ASHLAND – Four Ashland-area businesses were recognized Monday morning during a press conference sponsored by the Ashland Area Economic Development Office.

The Gilded Arrow Boutique 

Gilded Arrow Boutique is a new boutique in downtown Loudonville owned by Shayla Landoll, Buffie Briscoe and Maria Zickefoose. Sisters Landoll and Briscoe met Zickefoose at a Loudonville Chamber event earlier this year. The trio clicked immediately and started talking about their shared interest in clothing.

“One of the reasons we decided to put our boutique in Loudonville is because I travel around a lot and see all these small towns just booming and bustling and I’ve always thought ‘Why not Loudonville? Why not our town?’ So one day you just wake up and you realize sometimes change has to begin with you,” Zickefoose said.

Zickefoose bought the West Main Street building in 2014 and opened her shop, Z Shoppe on Main, the next year. The restored century-old building was formerly known as The Tavern Inn.

“I had a little space in the back and we got talking and decided, ‘Let’s put this little boutique in here,” Zickefoose said. “When I first came to town, there were three clothing stores. So I knew it would work.”

The boutique celebrated its grand opening April 21 and the trio said they consider their first few months a success.

Smart Digital

Brent Canfield has always had a passion for security and technology. Originally those passions led him to a 12-year career in the U.S. Marines.

“I had an epiphany in Baghdad and I decided to hang up my career in the Marines Corp. I had a successful trip in the Marines Corp but I knew that I wanted to do something more,” Canfield said.

When Canfield decided to get out of the Marines, he combined his love of security and technology to become a network engineer. Originally, he worked as a network engineer for a law firm in Cleveland.

In 2013, Canfield launched Smart Digital, a company that specializes in security-focused digital technology. After the Boston Marathon bombings, Canfield developed his company’s key product: Sentry PODS. According to Canfield, Sentry Pods are rapidly deployable surveillance solutions that provide immediate access to a location and can be remotely connected within minutes of powering up. The PODS are high definition, self-sustainable surveillance units.

“I think one of our long-term goals here in Ashland is to scale and to grow and to put Ashland on the map for more than one reason,” Canfield said. “There are a lot of great businesses in Ashland but we want to be known for our integration and our development of technologically advanced products and I think Sentry PODS does that.”

Canfield’s background and his background allowed him to provide security for presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson in 2016.

Olivesburg General Store

Olivesburg General Store has been around for nearly two centuries, but its newest owner just took control of the store earlier this year. Divine inspiration led Tia Sponseler to her new position as owner of the store.

“About 10 months ago, the Lord spoke to my heart and told me I’d be owning a store,” Sponsler said. “So, we checked out two places, and then I told my husband, I think we’re supposed to own ‘the Burg.’”

Initially the Sponselers thought the store would not be for sale. After a discussion with an employee at the store, they found out the owner was considering selling.

“So three and half months later, I owned it,” Sponseler said.

Sponseler said the 177-year-old business is tied for the second-oldest business in Ohio, which has created a lot of longtime fans of the store who continue to come back.

“People have the most amazing memories. People come back here every year for specific reasons,” Sponseler said.

Sponseler has lots of plans for the historic building, including adding a candy store and more grocery options.

Hawkins Market

Another long-standing Ashland business, Hawkins Market, was purchased by Indiana-based Miller Markets earlier this year.

Miller’s Market was started in 1958 in Wauseon, Ohio by Joe Miller. His son, Gary Miller, now owns the 12-store supermarket chain, which owns stores in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. The third generation of Millers is also involved in running the stores now, including the Claremont Avenue location in Ashland.

“We noticed the Hawkins name is what everybody recognized. It wasn’t the Geyer’s name. So we approached the Hawkins family and asked if we could keep the Hawkins name and let us call ourselves Hawkins Miller or Miller Hawkins. We’ve had it both ways and we don’t really care as long as people associate us with the Hawkins name,” said Mikul Burlew, director of operations for Miller’ Markets.

The biggest request Millers has heard since buying Hawkins is to keep the beloved bakery untouched.

“We’ve probably had, and I‘m not exaggerating, more than 100 emails saying, ‘Don’t change the bakery. Don’t do anything to it.’ So we didn’t do anything to the bakery,” Burlew said.

However, he did say Miller’s is making some improvements to the store, including buying new equipment and expanding the deli. Plans are in the works for adding a salad bar in the near future.

Although they took over running the store on May 1, Miller’s Markets is celebrating the grand opening of the Ashland location all week, including a ribbon cutting which also took place Monday morning.