The Advancement Foundation | Autumn Laurel & Rural Appalachian Entrepreneurship
Rural communities deserve the same opportunity as anywhere else. The Advancement Foundation is making sure they get it.
Autumn Laurel was built on the belief that something made with care in a small Appalachian town is worth as much as anything made anywhere else. The Advancement Foundation exists to make sure more people in rural Virginia get the chance to prove that — and we are proud to be actively involved in their work.
What Is The Advancement Foundation?
The Advancement Foundation (TAF) is a nonprofit organization based in Buena Vista, Virginia, whose mission is to create bold opportunities that ignite economic prosperity and equality for rural communities. Through a comprehensive ecosystem of programs, spaces, mentorship, and resources, TAF gives Appalachian entrepreneurs — makers, innovators, food producers, small business owners - a real, practical path to building something sustainable.
TAF operates across more than 20 communities in Virginia, partnering with localities including Buena Vista, Lexington, Rockbridge County, Roanoke, Botetourt, and Southwest Virginia. Their reach extends through the Shenandoah Valley, the Roanoke Valley, the Alleghany Highlands, and into Southwest Virginia - covering much of the same Appalachian territory that inspires everything Autumn Laurel makes.
What TAF Does
The Gauntlet
Virginia's largest business competition and program, The Gauntlet is a 10-week intensive designed to support entrepreneurs building Main Street-focused businesses - retail, food and beverage, service, recreation, and other community-facing ventures. Participants receive business training, mentorship from industry experts, access to resources, and the opportunity to compete for over $300,000 in cash and in-kind awards. Since 2012, The Gauntlet has helped more than 290 program graduates across Southwest Virginia build and strengthen their businesses.
The Virginia Innovation Accelerator
Housed in the historic Mundet-Hermetite building along the Maury River in Buena Vista, the Virginia Innovation Accelerator (VIA) is TAF's most ambitious project - a 38,000 square foot former manufacturing facility transformed into a thriving hub of entrepreneurship, innovation, manufacturing, and community engagement. The VIA houses Junction 245 Marketplace, a commercial kitchen, co-working and collaborative spaces, business acceleration services, and room for small-scale manufacturing. It is one of the most significant economic development investments in the Shenandoah Valley in recent memory.
The Mentor Network
TAF's mentor network includes over 250 business leaders, industry experts, and community partners committed to helping Appalachian entrepreneurs shorten their learning curve and build more resilient businesses. Access to experienced mentorship is one of the most significant advantages urban entrepreneurs have over their rural counterparts - TAF is closing that gap.
Shared Commercial Kitchen
A fully equipped commercial kitchen offering modern production space for food manufacturers, caterers, and culinary creators to scale, innovate, and expand. For Appalachian food entrepreneurs, access to professional production space is often the difference between a cottage business and a scalable one.
Revolving Loan Fund
TAF provides low-interest loans to qualifying small businesses undertaking projects designed to create or retain jobs across their service area. For rural entrepreneurs who often face limited access to traditional financing, this fund is a critical bridge to growth.
Our Involvement
Autumn Laurel's relationship with The Advancement Foundation is personal and active - and it begins with people.
Annette Patterson, TAF's President, is one of the most driven and visionary community builders working in rural Virginia today. She founded The Advancement Foundation and has led the transformation of a vacant industrial building into one of the most ambitious entrepreneurial ecosystems in the Shenandoah Valley. Her daughter, Emma Patterson, serves as TAF's Director of Resource Development - and is a former Virginia Tech student of Autumn Laurel's founder.
Watching Emma grow from a business student into a leader helping shape the future of Appalachian entrepreneurship is one of the most gratifying things this brand has had the privilege of witnessing. And meeting the woman who raised her - Annette, who had the audacity to buy a 38,000 square foot factory and turn it into something extraordinary -made the connection complete.
That is why Autumn Laurel's involvement with TAF is not transactional. We are not distant admirers of their work -we are participants in it. As a vendor at Junction 245, the cooperative marketplace inside the Virginia Innovation Accelerator, Autumn Laurel candles are part of the living proof that the Patterson family's vision works. Small Appalachian makers, given the right space and the right support, can build something worth finding.
Supporting The Advancement Foundation is not separate from what Autumn Laurel does. It is an extension of it.
Why Rural Entrepreneurship Matters
Appalachian Virginia has long been one of the most economically underserved regions in the Commonwealth. Per capita income in Virginia's 25 Appalachian counties consistently lags behind the statewide average. Access to capital, mentorship, production infrastructure, and retail space - resources that urban entrepreneurs take for granted — have historically been scarce in communities like Buena Vista, Lexington, and the New River Valley.
The Advancement Foundation is changing that calculus - not by importing opportunity from elsewhere, but by building it from the inside out. Their model is asset-based: identify what rural Appalachian communities already have - heritage, land, creativity, grit, community - and build an entrepreneurial ecosystem around those strengths. It is the right approach, and it is working.
When Autumn Laurel supports TAF, we are supporting the argument that Appalachian communities do not need to be rescued. They need infrastructure, investment, and the chance to build on what they already are.
Learn More & Get Involved
Whether you are an entrepreneur looking for support, a mentor ready to invest your experience, or a community member who believes in what TAF is building, there is a place for you in their work.
Visit theadvancementfoundation.org to learn more about their programs, upcoming events, and how to get involved.
To explore Junction 245 and the Virginia Innovation Accelerator, visit acceleratevirginia.com.
Also in our community:
Junction 245 Marketplace →
Appalachian Regional Commission →
Rooted & Giving Back →
Hand-poured in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Rooted in Appalachia. Built alongside its people.