Blanket & Board is an event planning company co-owned by social workers Tierra Thorne and Colleen Peddycord. They provide pop-up, luxury picnics set in Pittsburgh’s public parks as well as offering private event catering.
Thorne and Peddycord see their business, which is both a female- and minority-owned business, as being more than just the services they offer. As mental health counselors, they work to ensure their picnics promote self-care, connection with others and nature, and building community. They also use the entrepreneurial platform they’ve created to uplift at-risk populations in the community by highlighting local non-profits and donating a portion of their proceeds to programs that support equality and human rights.
Blanket & Board has showed true entrepreneurial spirit in the marketing of their brand and business. They competed in – and won – Invest In Her’s 2020 Pitch Competition, established strategic partnerships with leading local organizations, and offered socially-distanced public events to highlight their services to the community. Most recently, they received the 2021 Small Business of the Year Award from the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Pittsburgh.
After an exciting first season of Blanket & Board, Colleen and Tierra reached out to the Pitt SBDC for assistance in implementing a number of business practices to improve operations, review their pricing structure, and discuss strategic goals to hire staff and purchase a company vehicle.
With the help of their consultant at the Pitt SBDC, Blanket & Board has had a very successful first year of operations and are confident their upcoming season will produce continued growth for the business. See their offerings at blanketandboard.com.