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NWPA
By Chloe Forbes
MEADVILLE TRIBUNE
An entrepreneurial program based in Erie is expanding its reach to Crawford County, and it’s already seeing success.
Bridgeway Capital, which oversees the ErieMade program, celebrated the launch of its NWPAMade brand last week, highlighting two Meadville business owners who were chosen for the first year’s cohort.
“They truly took a risk on me,” Nancy Asmus, owner of Nancy’s Under the Steps, said of the process. “But they looked at my website, they looked at what I have to offer, and they realized that this woman just needs a lot of help.”
NWPAMade is a business accelerator specifically designed for makers, and although it is the brainchild of Bridgeway Capital, an investment company, it operates thanks to a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Erie Community Foundation. In the process, business owners apply and, if selected, meet with experts to set goals and hopefully reach those goals using assistance from the Northwestern Pennsylvania Beehive Network.
Typically, business owners must be “makers” of some sort and have an annual profit of at least $20,000. Asmus doesn’t make $20,000, but NWPAMade decided she was worth the risk.
Her journey began in the spring and will last through the end of the year.
“I had great potential for being very financially successful,” Asmus explained. “I’ve had a shop for 19 years. I have over 225 things in print of my originals. I’m a great producer. I’m a lousy marketer, so that’s what they taught me.”
Amanda Duncan, owner of Chiara Consultants and MWPAMade program facilitator, met with Asmus to set monthly goals, then experts met with her to seek to achieve those goals.
Christopher Norris, from Revox Media in Erie, visited Meadville and instructed Asmus on how to record videos so that she can begin teaching classes on Patreon. Meanwhile, Jordan Napierkowski, an animation student at PennWest Edinboro, is designing a new website, business cards, rack cards and a logo for Asmus.
She also learned about profit and loss statements and how to make financially sound decisions. Because Bridgeway Capital leads this effort, it wants each participant to be a sound investment should they ever want to seek funding.
“Mostly what we do is financing,” explained Adam Kenney, chief programs officer at Bridgeway. “You can think of us as a nonprofit bank. So you have those people and projects that really need to happen in communities like Erie and Edinboro, but for whatever reason, they’re not quite bankable, but if they were to happen, it would bring a lot of prosperity and contribute to revitalization — that’s what Bridgeway Capital is there for.”
With NWPAMade, Bridgeway Capital is going beyond Erie and See NWPAMADE, Page A4 “They truly took a risk on me.’
Nancy Asmus Nancy’s Under the Steps owner
Tom Goldsmith, co-owner of Blissful Meads, is part of the first cohort of the entrepreneurial program NWPAMade.
JACOB SUKHENKO/Contributed photo
Nancy Asmus, owner of Nancy’s Under the Steps, has been accepted into the NWPAMade program that highlights artists, chefs and other craftspeople.
SHANNON ROAE/Meadville Tribune
CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 Edinboro and looking under the proverbial hood to see how well a business is functioning. Then, it provides technical support so all operations are in working order.
In its experience, Bridgeway Capital has seen an increasing relevance in rural areas for experiential retail — businesses that provide an experience. In response, it expanded ErieMade and the definition of “maker.”
“We’ve expanded upon the traditional definition of ‘maker,’” explained Christopher Lantinen, director of PennWest Edinboro’s branch of the Beehive Network. “Artists still very much are centered in our definition of maker, but we also want to help chefs and brewers and coffee roasters and small-batch manufacturers and software developers and craftspeople and all of those different categories. If you are making something by hand, that is what our program is for.”
That’s where Blissful Meads comes in. The local meadery and restaurant located on Market Street offers small-batch honey wine, local spirits and food. Their building is owned by the Northwest Pennsylvania Investment Cooperative, which alerted the five co-owners to the opportunity through NWPAMade.
This is Blissful Meads’ fifth year in business, and it’s looking to scale up, so this seemed like the natural next step. Co-owners Tom Goldsmith, Mike Walker, Paul Bliss, Ashley Walker and Sarah Bliss oversee the business, which includes a tasting room, small-batch spirits and innovative drinks.
“It seemed like a good thing to invest our time and energy into,” Paul said.
The business has participated in workshops about finances, legality, marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and more.
Paul explained that he’s already seen a difference thanks to strategies like SEO that he wasn’t well-versed in before, but now have resulted in people coming in off the street saying that Blissful Meads came up right away on Google or Yelp as a suggestion.
He said they’ve also learned how to use modern social media platforms and reevaluated their messaging with the help of the experts at the PennWest Edinboro Beehive. Undergraduate student Jacob Sukhenko visited Blissful Meads to take photos and video to refresh the business’s online image, which Paul says has made all the difference.
“I never really put much thought into it until we joined NWPAMade,” he said.
Each business gets one-onone business planning, along with refreshed websites, SEO optimization, IP protection, brand guides, bookkeeping guidance and other support.
So far, the experience has boosted Blissful Meads’ sales and put it on track to scale up.
“Anyone who has a small business and is a maker in the community, I would encourage them to apply,” Paul said. “I think it’s been very beneficial to us.”
Additionally, Asmus said the cohort, which includes 15 small businesses, has grown to create a supportive community. In fact, they just met last week to celebrate the launch of Sealed by Nature, an online retailer of artisan soaps, lotions and balms that just secured a physical location in Edinboro.
Owner Anush Bulgarian Bruno will now be able to hold soap-making classes and other hands-on skincare workshops. Other makers create custom furniture, outdoor adventure gear, murals, wigs, live wedding painting, propane tank accessories, metal art and more.
NWPAMade told Asmus that it has a strong focus on original work and believes that’s what makes these unique businesses prosper. So now, Asmus is connecting with Penn State Behrend student Ethan Dlugos, whom she met through the Beehive Network, who will take drone pictures that she will then replicate using fabric appliqué.
Just like Paul, Asmus is excited for the future of her business, given the support from NWPAMade, saying, “It’s only going to go up from here.”
• More information: Visit nwpamade.org.
Chloe Forbes can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at cforbes@meadvilletribune. com.
Nancy Asmus is owner of Nancy’s Under the Steps on Market Street.
SHANNON ROAE/Meadville Tribune
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