Start Local: Recent Episodes
Joe Casabona and Liam Dempsey
We explore how the Chester County Food Bank leads the local fight against food insecurity in a great conversation with the for impact organization's CEO, Andrea Youndt. Andrea shares how her career trajectory lead her to her current leadership position, and walks us through how the food bank partners with 150 local partners to address food insecurity and related challenges across Chester County.
We catch up again with West Chester-based marketing agency owner, Marty McDonald. The CEO and Co-Founder of Bad Rhino, Marty shares how every local business should have a podcast – and how that podcast could fill its marketing messaging needs in a easy-to-manage and compelling way.
We learn all about Camphill Village Kimberton Hills from Robert Martin, a retired academic and musician. We begin our conversation with Bob walking us through his storied life and professional trajectory, which saw him move to the Camphill Village in northern Chester County. He then goes into depth about the philosophy and purpose of the village – and its many activities and happenings.
It was such a treat to learn about this wonderful, caring, and beautiful community. Any single sentence or two would be insufficient to describe Camphill Village Kimberton Hills in any meaningful way – so you will need to dig into the full episode.
We explore how the Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC) is helping local area businesses move ahead in today'seconomy. Michael Grigalonis, recently appointed as President of the CCEDC, offers his professional goals for the non-profit organization, as well as sharing insight into his personal goals. He walks us through how the CCEDC operates as a non-profit, focused on local workforce development across a range of industries and sectors.
We do a deep dive into how a long-time local business leader and entrepreneur came to commit herself to her local community. Susan Springsteen talks through her journey into seeing Coatesville as the place where she wanted to start and grow a new business. She walks us through getting to know the City of Coatesville, its leaders, and its local residents. She speaks with joy and pride about taking a holistic approach to investing in the long term success of her corner of Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Links
nth Solutions
- nth Solutions website
- On Twitter: @nthsolutions
- On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/nth-solutions-llc
- On Facebook: facebook.com/nthsolutions
Leak Alerter
- Leak Alerter website
- On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/h2o-connected-llc
- On Facebook: facebook.com/theleakalertor
Restaurant, Venues, and Non-Profits in Coatesville
- The Record Kitchen + Bar
- Richie’s Water Ice
- Newlin Foundation
While we have focused on businesses in and around Chester County since shortly after the arrival of COVID-19, we know that non-profits in the area have suffered the same challenges and hurdles. To learn what non-profits in Chester County are experiencing, and how those non-profits are pivoting, we spoke with Stephenie D. Stevens, Grants & […]
The post Connecting with Local Non-Profits with Stephenie D. Stevens appeared first on Start Local.
With winter weather fast approaching, we know that the local restaurant and hospitality sector is facing an even more precarious position because of the ongoing challenges of COVID-19. We sat down with Bill Covaleski, a Co-Founder and Brewmaster at Victory Brewing Company, and the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association (PRLA). Bill shared […]
The post Crafting Support for the Hospitality + Restaurant Sectors with Bill Covaleski appeared first on Start Local.
With Chester County and much of the nation facing what might be a second wave of COVID-19, we turned to Cheryl Kuhn to understand how businesses in southern Chester County are faring and how local chambers of commerce are helping those companies navigate the coronavirus economy. Cheryl is the President & CEO of the Southern […]
The post Supporting Our Local Businesses with Cheryl Kuhn appeared first on Start Local.
Running an essential business during COVID-19 presents its own challenges to business owners – especially for brick-and-mortar businesses. We spoke with Patrice Banks, the Chief #sheCANic and Founder of Girls Auto Clinic. Girls Auto Clinic is a full service auto repair shop which caters to women. Links girlsautoclinic.com instagram.com/girlsautoclinic facebook.com/girlsautoclinic Twitter: @girlsautoclinic Patrice’s book: Girls Auto […]
The post Running an Essential Business with Patrice Banks appeared first on Start Local.
Chester County boasts an amazingly diverse economy with strong, vibrant businesses ranging from pharma and medical technology to manufacturing, and from world class professional services to farming. We sat down with Joy Beam and Gareth Yoder of Cedar Meadow Meats to hear how they are harnessing technology to pivot their beef farm to a COVID-19 […]
The post Harnessing Tech to Grow a Business with Joy Beam and Gareth Yoder appeared first on Start Local.
