AnsonEDP Executive Director John Marek traveled to Chapel Hill yesterday along with management and staff of the Speckled Paw Coffee chain to attend Business North Carolina's 2022 Small Business of the Year awards luncheon. Mt. Gilead's Speckled Paw was one of four small businesses from across the state to be recognized by the publication, the others being Core Technology Molding of Greensboro, Firsthand Foods of Durham, and Seaview Crab of Wilmington. Specked Paw was lauded for its unique approach to creating “community through coffee” and the integration of an extensive community newsletter into its business model. Marek writes a weekly column for that publication. Although based in Mt. Gilead in Montgomery County, Speckled Paw operates two stores in Anson County and one in Richmond County. The Wadesboro store was an anchor tenant for the REV Uptown coworking space and business incubator operated jointly by AnsonEDP and the Anson County Chamber of Commerce. "All the cr