Boone & Fayette Counties, West Virginia

Appalachian Botanical Co. (identified from the book text; manifest field was empty)

Problem

Economic development often means extraction—logging, mining, industrial farming—that degrades land and leaves little lasting wealth in communities.

Solution

Appalachian Botanical Co., founded by Jocelyn Sheppard, grows lavender and keeps bees on leased reclaimed surface-mine land in Ashford, Boone County, West Virginia (about 35 acres in 2019 to 2021, about 50 acres by 2022 to 2023), sells essential oil, body care, culinary and honey products through its own store and about 50 retailers, and posts a seasonal second-chance hiring policy. In March 2022 the governor recommended a $1.6 million AMLER grant for a second lavender farm and apiary in Fayette County; OSMRE's December 2025 report lists that project at preliminary approval (January 2023) with no record of construction.

Patterns used: Regenerative Micro-Enterprise

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