D I S C O V E R W E S T V I R G I N I A 35

CHARLESTON

As business coaches, Gaull and

Lundberg evaluate where the people are

in their business cycle and work with

them to identify potential opportunities

and area resources to help them grow.

After all, in business, relationship

is everything. But passion and good

storytelling go into how the best

entrepreneurs market themselves and

the state.

“It’s the same with any business. You

have to be passionate about it. You have

to love what you’re doing and be willing

to tell your story,” Lundberg said.

Growing Business – somewhere that’s green

Are you dreaming of getting away for a weekend – or a lifetime – to

someplace greener? Whether you want to start your own eco-friendly

business or visit one, West Virginia is the place for you.

“People hunger for authentic places to eat and drink. They’re looking

for different experiences or unique products. They want something they

can tell their friends about,” said Justin Gaull. Gaull is a West Virginia

Small Business Development Center (WVSBDC) coach who specializes

in tourism-based businesses.

“Geotourism is about being aware of our cultural assets and

packaging them in a way for people to discover,” he added.

“West Virginia has always been self-sufficient, rural and green. Today,

there’s real potential to take advantage of the growing interest in local

foods and eco-friendly travel to build upon what our businesses and

main streets are naturally doing.”

Martinsburg SBDC manager Christina Lundberg, agreed. She often

coaches new entrepreneurs who left the Big City’s traffic and hassles to

pursue full- or part-time agriculture-based businesses.

“If you’re just starting, we may talk about how much land you have, whether you

want it as a hobby and your goals for the next five years,” she said. “After farmers have

had some successes with a few farmers markets for a few seasons, the questions are

more related to product: What other items do you grow? Do you

have enough quantity to expand? What do you do

with any excess product? Do you want to

diversify, adding something unique

like heirloom tomatoes?”

Panorama at the Peak’s certified-organic, humanely- raised beef hamburger with rosemary roasted organic Yukon Gold potatoes

Far left, Cider Mill House’s Katherine Cimaglio on her family farm turned B&B.

Bison calf from Orr’s Farm Market, Martinsburg

easy greenbeing in West Virginia

ByKimHarbourPhotography by Steve Shaluta

36 W O N D E R F U L W E S T V I R G I N I A

BERKELEY SPRINGS

UNION

The new proprietors reached out to local farms. “We got to know our farms and

our farmers. We carved out a niche for supporting people’s knowledge of and access

to good, local organic and humanely-raised foods.” And in pursuing a small business

based on a passion, Panorama at the Peak found growing success as the public’s

appreciation for local food evolved.

Panorama’s menu changes every week depending on what’s in season. There’s a lot

of creative interplay between the players. The grower may have extra of something

that’s in season and the chef figures out how to make something delicious out of it.

Then the kitchen staff has to be up to the challenge of processing and storing it –

making preserves and freezing fruits and veggies for year-round use.

Calling Executive Chef Scott Collinash, the “chef of our dreams,” Miller said one of the

“most fun things” happened earlier this year when Paul Mock of Mock’s Greenhouse and

Landscaping, a hydroponic greenhouse in Berkeley Springs, harvested the tomato vines to

prepare for the next season. There were still green tomatoes on the vines. So, Panorama

bought 480 pounds of green tomatoes and promoted an event called the Great Green

Tomato Harvest of January 2011. Panorama’s

had green tomatoes in every item on the menu:

green tomato entrees, green tomato chocolate

cake and even a green tomato martini.

“We turned Paul’s 400-pound-what-am-

I-going-to-do-with-it into a real celebration.

Our guests were tickled.” Miller said.

Farm Fresh Orders OnlineMeanwhile, in the southern part of the state, technology is helping farmers in rural

Monroe County reach new customers in the state’s capital, about three hours away.

The non-profit Monroe Farm Market is operated out of Union as both a physical

and virtual farmers market for fresh, local foods. On www.monroefarmmarket.org,

member farmers log into the system to list how many pounds of tomatoes, cheese,

baked goods, eggs, grass-fed beef, cucumbers or microgreens they have available that

week. Customers pay a small annual fee to shop online. Then, once a week, market

manager Keveney Bair and her team work with the farmers to fulfill the orders and

deliver them to a pick-up location in Charleston. In doing so, the association connects

20 farms to more than 100 individuals and restaurants, including the Bluegrass

Kitchen, Lola’s Pizza, Tricky Fish and Bridge Road Bistro.

“There’s a high quality and freshness to the items. The items are harvested the day

before. That is very different than something that has traveled across the country,”

Bair said. The market’s customers are young families and professionals who enjoy

cooking and food. The market gets referrals through word of mouth, friends of friends.

Meanwhile, the profits go directly to the farmers.

Each year, the market hosts several producer meetings where they talk about the

marketplace. Bair said the member farms collaborate and make sure they have enough

production of the specialty items that proved popular. They work with the county

What’s the Special? What’s in Season!In 2005, when Leslie Hotaling and

Patti Miller bought an old steak house with

the idea of creating a farm-centric restaurant,

there was little interest in local foods and

no models for what they wanted to do.

