At 58, Herb Marth is facing one of his toughest challenges in a long banking career – trying to stabilize Powhatan-based Central Virginia Bank. This week he talks about troubled assets, the distraction of so much regulation and why fewer businesses are “credit worthy.”
Q&A
Monday Q&A: The $120 shirt
Two young entrepreneurs chose Richmond to launch their high-end menswear label, figuring that customers here and across the Southeast would dig their fit and patterns.
Monday Q&A: What the doctor ordered
One local chain of primary care clinics is not taking a wait-and-see approach to how the federal health-care legislation might affect business. The Richmond-based chain is pushing ahead with new locations. This week, the founder and CEO chats with BizSense about the group’s plans.
Monday Q&A: The cupcake strategy?
Wendy Wyne, who runs an event planning firm in Richmond, said the volume of corporate events fell when the economy tanked. But now it’s coming back, she said. “How does the economy get better? It gets better when people start spending money. It also makes the employees feel better and keeps morale up. “
Monday Q&A: Hate BP, buy a scooter?
Other than walking or riding a bike, riding a scooter may be the most fuel efficient way to commute around town. For Scoot Richmond, a scooter retailer in the Manchester section of Richmond, boomed 2008 when gas prices spiked. But then sales shrank. This week RBS chats with entrepreneur Chelsea Lahmers, who started the local scooter shop, about how to create new demand and capitalize on anti-BP feelings.
Monday Q&A: Still a pet project
In March one of Richmond’s biggest pet industry players sold her decades-old company to a bigger firm. The financial structure was straight-forward enough, but what made the deal unusual was that the two companies sell very different sort of products and have a different theory on how to train dogs.
Monday Q&A: ‘We’re overwhelmed with prospects’
Community Bank Investors of America, better known as CBIA, is a private equity fund founded in 2007 by two locals to identify struggling, undervalued community banks, take an equity position in them and, in some cases, take over leadership of the bank. This week RBS chats with one of the founders about the challenges of that sort of work these days.
Monday Q&A: Recession is a treat for pet supply shop
A Richmond-based pet supply company has the sort of story that would make most other entrepreneurs green with envy. This week, RBS chats with the founder of Bully Sticks to catch up on his growth plans and how the recession has helped his business.
Monday Q&A: ‘We get distressed projects completed’
Two veteran homebuilders/business partners are wearing new hats these days, running a multimillion-dollar fund that works with banks on stalled real estate projects. The key is their finance guy, who figured out how to provide capital to finish the projects.
Monday Q&A: Branching away from just produce
Farmers markets are hot right now, but that has been a mixed blessing for the region’s oldest operation. This week, RBS talks with George Bolos, the manager of the 17th Street Farmer’s Market. He has found a niche by adding outdoor events and hopes to enhance the market by adding an indoor option.