”
Even though Island Mould does not ship its products directly out of the U.S., it has been able to expand its footprint through the work of its clients.
“Our mould customers take care of shipping the glass they produce to the other countries,” says John. “An example of our reach is that one of our customers has a deal to ship 5,000 tumblers to Japan each month.”
The Mountain State has served as the home for Island Mould for more than 60 years, and Thomas and John Weishar are proud to carry the torch that has been passed down through their family in the heart of Wheeling.
Weishar Enterprises
By Maggie Hatfield
In 1989, Joe Weishar founded a sister company for Island Mould and Machine Company called Weishar Enterprises to create wholesale and retail glassware. Weishar Enterprises uses the moulds manufactured by Island Mould to create its well-known line of moon and star patterned glass items— the longest produced pattern of glassware in the U.S.
While the Wheeling-based plant was Joe’s brainchild, he unexpectedly passed away shortly after its launch, leaving his sons, John and Thomas, as the sole owners to see their father’s vision come to life. Since taking ownership, this team of brothers has taken the opportunity to grow and diversify its inventory.
“We started out having just one item, but we have expanded our glass production capabilities and now have close to 100 different items and colors on hand,” says John. “Recently we added ornaments, mini courting lamps, medical marijuana smoke sets and medical marijuana gummy jars.”
Over the past 30 years, the company has created 80 different colors of miniature water sets and 28 different colors of large water sets, as well as a variety of rose bowls, fairy lights and candlesticks. The newest items added to its inventory include the Weishar Family Ornament Collection and a courting lamp that was featured on the show “How It’s Made” on the Discovery Channel. The sister companies have also added a museum of all the pieces, patterns and moulds they’ve made.
Even though the company has just two employees, it ships glassware to all 48 contiguous U.S. states as well as Canada. Other dealers of its glassware ship to the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. The family company has seen much success with expanding its footprint, and this transition was needed with the decline of physical store fronts.
“A couple of our dealers already had markets outside the country, so we let them increase their markets with our products,” says John. “This came at a great time because here in the U.S., we saw a decline of mom-and-pop gift shops. At one time, we had more than 500 physical stores we shipped to, but now we have maybe five.”
With the advancement of technology, Weishar Enterprises’ glass is sold to various platforms or direct to its customers.
The brothers agree that having their company headquarters located in West Virginia has proven beneficial. “Our suppliers are all within the tri-state area, which is very convenient,” says John. “Plus, being centrally located allows us to ship or mail glass across the country at a reasonable cost.”
Blue Ridge Bee Company
By Cathy Bonnstetter
Novice beekeeper Will Lambert studied for nearly a year before purchasing his first bee colony. When his long-awaited bees became infected with Varroa destructor mites, a devastating parasite, he needed a treatment. After finding only expensive chemicals to fix the problem, he decided to create his own solution. He ended up not only curing his bees but launching a business, Blue Ridge Bee Company, that he owns with his wife, Emily.
“I scoured the internet and kept running across oxalic acid vaporization as a treatment,” says Will. “Oxalic acid is found in plants like rhubarb and is what makes dark chocolate bitter. This sounded like a better option.”
Determined to solve his problem economically, Will designed his own vaporizer and built it with some pro-bono help from a local trade school and a high school friend.
“After working out a few bugs, it worked like a dream,” he says. “It crossed my mind that I should put it on eBay. Within a week, I had sold a dozen.”
Encouraged by the success, Will put his vaporizer on other platforms and created a website. Since 2014, he has sold about 4,000 and shipped to every state in the U.S. as well as several countries around the world, including Australia, Canada, England and Ireland. Will and Emily have since expanded their offerings to include everything a hobbyist needs, including the bees.
“Beekeepers want reliable products that are built in the U.S. that they can depend on year after year and that do not cost an arm and a leg,” says Will. “Having platforms like Etsy and Amazon has allowed us to reach people we would otherwise not have been able to serve.”
The couple has also added a brick and mortar shop on Mercer Street in Princeton, WV, that sells beekeeping equipment, bees, honey from all over the world, produce, local meat and ice cream.
“We are happy to provide a place not only for local, regional, domestic and even international beekeepers to find what they need to sustain their hobby, but we also have a very nice business that our local community can enjoy and be proud of,” says Will.
J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works
By Cathy Bonnstetter
J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works in Malden, WV, began as an enterprise in 1817. While the company took a hiatus starting in 1945, CEO Nancy Bruns and her brother, Lewis Payne, revived their family’s business in 2013.
“Our story and heritage are pure West Virginia,” says Bruns. “West Virginians area very supportive of their own and take great pride in locally made products. I feel as if I have a whole state of ambassadors who share our story and products with their friends and family around the world. I don’t think you would find that in many other states.”
At J.Q. Dickinson, natural flavor is king, and the company works hard to stay ahead of foodie trends and finnicky palates. In July, the company debuted two new salts, ghost pepper salt and mushroom and herb salt. The Kanawha Valley sits on top of a trapped ancient sea, and at the salt work, this brine is drawn to the surface and solar evaporated in sun houses. Employees then hand harvest the ancient salt. Patriot Guardens, a West Virginia Army National Guard initiative, is growing the peppers and herbs for the ghost pepper salt, and Hernshaw Farms, located on a reclaimed mine in Kanawha County, supplies the mushrooms for the mushroom and herb blend.
These new blends join the company’s already significant line that includes heirloom blends, plain salt, smoked and cocktail salts and brine mixes. At J.Q. Dickinson, all products start with one ingredient—ancient sea salt—and all share a common core of Appalachian elements.
J.Q. Dickinson sells its culinary products to restaurants, retailers and directly to consumers around the world, and its salt can be found in 43 states. Locally, the salt works hosts farm-to-table dinners, rents its picturesque grounds for events and hosts the annual BB&T Malden Salt Fest, a festival featuring live music, a parade, food trucks, artisans and craft beer.
Bruns has turned the company’s biggest challenge—shipping to the West Coast—into a positive by crediting customers for large orders, a strategy that keeps shipping costs manageable and has increased market share in that region.
The company recently launched J.Q. Dickinson Appalachian Mercantile, a monthly subscription box business that showcases Appalachian food, crafts and home products. While the COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily changed the marketplace landscape for J.Q. Dickinson, the company’s e-commerce business has increased significantly.
