Mountain BizWorks will celebrated another woman-owned business on January 18 when Mountain Made hosted a ribbon-cutting for its re-opening. Melinda Knies, long-time store manager at Mountain Made, purchased the retail store from Mountain BizWorks in November 2011. The popular gallery features handcrafted work from more than 150 Western NC artisans, including jewelry, pottery, textiles, glasswork, furniture and more – the same types of popular items featured by Mountain Made since Mountain BizWorks opened the store in 2002.
“Melinda has managed Mountain Made since the beginning, and this is a great opportunity for her to take the store to the next level and make it her own,” says John Mark Stroud, Mountain BizWorks’ Board Chair. “Mountain BizWorks’ Board of Directors and staff are proud that we have helped an entrepreneur transition to ownership of a local business.”
Prior to becoming store manager, Knies participated in Mountain BizWorks’ business-planning class. Since that time, she has built strong relationships with regional artists and has helped create what Shaw Canale, Mountain BizWorks’ CEO, refers to as “one of the finest collections of contemporary mountain-made arts and crafts available in the Western North Carolina area.”
Knies is thrilled to become a business owner again. “I am excited to continue building the business and the relationships that have been established with the artists and customers over the last nine years.”
