Lundberg, Chris. "Anvil Works Forging Ahead With the SBDC." West Virginia Small Business Development Division Newsletter, Vol. 5, No. 3. Summer, 2005. Reprinted: Annual Report Fiscal Year 2005. West Virginia Development Office Small Business Development Division. Charleston: 2005. pp.8-9.

Lee Badger, owner of Anvil Works®, has been a practicing artist-blacksmith creating ornamental ironwork for more than 25 years and a member of the Artist Blacksmith's Association of North America since 1976. He honed his art studying and training under world-class American and European masters of art metalsmithing in the U.S. and abroad.

In 1998, Badger built the AnvilWorks forge and metalsmithing shop in Hedgesville, W.Va. His company creates and builds hand-forged interior and architectural metal work for design professionals and private patrons. Anvil Works' unique products range from stair rails and furniture to lighting and fireplace accessories.

A customer recently commissioned a 34-foot high, 11-foot square clock tower, which weighs 14 tons, for his Chicago home.

"I will consult and collaborate with homeowners and design professionals on materials, finishes and other specifications," Badger said."The individual relationship between the designer, the craftsman and the piece allows a degree of design and control that is simply not available in factory fabricated furnishings."

Metropolitan Home, Better Homes and Gardens and House Beautiful magazines have highlighted Badger's work and Baltimore/Washington area newspapers have featured his metalcraft designs. The Crafts Report magazine asked Badger to share insights about making a living selling metal and ironworks in its January 2005 issue. Design professionals include his work in decorator houses, invitational galleries and interior design showrooms.

Badger's entrepreneurship journey began in 1975 when he operated several shops in Colorado. He moved east in 1988 and has been serving design professionals, home and estate owners, and businesses in the Mid-Atlantic region ever since. From 1989 to 1994, he was an artist-in-residence at Glen Echo National Park near Washington, D.C., working and teaching in cooperation with the National Park Service.

Badger first contacted the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in 1996. Chris Lundberg, center manager of the SBDC of the Community and Technical College of Shepherd (SBDC CTCS), helped him put together a business plan and financing package to build a new studio and move Anvil Works from Ranson, W.Va. to Hedgesville.

"I'm an artist - when I started my business I didn't have experience dealing with banks and financing,"Badger said."Chris knew the ropes. She helped me put a lot of thought into my business plan and set realistic goals. I'm still following that plan seven years after opening my business here."

"As a talented artisan, Lee knows his craft but he recently came to the SBDC to help refine his marketing strategy," Lundberg said."We linked Lee with a Shepherd University marketing class to help him further identify his diverse customer base."