As the challenging effects of COVID-19 continue across southeast Pennsylvania and beyond, many businesses and non-profits are still struggle to cope. We sat down with Josh Maxwell, one of three Chester County Commissioners, to talk about what the county government is doing to support the local business economy. LINKS Josh Maxwell, Chester County Commissioner Twitter: […]
The post A Commitment to Information Communication with Josh Maxwell appeared first on Start Local.
As COVID-19 continues to have a significant effect on the local economy in Chester County, Pennsylvania, businesses and organizations are still in need of options to address revenue shortfalls and cashflow challenges. We turned to Rebecca Worthington from Benchmark Federal Credit Union to chat about the local economy and how that financial institution is supporting […]
The post Financial Help for Local Businesses with Rebecca Worthington appeared first on Start Local.
With all the economy turmoil caused by COVID-19, many folks are considering taking their careers in new directions. We caught up with Yardell Perkins to talk about how he started his own business. Through Perkitech, Yardell helps businesses and individuals establish or re-establish their digital presence. Links Main website: perkitech.com Links landing page: landing.perkitech.com Telephone number: 215-325-0403 […]
The post Starting + Building Your Own Business with Yardell Perkins appeared first on Start Local.
As salons and barbershops across Pennsylvania try to keep up with changing safety guidelines, we sat down with a local shop owner to chat through his experience. A Kennett Square native, Mark Avery, aka Juice the Barber, opened his own shop in November 2019. Mark’s shop is the KSQ Barber Lounge and offers everything from […]
The post Focusing on Customers Relationships with Mark Avery appeared first on Start Local.
With restaurants, bars, and taprooms reopening across the State of Pennsylvania, we caught up with Jim Adams to chat about what he and his team at Levante Brewing Company are doing to navigate the COVID-19 economy. Jim Adams is a co-founder and co-owner of Levante Brewing Company. Within the company, Jim focuses on the customer […]
The post Creating Great Customer Experiences with Jim Adams appeared first on Start Local.
As businesses in Chester County and greater Philadelphia continue to pivot to online marketing and sales, many owners and leaders are exploring starting a podcast. We spoke with Kyle Rheiner to talk about how he started his own podcast, Beer Mighty Things, which is focused on the craft beverage industry. Links ArthurHall.com craftbrewinginsurance.com instagram.com/beermightythingspodcast facebook.com/kylerheinerinsurance […]
The post Starting Your Own Podcast with Kyle C. Rheiner appeared first on Start Local.
With social distancing not going away any time soon, growing a local audience can prove a real challenge. We turned to Matt Medeiros, Director of Podcaster Success at Castos, and host of both the Matt Report and Southcoast.fm, to chat about building a local audience, and getting more value from our digital marketing efforts when […]
The post Building Your Local Audience with Matt Medeiros appeared first on Start Local.
With businesses re-opened, and as schools across Pennsylvania consider how best to re-open, many business owners and leaders are looking for answers and support from the government at many levels. We spoke with Senator Katie Muth, the PA Senator for the 44th District in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We discussed how the State of PA […]
The post Support of Businesses by the State of PA with Katie Muth appeared first on Start Local.
With the hospitality industry across Pennsylvania particularly hard hit by the coronavirus lockdowns, many local restaurants, bars, brewers, and distillers found themselves needing to adjust. As Pennsylvania allowed more businesses to reopen their doors, those in the hospitality industry needed to pivot again. We chatted with Matt Reimold, Area Operations Manager with Victory Brewing Company, […]
The post Local Beer, Food, and Hospitality with Matt Reimold appeared first on Start Local.
As businesses look to diversify their revenue streams, many are considering selling online courses and training materials. We spoke with Chris Badgett, the Co-Founder and CEO of LifterLMS, a learning management system for WordPress websites. We spoke with Chris about how businesses in Chester County can begin to sell their knowledge and expertise online. Links […]
The post Creating Online Courses with Chris Badgett appeared first on Start Local.
