The History of Appalachian Heritage Crafters
In January 2000, CPC’s Thomas Watson began having conversations with Wilma Beaver, an informal community leader in Cherokee County. Thomas listened to Wilma’s ideas about starting a community-based crafts or sewing business, then told her about a successful crafts cooperative in Eastern NC. Wilma began to get excited about the possibility of starting an Appalachian crafts co-op.
Wilma
has many connections throughout the community. She told Thomas
that she could bring together a group of people, mostly former
Levi’s employees, who would have the skills and knowledge
to get this co-op started.
On February 10, a group of six people held their first meeting to begin to envision this crafts co-op. This meeting signalled the birth of Appalachian Heritage Crafters (AHC). Since that first meeting, AHC has held weekly meetings, which at first were facilitated by CPC, and later by the crafters themselves. Eighteen months later, the organization had more than 75 members.
AHC has focused on both long-term planning (e.g., building the organization, fundraising, opening a retail store) and short-term actions (holding craft shows to build community interest and recruit craftmakers). AHC members have also garnered support from local government and nonprofit organizations, and AHC has been featured several times in Cherokee County newspapers.
Although there are other craft co-ops in the mountains, AHC is the first to be created as a response to a plant closing -- by the laid-off workers themselves.
CPC has been intensively involved with AHC since its inception. Thomas Watson has worked closely with AHC members on all of the details of the group’s development. He has facilitated AHC’s weekly meetings, written the notes that summarize the meetings, and helped with most of the work of developing the organization. Craig White and Paul Castelloe have begun working with the crafters on building the organization, getting their story in the press, and learning the skills needed to successfully run a nonprofit cooperative.
CPC has awarded two grants totalling $2,000 to AHC through our Western North Carolina Self Development Fund. This grant, the first from the Self Development Fund, will helped AHC complete its feasibility study and develop its organizational structure. A second grant from the local Office of Economic Opportunity will help AHC in its efforts to open a retail store in Murphy.
AHC has also completed a training process with the Mountain Microenterprise Fund, in which Kelly Long helped the crafters develop a business plan.
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