By Valerie Stuart
Shapeshifters
Shapeshifters proprietors Eli Coughlin-Galbraith, left, and Krista Coughlin-Galbraith, right.
Solving their own dilemma is helping others
When Eli and Krista Coughlin-Galbraith couldn’t find the kind of undergarments they needed on the retail market they decided to create their own. Eli, who is transgender, sought a better fitting binder. Krista wanted a comfortable plus-size sports bra. Thanks to Shapeshifters, the company the young entrepreneurs founded five years ago, transgender individuals no longer have to settle for poorly fitting binders, and plus-size people can purchase custom-made sports bras.
In 2014, Eli, who had taken sewing and pattern making classes at Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology, put those skills to work. The couple began making colorful customized binders and sports bras and marketing them online. In 2016, they escaped the New York metropolitan area’s high cost of living and moved to Brattleboro.
Eli, whose grandfather was John Kenneth Galbraith, had fond childhood memories of visits to the renowned economist’s home in Southern Vermont. Several years before they moved, Eli and Krista married at Galbraith’s summer residence. Every time they visited Vermont the newlyweds found it more difficult to return to the New York area. Today they operate in a renovated industrial building in Brattleboro. Each item is handmade by Eli, Krista, and an assistant in their studio. Eli says that by keeping their merchandise custom-made they can ensure their products’ high quality and accommodate a wide array of individual requests.
Last year the company shipped more than 2,000 orders to customers in 40 countries. [http://www.shapeshifters.co]
Frabjous Fibers & Wonderland Yarns
A knitters and crafters delight inspired by the colorful characters in Alice in Wonderland
Stephanie Shiman of Frabjous Fibers.
It all started with a batch of recycled silk yarn from Nepal that Stephanie Shiman bought at a sheep and yarn festival in 2004. The yarn inspired her to create the pattern for a multicolored knit bag. The bag appeared in an online knitting magazine and requests for the yarn and the pattern came pouring in. The cat was out of the bag, so to speak, inspiring Stephanie to take the leap and start Frabjous Fibers & Wonderland Yarns.
During the next decade, the young entrepreneur grew her passion for color, fiber, and yarn into a company that strives to bring customers the best knitting and crafting experiences possible. Today, Stephanie and her team of 12 produce a full line of hand-dyed fibers and yarns.
At its 6,000-square-foot studio and warehouse in Brattleboro, Frabjous Fibers transforms fibers, ranging from 100 percent merino wool to luxurious cashmere, into a vibrant rainbow of hues inspired by the colorful characters in Alice in Wonderland. The company’s website invites customers to “tumble down the rabbit hole into a world of color” and discover yarns with such names as Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat. Clients can choose from more than 300 shades and 12 fiber bases. Both accomplished and novice knitters and crafters can find patterns and kits for hats, mittens, scarves, shawls, and blankets to match their experience level. The company also offers felt notions bags and needle cases.
Frabjous Fibers ships to roughly 500 yarn shops all over the world. Although most of the company’s business is wholesale, customers also can purchase its products online. The company’s website features an interactive map where knitters and crafters can find a nearby brick and mortar store. [www.frabjousfibers.com]
Madison Brewing Company Pub and Restaurant
The art of making good beer
Madison Brewing Company’s head brewer, Ross Richards.
Back in 1993 when he was a student at Western New England University in Springfield, Mass., Mel Madison did a research project on brewing beer that indicated the beer market was about to take off in Vermont. The project included making beer from a kit and presenting it to his teacher, one of the school’s business faculty members. After his professor, who happened to be a former director of Miller Brewing Company, tasted the beer he told Mel he had a future in the industry. Inspired by the vote of confidence, Mel and his father decided to do apprenticeships at Shipyard Brewing in Maine. Their objective was to learn as much as possible about how to make good beer.
One year later, the two men bought an old storefront in Bennington’s historic downtown. In 1996, they opened Madison Brewing Company Pub and Restaurant. Today the popular 150-seat brewpub is one of the oldest in Vermont. They offer a draft selection all beer aficionados appreciate from New England Style IPAs to traditional Belgian White. They also take pride in pushing the creative envelope. Madison’s head brewer, Ross Richards, constantly develops new beer recipes and updates the brewery’s classics.
In addition to its six or seven core beers, Madison Brewing offers roughly 30 new beers each year. One of them, Harvest Pumpkin Ale, took home two awards—including first place—in the 23rd Annual Great International Beer, Cider, Mead & Sake Competition. It beat Sam Adams’ contender for the prize, which took second in the category.
Mel says he plans to open 421 Craft Bar and Kitchen in the same neighborhood in the near future. In addition to beer, the eatery will feature farm-to-table Mediterranean-style cuisine. Next they plan to distribute its beer throughout Vermont and New York. [www.madisonbrewingco.com]
Northeast Processing
Proof positive on cannabis and hemp
Carl Christianson and Noah Quist of Northeast Processing.
After identifying a vital need in Vermont’s hemp and botanicals market for high-quality testing, extracting and processing services that would enable farmers to convert their crops into pure CBD or essential oils, longtime friends Carl Christianson and Noah Quist founded Northeast Processing in 2017. While lobbying for commonsense marijuana legislation, Carl, who has a doctorate in natural product chemistry, discovered Vermont hemp farmers needed a reliable means to test their products. He saw giving cannabis producers a method to test and market CBD as a great way to help support the state’s small farms. It also would permit him to pursue his interest in promoting public health with natural remedies.
CBD, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in cannabis, has surged in popularity over the past few years. Unlike THC, the chemical compound that gets marijuana users high, CBD can help address numerous mental health and medical conditions ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety to multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.
Northeast Processing is the only medicinal hemp and botanicals testing and processing facility in Vermont. The company’s laboratory ensures farmers and product marketers can prove their products’ CBD content doesn’t exceed the legal limit of 0.3 THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). The recent arrival of Keith Griswold, who runs Northeast Processing’s laboratory, helped broaden the business’s services. In addition to producing, testing and selling CBD oil, Northeast now works with existing brands. They also provide ideas for new product development as well as testing for other CBD producers.
At the company’s 10,000-square-foot building in Brattleboro, Northeast processes 500 to 750 pounds of hemp per week. Now that the recently enacted farm bill has ended the federal prohibition on hemp production, the business is positioned to take off. The Vermont legislature legalized adult use of marijuana last year. It is weighing how to handle commercial sales.
In anticipation of favorable legislation, the number of hemp growers who registered in Vermont grew more than 400 percent from 2017 to 2018. As legal and regulatory barriers are removed, the U.S. hemp industry is expected to become a $1.9 billion market by 2022. Christianson expects the size of Northeast’s nine-member team to double during the next year in order to meet the demand for the company’s services. [northeastprocessing.com]
Valerie Stuart is a Brattleboro-based writer and marketing consultant. She served in the Vermont Legislature as a House representative from 2010 to 2018. She was on the House Education Committee for her first two terms. During her last two terms she served on the House Commerce and Economic Development committees.
