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Editor’s note: This is the second of three stories highlighting the prize winners from the 2025 STARTUP Franklin Southampton program.

The seventh round of the STARTUP Franklin Southampton program featured three prize winners at the program’s Awards Night & Expo on Wednesday, April 16, at The Hubs Vine.

As Franklin Southampton Economic Development Inc. (FSEDI) has described previously, STARTUP is an award-winning business plan competition that serves to provide financial assistance and business training within the city of Franklin and Southampton County limits.

Earning the second-place prize of $15,000 for the seventh round of STARTUP was Brittanee Rawlings and her business, The Honeycomb.

At the awards ceremony, FSEDI President and CEO Karl Heck said, “The business concept of The Honeycomb is development of a commercial kitchen that will be available for her business as well as other ones to rent in the community. That’s a crying need that we’ve had here in Franklin, with food trucks as well as people trying to establish various types of food-related businesses.

“So we’ll be working with her and have been already to get the concept going either in an existing commercial kitchen to start or working at a new place,” he added.

Rawlings noted that the story behind the name of her business stems from the nickname “Bee” that she had in college and also the fact that bees work together for a common goal, which embodies the idea behind her business.

“At The Honeycomb, we are going to be a commercial kitchen where food hobbyists or people who are trying to scale their food business can come in and work in a fully health department-regulated kitchen that is licensed by the city of Franklin, and they’re able to come in and scale their business,” she said. “Aside from just having a kitchen space, I also will offer a program package where you can come in, get all the certifications you need, business support, as well as providing assistance with launching and scaling your business.

“In addition to that, also you’ll be able to sell your food from my location,” she said. “So I do want to bring the DoorDash infrastructure here so that we’ll give people the opportunity to order food and have it delivered and basically circulating funds in the city.”

Summing up the vision behind The Honeycomb, she said, “My goal is to facilitate other people’s dreams and help assist people if they want to have their own product. … The Honeycomb is strictly to help others.”

Operating this business has been Rawlings’ dream for the past four years.

“In 2020, I was introduced to charcuterie, and I used to make it for my friends and family, and people actually wanted to buy it from me,” she said. “At the time I lived in the city of Richmond, and I couldn’t find a kitchen that would accept me just based on the type of business it was. 

“So since about 2021 it’s been a dream of mine to open a kitchen where I could express myself there,” she said. “But being that I relocated in Franklin now, this became bigger than me, if that makes sense.”

She is a native of Franklin who attended Virginia State University and then moved to Richmond where she lived for about a decade. She moved back to Franklin in 2024 and wants to give back to the community in which she grew up.

She said it was “an absolute honor” to be part of the STARTUP program and noted that it meant a lot to win the $15,000 second-place prize this year.

“Honestly, I felt with the support that I received from the STARTUP program, Karl and Kim (Tucker) and Bill Holloran, they really gave us the tools that we needed to succeed regardless if we won or not,” she said. “However, (winning the prize) was amazing. It validated my dream or my idea, and it’s really allowed me to pour back into the community. So as long as I can give back to the community, I’m fine.”

She is looking for a location in Franklin for her business, and the prize money will help her secure one, as well as meet business needs.

“Say for instance I may need some equipment to accommodate someone in the community that may not be already at the facility or something that’s unique,” she said. “For instance, the first-place (STARTUP) winner, she is in the food industry as well, and she discussed this — she needs a canning machine. 

“I would definitely use my funds to even invest in her, because that’s what it’s all about,” Rawlings added. “So investing in the equipment, securing a location and any type of certifications or business needs that I am required to have, I (will) use (the prize money) for that.”

For more information on The Honeycomb, Rawlings can be reached at TheHoneycombVA@gmail.com or 757-322-7601. The business also has a Facebook page.