Miller, previously a real estate agent

in the Washington, D.C. area, had been

informally researching human health

and discovering how intimately it is tied

to our food supply.

“As I read the literature, I found

that many diseases could be traced to

nutrient and micronutrient deficiencies

in today’s commercially-produced foods.

I remember being stunned to read that

it would take our eating four to eight

oranges to get the same nutrient value of

iron or vitamin C that our grandmothers

got with one orange!” Miller said.

Miller and Hotaling bought a

second home in West Virginia’s Eastern

Panhandle. Soon after, the Panorama

property came up for sale.

extension agent and share information

about extending the season by using high

tunnels, unheated greenhouses made of

PVC pipe arches and plastic sheeting.

“Wild and wonderful is very true

about Monroe Country,” Bair said. “I like

helping to provide a source of income

for the family farms and we think it’s

important that restaurants start using

more local foods. A lot more care goes

into the food grown on a small farm –

it’s a good direction for everyone and

I enjoy being part of that.”A Bluegrass Kitchen special made with Monroe County produce: roasted local spaghetti squash filled with Israeli couscous, stewed tomatoes, and red pepper coulis with local micro greens.

Panorama at the Peak proprietors Leslie Hotaling and Patti Miller, along with Executive Chef Scott Collinash

Green tomato martini

Monroe Farm Market Manager Keveney Bair and Phillip Schrock

deliver fresh produce to Charleston restaurants each week.

38 W O N D E R F U L W E S T V I R G I N I A D I S C O V E R W E S T V I R G I N I A 39

RONCEVERTE

Charleston

Paden CityRecycledGlass:MarbleKing

Marble King Incorporated manufactures a million glass marbles each day.

“About 95 percent of the marbles are being made with recycled glass. We’re

saving at least four-and-a-half tons of glass each day from the landfill, including waste glass from Fenton Art Glass and Blenko Glass,” explained Marble King’s President and CEO Beri Fox. The marbles are used for children’s games, industrial applications, and decorative items such as stained glass lamps, art and jewelry. They are exported to 17 countries, worldwide.

ReclaimedWood:RenickMillworks

Greening Main Street: Ronceverte’s Eco District

Ronceverte’s eco efforts already are being noticed. This

May, Hylton, Baker and Schaefer won the 2010 Governor’s

Main Street and On Trac Community Award for Innovation,

along with a $15,000 award to advance their eco-district plans.

“As we retrofit the buildings, we’re trying to mesh both

historic preservation and energy efficiency requirements.

We want our buildings to have that 1880s character, but the

new construction must serve the modern technology and

comfort needs of the tenants and businesses we want to bring

to town,” Hylton said.

“Solar panels aren’t an issue with historic renovation,

as long as they can’t be seen from the street,” Baker

added. “We have to devise a way to install the panels so

they can’t be seen. We need to be open to more types of

design. It may require more thought, more networking

and more paperwork – but energy efficiency and historic

renovation do go together pretty well.”

The green/historic approach helped the three

developers qualify for a variety of grants and financing

including historic preservation tax credits and two

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s energy grants.

Accessing these funds is helping Baker, Schaefer and

Hylton realize their entrepreneurial dreams.

Baker and Schaefer plan to operate WV ReUsers in

Ronceverte, which will re-use building supplies to keep

them out of the landfill. In the meantime, a florist has

moved into their first newly-renovated space.

Hylton plans to open a 1950s-style soda fountain

and deli in his new green building: The Ronceverte

Ice Creamery and Deli. Hylton wants to make his own

ice cream, possibly using the solar panels to pasteurize

the raw milk.

“Green is good for business,” Baker said.

“The greener we can make our properties and the

town, the more attractive they will be for business.”

Renickcompany a nation-wide presence to choosy, eco-minded customers.

“I like wood – and I like old wood from a ‘uniqueness’ factor,” he said. “I hate to see old structural buildings falling down and rotting into the ground. I think, ‘Oh, wow, that could be made into something nice.’

“The reclaimed wood has a lot of history to it. We can track where every floorboard came from – whether it was an old barn in West Virginia or an old schoolhouse in Tennessee. It all has its own story.”

Historic and high tech are not often

mentioned in the same breath – that is,

unless you’re visiting Ronceverte’s Eco-

District. Here, solar photovoltaic (PV)

panels and geothermal projects are part

of an award-winning business strategy

for community revitalization.

“Sally, Sharon and I own three of

the most visible buildings in town.

They’re the first building you see as you

enter or leave the town,” Main Street Program Manager Doug Hylton said, referring

to Sally Baker of the Main Street Economic Restructuring Committee and Sharon

Schaefer of the Promotion Committee. Then, Hylton ruefully added, “They’re also

the biggest eye sores in town! We have to do them right. They represent a key to

our revitalization!”

