We are proud and excited to announce that Haand is a 2024 recipient of the Alamance County Economic Development Foundation Small Business Grant Program through our local Chamber of Commerce! Last week, I put on a collared shirt and accepted the award at a celebratory luncheon.
Our application was to request funding to bring glassware production in-house, right here in our workshop in Burlington! The main piece of equipment this grant will support is called a glass lathe, which we will use to make drinking vessels and tableware out of borosilicate glass (which you might be familiar with when called: Pyrex!) Making forms with borosilicate glass on a lathe is also the process for manufacturing scientific glass, like beakers and test tubes.
What else can we make with a lathe? Well, lots of things! Stemmed glasses, martini coupes, bud vases, cruets... We are looking forward to sharing our journey as we develop our glassware offerings more, so keep your eyes peeled, and your favorite bottle of bubbly chilled. I'll keep you all posted as I move farther into research and development!
Thank you to the Chamber of Commerce for your support of our work! We're honored to be part of 10 small businesses that received grants this year. You might recognize Mike Newins of Make Nice, a maker of high-end, hand-crafted furniture, and a collaborator of Haand (Mike made the Planter Stands for our Fossil Planters!)
Alamance Chamber of Commerce event photos by Katie Smith Photography.
An important note to add... this doesn't mean that we'll be discontinuing our current glassware! Our current line, though exclusive to Haand, is not made in our building. They are hand blown by Christopher Kerr-Ayer in a hot shop, using furnaces full of hot liquid glass.
Blowing glass is the equivalent of using a wheel to make pottery- it requires 100s of 1000s of hours to get good at, and that's just not how my brain and hands work. I like the technical alchemy of using a machine, human hands, and an outsider's eye to approach the medium.
Some vessels in our current collection, like our most popular glassware shape, our Wine Glass, must be blown in a hot shop, so we wouldn't replicate that form on a lathe. I have so much respect for Chris - the magic of his work is his blend of craftsmanship and his effortless skill in knowing exactly when a piece is finished. It's the sign of a true artist and expert.
We look forward to continuing to work with Chris to keep your favorites in stock, even as we add new collections in the future.
