Blake Richie, owner and founder of Blake Richie Designs, grew up in the small town of New Providence, Iowa. Blake saw the way homes and stores looked in his town, and he had a dream to start a business to add a big town aesthetic to the small town in which he was in. Blake made this dream come to when he created Blake Richie Designs, a business in which he upscales cabinets and furniture to give the old, a new look. Within his town, he has become a “hometown hero” and other people in other towns have started to look at Blake’s success and imitate his business. Blakes quick success was also highlighted by the “Des Moines Register” as an entrepreneur who has juristically helped the economy of New Providence. From this story of Blake, I have seen the importance of looking at problems in the area in which you live so that you can make a quick impact on the people you see daily. In the small town of New Providence, Blake is now well known and when people have an issue, they call Blake right away with no question. This allows Blake to have business at all times due to the reputation and reliance that the people of new providence have on him.
Good job on the article, I enjoyed hearing about a locally focused entrepreneur. His company seems to directed support his community by up cycling existing products. I live in a small town and I think we need more businesses like Blake Richie Designs. The article was informative and engaging.
Great job. It’s good to see people who work with upcycling and environmental sustainability in the design field.
I think this is a great example of how the up-cycling model can have great local impact when your mission is to improve the adjacent community.