In what is a jam packed conversation, Don Reid, Jr. shared his own experiences as he works to keep his business afloat amidst COVID-19. As the CEO of a web design company in Delaware County, Coyote Web Design, Don helps businesses with smaller budgets get online with websites. In our conversation, Don chatted through a […]
The post Building Revenue Streams with Don Reid, Jr. appeared first on Start Local.
As more and more businesses are allowed to open across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Joe Casabona and Liam Dempsey discuss how businesses have pivoted their business operations to online and ecommerce. As web focused professionals, Joe and Liam share ideas and tips to help businesses get online, and offer a few local examples of businesses […]
The post Pivoting to Online Sales and Marketing with Joe and Liam appeared first on Start Local.
As Pennsylvania begins to open up following the relaxing of lock-down orders, we had the opportunity to sit down with U.S. Representative Chrissy Houlahan. We discuss how the federal government has been supporting small businesses and how local business owners and leaders can engage with Rep. Houlahan and her office, to get assistance and to […]
The post Supporting Small Businesses with Chrissy Houlahan appeared first on Start Local.
A business owner and strategy consultant, John Tooher has his finger on the pulse of the business community in greater Philadelphia. John is the owner of HeadRoom, a small business accelerator based in Media and Wayne, Pennsylvania. Over 90 businesses use the HeadRoom office facilities to run and grow their business. John spends most of […]
The post Business Strategy Roadmapping with John Tooher appeared first on Start Local.
As businesses forced to work from home due to the coronavirus begin to wake up the possibilities of working remotely, we spoke to a local business owner who leads a completely remote company, with 40 full-time employees. CEO and Co-Founder, Brad Williams has lead WebDevStudios for a decade. Brad shared his experience and advice for […]
The post Leading a Remote Company with Brad Williams appeared first on Start Local.
Human resources departments have the difficult job of helping employees navigate through a lot of change right now: working from home, changing processes, potential furloughs, and more. Luckily, Lisa Van Ess, Vice President of People & Culture at Magic Hat Consulting is here to help. Links Lisa Van Ess on LinkedIn Magic Hat Consulting Handling […]
The post Leadership in Human Resources with Lisa Van Ess appeared first on Start Local.
The Chester Countys Commissioners set up a $5M fund to establish the Main Street Preservation program. This program allows for grants of up to $25,000 for the county’s small businesses and agriculture enterprises impacted by COVID-19. Here to talk about it with us today is Marian Moskowitz, a recently elected Chester County Commissioner, Chair of the […]
The post Main Street Preservation Grants with Marian Moskowitz appeared first on Start Local.
With all of Pennsylvania still under stay at home orders, businesses pivoting to online has been crucial to staying in business. Marty McDonald runs a full service Digital Media Agency in West Chester, and has been helping his clients weather the storm with digital marketing services. In this episode, he offers some great advice to […]
The post Social Media Marketing with Marty McDonald appeared first on Start Local.
Austin Morris, Jr. is an insurance broker that really knows his stuff! And in this episode, he’s going to run through all sorts of different insurance policies you have or should have, and how they might be able to protect you from some losses during COVID-19. He makes it clear that policies are pretty clear […]
The post How Insurance Can Protect You in a Pandemic with Austin Morris, Jr. appeared first on Start Local.
Erik Gudmundson is the VP of Business Development at Pegasus Technologies, a company that provides an IT department to businesses which don’t have their own. As most of the workforce is now at home, Erik provides some great information on how to do that effectively, what to think about, and how to stay safe. Show […]
The post Handling Tech while Working Remotely with Erik Gudmundson appeared first on Start Local.
Businesses all over the country are being impacted by COVID-19 and the stay at home orders issued by most states. Local, State, and Federal governments have tried to mitigate the damage with economic assistance in the form of funding. To learn a bit more about how Chester County business can get economic help, we’re talking […]
The post Getting Economic Assistance with Michael Grigalonis appeared first on Start Local.
Start Local is focused on helping businesses in Chester County, PA, and the greater Philly area as they try to navigate through the COVID-19 economy. Our aim is to help you learn where you can get help, to share stories of businesses which have successfully pivoted, and to document the real challenges these local businesses […]
The post Start Local: Helping Business in the Greater Philly Area appeared first on Start Local.