Thrive 365 Set To Open

The term “new business” can often be misleading, because the process of getting one prepared and open can often take years. Such is the case with Thrive 365 in Monterey, which is set to open in May. One of the owners, Brittney Whitelaw explained more.

“We are a greenhouse business; we are located a little over one mile south of Monterey on Route 220 towards Hot Springs. This season we’ll be offering gardening plants, hanging baskets, flowers and eventually trees and shrubs. What makes our business special is that we grow and sell naturally grown vegetables with organic practices. We are not certified organic, but we definitely grow everything as clean as possible. This time of year we are getting ready to harvest some baby spinach, baby lettuce mixes, kales and other greens, and through the summer we’ll have a whole variety of other clean grown vegetables.

“Also this season, we’ll be having some of our vegetables available again at The Real Deal, and we’ll have a lot of salad mixes, and just whatever we’re harvesting at the time, definitely subject to change with availability. We’ll also be trying to make the farmers’ market as much as possible this year, bringing our plants for sale and also some of our vegetables, and we’ll also be available on the farm Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 9:00 am until 6:00 or later.

“Well, I had the idea for Thrive 365 about two years ago, and it’s been quite the undertaking ever since. We had a few setbacks, with getting our driveway completed and having to have a conditional use permit in order to build the greenhouses, so that did set us back a little bit, but we are finally on track, ready to open after two years. The business basically consists , at the moment, of me and my business partner Bill Pruett – he actually purchased the land that the business is on and then we went into partnership together, to get all of the buildings and infrastructure built. We’ll be having some interns this summer from JMU, in conjunction with The Highland Center, and also hopefully, a couple of interns from the summer work program – so we’re really excited to have the extra help, and we just can’t wait to see where the business takes us. We’re open to growing.

“We’ll be having our season’s kick-off Mothers’ Day weekend, starting Thursday at 9:00 in the morning. So we’re really excited about opening on Mothers’ Day – it falls into a good time of the year, and it’s also something I’m excited about, as a mother myself. So we’ll be having a lot of fun deals, and beautiful flowers for all the mothers out there, so bring your mom and come on by – we can’t wait to see you.”

Story By

Scott Smith

Scott Smith is the General Manager for Allegheny Mountain Radio and Station Coordinator and News Reporter for WVLS. Scott’s family has deep roots in Highland County. While he did not grow up here, he spent as much time as possible on the family farm, and eventually moved to Highland to continue the tradition, which he still pursues with his cousin. Unfortunately, farming doesn’t pay all the bills, so he has previously taken other jobs to support his farming hobby, including pressman/writer for The Recorder, and Ag Projects Coordinator for The Highland Center. He lives in Hightown with wife Michelle and son Ethan. In his spare time, he wishes he had more spare time, especially to ride his prized Harley-Davidson motorcycle. scott@amrmail.org

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