Shockoe Denim competing for 10K

Image courtesy of Richmond BizSense.com

Shockoe Denim is in the running for $10,000 in the The Greater Richmond Chamber’s i.e.* initiative, 2012 Start-Up Competition. The public voted on to get them in the finals. The next step will be competing before a panel of judges at a free, public event on June 21st at Richmond CenterStage. Work It Richmond caught up with Anthony Lupesco, founder of Shockoe Denim to ask him about the contest.

Now Lupesco is trying his hand at manufacturing. He came up with the idea for Shockoe Denim in the fall of 2011 out of a desire to bring production back to the United States.

“I wanted to produce something in the United States and return to the old days… using local products and local workers,” Lupesco said.

Lupesco is sourcing the denim from North Carolina in order to keep the labor and production as local as possible.

If Shockoe Denim wins the startup competition, Lupesco said he’d put the money toward adding new equipment or hiring more people. He currently employs about six people at the factory, where work began last week.