Van Morrow
Owner

Like all small business owners, Van wears many hats—with the difference being that he embroiders them all himself!

Van spent years of late nights as a financial typesetter in the printing district of Manhattan before moving full-time to Livingston Manor, NY, to become a partner in The Towne Crier newspaper. His varied work tasks made him proficient in page layout, image editing, and computer drawing software.

Van started Mountain Bear Crafts as a neighborhood knitting supply shop in 2009, but soon saw other possibilities when customers started asking where they could locally buy embroidered and screen-printed items. He added two embroidery machines, a darkroom, a 4-color screen printing press, and specialized software. Customers now include restaurants, schools, contractors, fundraising teams, other small businesses, and those with a social message that gives an impact when displayed on the front of a T-shirt.

Expect personal service at Mountain Bear Crafts, where your work is not simply taken in and then outsourced to bigger companies who don’t contribute to the local economy in any way. Customers are encouraged to visit the shop and learn by asking questions about their particular job; proofs of graphics are often sent by e-mail before a job is printed or embroidered.

Always excited by a good graphic and a catchy pun, Van looks forward to growing Mountain Bear Crafts to a bigger production company, providing a wider variety of locally-produced products. He has plans to add a machine knitting component to the business in the near future, and has some sewing projects in mind.