Hylton, Baker and Schaefer are entrepreneurs, investing in their own building

renovations. By doing so, they’re also helping to shape a progressive direction for

redevelopment of downtown. There is keen business logic behind the developers’

green plans. Making the buildings as energy efficient as possible helps them save

money as owners, as it serves as a tool to promote Ronceverte as a destination.

Ronceverte’s Main Street is evolving into an eco district.

Photo by David Fatalleh

In a mill that’s tucked away in a rural corner of Greenbrier County, old barns are turned into gleaming hardwood flooring for customers throughout the country.

“We’re all about reclaimed wood. It’s good for the environment and it looks good,” said Jay Petre, the president of Renick Millworks. Petre’s company has carved its niche producing sustainable products from recycled and reclaimed wood. Although Renick Millworks also makes custom timber materials, its reclaimed wood flooring gives the

ThePowerofChuck

The West Virginia Power has teamed up with Charleston Area Medical Center to promote healthy eating to area kids using the team’s yellow mascot, Chuck.

In school visits and other activities, Chuck’s Healthy Challenge to kids boils down to 5-2-1-0: five fruits and vegetables, two hours or less of screen time, one hour of vigorous activity and no sugared beverages each day. A website, www.wvpowerCHUCK.com, hosts health tips, videos, games and activities for kids.

This season, the Class A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates added Chuck’s Natural Grill to their themed concession stands at the ballpark. Power fans, young and old, can enjoy healthy options such as organic buffalo burgers, grass-fed beef and garden burgers while watching the action.

40 W O N D E R F U L W E S T V I R G I N I A40 W O N D E R F U L W E S T V I R G I N I A

HEDGESVILLE

Read extended articles online. Tell us how you enjoy being green in West Virginia: wvcommerce.org/green

Close Encounters with Nature at The Cider Mill House

Fred, a fiber-producing Pygora goat

addition to the farm animals, the Cimaglios have created three miles of hiking trails

through the woods and they’re working with the West Virginia Division of Forestry

on land management projects, including reducing non-native, invasive plant species.

Nearby is the area where the stones for the house were quarried 200 years ago. There’s

also a flint outcropping where the Indians once stopped and made arrowheads.

“Our guests walk in the woods and see wild turkey and deer. They bring back interesting

rocks or arrowheads. There are natural springs on the property and folks are interested to

learn how water bubbles up out of the ground. People don’t get outside much anymore.

Here, they like the opportunity to interact with nature in a comfortable and safe way.

“People are overwhelmed by the open space. They come down to breakfast and

comment on how quiet it is. Or they’re amazed by the number of stars or how dark it is,”

she adds. “I try to get them to turn off all the electronics and just decompress. If people

can go home feeling better

about themselves and the

world and their lives –

then, we’ve done it!”

You’d be surprised how often Katherine Cimaglio’s guests ask her to explain the chicken

and the egg. “People don’t know where their food comes from anymore!” she laughs.

Fortunately, they’ve come to the right place: The Cider Mill House in Hedgesville.

Here, guests can be as hands on as they want to be with the farm, its animals or the

outdoors, while enjoying a comfortable stay at the bed and breakfast.

Located about two hours outside of Washington, DC, halfway between Martinsburg

and Berkeley Springs, the 200-year-old stone house was Cimaglio’s childhood home.

She inherited it and converted it in a B&B with her husband, Ed, four years ago.

“As a kid growing up here, it was just the biggest playground in the world. I love to

watch new people discover it, now,” she said.

“We’re very animal oriented. Our Guinea hens and chickens are handled a lot

and they’re friendly. They’re always looking for hand outs. Our goats are our goodwill

ambassadors; in fact, past guests ask for them by name!”

Natural and local history lessons abound for the inn’s guests, mostly city or

suburban people who come from DC, Baltimore, New Jersey and New York. In

Ed and Katherine Cimaglio on the steps of the 200-year-old stone house that belonged to Katherine’s family.

DoWestVirginia’sgreenqualitiesattractnewbusiness?

Sure! Ask Jonathan Moore, the founder of Rowdy Orbit in Martinsburg. He moved from Baltimore, Md., to pursue his own online entertainment business. He values the more balanced life he and his family have found.

“Being in West Virginia helps a start-up from a cost perspective. But there are psychological advantages, too. We have rocking chairs on our porch. When I have friends who come to visit – they they’ll sit on the porch. It’s peaceful and quiet, with a little wind blowing. Ten minutes later, they’re asleep. I love to let them nap on my porch – because, you just can’t do that in Baltimore!”

Moore said he’s gotten his whole family to eat healthier by buying local foods. He loves shopping at Orr’s Farm Market.

“When I go back to Baltimore, I take farmers market vegetables and fruits to them. I never knew an apple could taste like this in my life before I came here. When the peaches come out, I’m there. Whatever is in season I’m the first one in line!

“The air is cleaner, the food is fresher, stars are brighter and the people wave to you.”

Kim Harbour dreamed of a hobby farm while living in NYC and LA. Next month she hopes to collect the first eggs from her backyard flock in Hurricane. Contact: kim.l.harbour@wv.gov