C-BIZ

Stayin’ alive: Scarpa models small business ‘thrive-ival’

In retail, 25 years is more than a lifetime–and Amy Gardner, owner and founder of Scarpa, knows this as well as anyone. The women’s shoe shop she opened in North Barracks Road in 1994 has evolved into one of the area’s premier women’s apparel stores. Gardner’s adventure in retail was spurred by her passion for […]

Carol Diggs | September 9, 2019

C-BIZ

Made to last: Blanc Creatives cookware bridges new and old, form and function

While some locals lament the passing of small-town Charlottesville, tucked away in the Belmont neighborhood is a blacksmith shop called Blanc Creatives, where local artisans forge hand-crafted culinary tools they call “modern heirlooms made for daily use.” Corry Blanc–blacksmith, designer, and founder of Blanc Creatives–is a north Georgia native who learned pottery in high school, […]

Carol Diggs | September 9, 2019

News

Building space: Women break into the skilled trades 

Anne Lassere is the very model of a young woman whose career is about to take off. Competent, confident, poised and well-educated, the daughter of a doctor and a lawyer, she’s studied sculpture and anthropology and has lived in France, where she worked as a translator. She’s recently left her job to launch her own […]

Carol Diggs | June 19, 2019

C-BIZ

Locally grown: Fertilizing small-scale farming

Most small farmers could use a little green. That’s the idea behind Slow Money Central Virginia, a micro-finance nonprofit that helps local small farmers grow. The venture is affiliated with the Slow Money Institute based in Boulder, Colorado. Named in tribute to the slow food movement, the Institute provides what it calls “nurture capital” to […]

Carol Diggs | June 5, 2019

C-BIZ

Start me up: HackCville nurtures tomorrow’s entrepreneurs

Are entrepreneurs born or made? Doesn’t matter to Chip Ransler, executive director of HackCville—he’ll take someone who has an idea, or wants to make a difference, and fan that spark to flame. Although HackCville may sound like a cyber threat, Ransler says “to us, ‘hacking’ is a positive—finding quick, efficient, low-cost ways to solve problems.” […]

Carol Diggs | June 5, 2019

News

#MeToo effect: Movement brings local victims forward

Since 2017, when the #MeToo movement galvanized women across the country to speak out about sexual abuse and assault, local support agencies have seen a dramatic increase in requests for help. Calls to the Sexual Assault Resource Agency to accompany victims to the emergency room increased by 42 percent from fiscal year 2017 to 2018, […]

Carol Diggs | March 6, 2019

News

Mall rats: Does the Downtown Mall have a rodent problem?

Many Charlottesvillians spent the last few weeks enjoying a festive holiday season on the Downtown Mall. But have we been strolling, shopping, and dining in the company of species Rattus? No question the mall has rats—the place is packed with restaurants, which means food waste, which means rat heaven. And just so you know, the […]

Carol Diggs | December 26, 2018

News

Divestment: Charlottesville considers dumping fossil-fuel holdings

In the wake of recent U.N. and U.S. government reports on the catastrophic environmental damage already attributable to climate change, the City of Charlottesville has been challenged to divest from investments in the fossil fuels industry. Local activist Michael Payne proposed several steps the city could take to address climate change, including divestment from holdings […]

Carol Diggs | December 12, 2018

Arts

Listen Up: Classical music is alive and well in Charlottesville

As Charlottesville’s character has broadened, so has its classical music scene, which is now largely driven by community efforts to build the culture. When Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach began transforming the sounds we were used to hearing, 250 years ago, people said it was the death of classical music,” says Benjamin Rous, music director of […]

Carol Diggs | December 5, 2018