Blackhat Boards are handmade for form and function

If you are looking for a gift, something unique with a lot of heart and soul, look no further than Blackhat Boards, a cottage business started by Joe Smith.

Blackhat Boards features handcrafted serving boards, cutting boards, cheese boards, presentation boards, bread boards, and now beer accessories, specifically growler and 6-pack caddies. Smith says all products can be customized with text, which makes them perfect for weddings, anniversaries, and corporate gifts.

Besides his core product line, he also make custom boards, kitchen islands and wood counter tops, and custom furniture. "I'm working on some prototypes of new products, including a chef's knife that would fit with my other products," he says. "My goal is for my products to be kitchen-centric and look beautiful, while still being useful and needed."

Smith says a family tradition in woodworking helped inspire the venture: "I was brought up around woodworking with my grandfather and father and have always enjoyed working with my hands in this capacity."

He says it was while looking for a unique gift that he thought about making something himself. "Two years ago I was looking for unique gifts for some of my clients from my freelance creative business and couldn't find anything that stood out to me, so I decided I'd make something instead. I settled on cutting boards because it's something they could use every day and it wasn't just something they'd eat or not use. It started with a couple boards and has blossomed dramatically," says Smith.

Admittedly, the business straddles the world between "hobby" and "small business." Smith says a five-year plan might look something like this: "In five years, Blackhat Boards will be a semi-full-time job and will have two seasonal employees. I really enjoy the creative work that I do now, so making Blackhat Boards a full-time job isn't a desire for me. I'd like to see it flourish into having 7-10 basic products, with a large capacity of custom furniture and kitchen counters and islands. I've always enjoyed designing and building furniture for my house, so being able to do this for other people would be pretty awesome."

You have a couple of options to find Blackhat products. You can visit bh-boards.com to order or you can send an email to [email protected] and you will be contacted directly to discuss your needs. In 2015, Smith is looking for a couple of local stores to stock his products, as well as starting to display at artisan markets around Grand Rapids and in Northern Michigan.

Writer: John Rumery, Jobs and Innovation News Editor