PNW Fiber Connect is Moving at Warp Speed!
Hey Friends!
If you’ve been following PNW Fiber Connect, you know that we introduced ourselves a short 8 months ago. Our community wanted to know, who are the faces, folks, and minds behind PNW Fiber Connect? If you need a refresher, you can find & read that blog here.
Since then we have been moving at warp speed and anyone who has ever warped a loom well knows that it doesn’t feel very fast; however, taking the time to string up a strong and accurate warp sets the project up for a strong and efficient weave.
Slow fashion, slow fiber, slow food - it’s in the name when we think about systems that consider sustainability, circularity, and social & environmental equity. However, when I consider what PNW Fiber Connect has accomplished in only 8 months, I am humbled. I am proud of and frankly amazed at what the PNW Fiber Connect team has been able to get done despite life’s flare for the unexpected.
Read on for a glimpse at what PNW Fiber Connect has been doing to grow strong foundational support for our members & community. Be sure to make it to the end for a sneak peek at what’s coming in 2026 (already?!).
Cofounders Hannah, Kristen, and Jolene meeting at the Chehalis Coworks Office to read through the final edit of PNW Fiber Connect’s Business Plan.
What has it taken to build PNW Fiber Connect?
Collaboration and mutual support are all about meeting up and talking it out. Between the three of us, we attend a lot of meetings every month. Outside of PNW Fiber Connect’s weekly meetings, we also regularly meet with our small team of volunteers & contractors, business collaborators & sister organizations, as well as host monthly info sessions and facilitate workshops & one-on-one business development sessions for our Founding Membership.
The PNW fiber community is a diamond in the rough. It is an honor and a gift that we get to meet all of you.
Thank you!
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Oh my! In a world of instant gratification and the next thing always being a short click away, I’ve come to more thoroughly realize the hundreds of hours of labor that go into every e-doc, program, and pixel. The PNW Fiber Connect Team has put in the hours to:
Write, re-write, and finalize a strong inaugural Business Plan & set of Bylaws
Fill out legal paperwork and state & federal tax forms - not to mention the wait times (yikes)
Build the PNW Fiber Connect website
Seek out & utilize a comprehensive database software, including filling in hundreds of initial entries
Develop Volunteer & Contractor agreements in order to grow our team and then
Manage those volunteer & contractor projects, including PNWFC’s mapping, logo, and membership strategy (Shout-out to Robin, Peter, and Kristin!)
Build PNW Fiber Connect’s Inaugural Board, including writing on-boarding handbooks, outreach, and orientation
Build the PNW Fiber Connect socials - scroll to the end of this blog for links!
Do all this and more!
These are the back of house (BOH) operations and it is where the magic happens. Like magic, the time that goes into performing BOH tasks is unseen; however, unlike magicians, part of our job is sharing the ‘secrets.’ Shedding more light on the steps to growing a business, skillset, or movement help our membership move forward with confidence, exposing obstacles so they can prepare and strategize how to best overcome them in their own ventures.
It is an honor and a privilege to have access to and grow within the world wide web - thank you for technological ingenuity and the opportunity to use it to serve our community!
Generational business planning at work with Doug, Anna, and Molly of Rabbit Hill Wool Mill!
Events
We have two more events we’ll be attending this year, but come October we would have attended:
6 fiber festivals
3 conferences
and the US Shearing Championships
That’s 10 events the PNW Fiber Connect team has attended to continue to meet our community where they’re at and listen to their perspective & needs!
As mentioned before, our cup runneth over with gratitude for the artistry, passion, and good, hard work pouring from the PNW regional fiber community. Fiber businesses have been committing to their vision, pulling strings to make it work, and reaping the bounty of what they sow.
We at PNW Fiber Connect are honored to be a part of the PNW’s natural fiber legacy, thanks for having us!
Oh, did I mention that we have a logo now? It’s pretty exciting! Keep scrolling to check it out!
What’s Next?
For the remainder of 2025, I and the whole team at PNW Fiber Connect will be buttoning down the details of our website, socials, directories, membership strategy, and more to prepare for all 2026 holds. Here’s a preview of what to expect for the rest 2025:
The long-awaited launch of PNW Fiber Connect Membership!
Look for details on member benefits and pricing coming in just a few short months. If you want to be one of the first to sign up, you can pledge your membership here!
The even longer-awaited launch of the PNW Fiber Resource Map & Directory!
Our base map will feature full profiles and promotion of our founding membership along with a sample of non-member pins. It will be small to start, but a constant, ever-evolving, and growing staple offering of PNW Fiber Connect. We cannot wait to share it with you!
I’m Local! for the Holidays
PNW Fiber Connect’s next blog will showcase the remaining fiber events of the year along with a small shopping guide to help you find just the right gift for that special fiber friend in your life - all while giving the gift of your dollar to PNW regional fiber businesses!
January will be here before we know it, marking one whole year of PNW Fiber Connect. What a gift it has been working with such an innovative, passionate, understanding, and industrious team. We are excited to share our strategic plan, vision, and goals for 2026. Here’s a clue: PNW Fiber Connect plans on having a booth at some events. What events would you like to see us at in 2026? Let us know below!
That’s a wrap!
I would like to remind our readers that PNW Fiber Connect is currently a 100% volunteer-led organization. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we grow to best meet the needs of our community. Let us know your thoughts and help be the change you want to see.
And, as always, thanks for being here.
-Hannah
