Editor’s note: This short feature is one of several brief looks at local professional collaborations included in Xpress’ Business-to-Business Issue.
Shared values are often a big part of what brings two people together in a relationship.
As it turns out, the same is true for the business community, says Libby O’Bryan, owner of Sew Co., an industrial sewing manufacturing facility located in the River Arts District.
Business ideals, such as fair wages, reduced production waste and appreciation for the craft, connected O’Bryan to the folks at East Fork, which produces kitchenware and other handmade items. Today, Sew Co. produces specially designed and locally manufactured napkins which East Fork features in their dinnerware sets. The collaboration, says Taylor Renn, retail buyer at East Fork, was a “no-brainer.”
“[Sew Co.] is incredible with sourcing [materials], and their values align with East Fork in the way that they celebrate domestic manufacturing and fair wages for all of their employees,” Renn says. “Libby and her team make such an incredible effort to maintain domestic manufacturing and celebrate the value of handcraft.”
Both women say that the partnership strengthens the impact of their shared principles and deepens both business and personal relationships.
“I feel like when you’re in the same community with someone, you really know them and what they stand for,” says O’Bryan. “It also just keeps it really human. There’s something about it saying, ‘I know that person.’”
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