24-02-2025
Business owner helps promote small businesses
Beckley has always been home for Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Michelle Rotellini.
Growing up on South Kanawha Street, Rotellini attended Stratton Junior High and Woodrow Wilson High School.
She now runs two successful restaurants in Raleigh County alongside her aunts and daughter, who have partnered with her in the endeavor.
Like many who were raised in West Virginia, Rotellini initially pursued an education and a career out of state, but also, like many West Virginians, she eventually found her way back to the mountain state where she has since grown roots.
Rotellini said her time learning and working in Charleston, South Carolina, influenced the food she enjoys and cooks and was part of the reason she was inspired to open a restaurant in Raleigh County.
Rotellini opened The Dish Café in Daniels in 2013 and recently opened Uptown Dish on Main Street in Beckley.
Both restaurants focus on offering quality, homemade food that's made with fresh and healthy ingredients.
Rotellini also owns Homecare West Virginia, which she started in 2008 and provides in-home care, elder care and senior home care services.
'Small businesses are really what make communities unique because they're not duplicated,' Rotellini said. 'You're not going to go to another town and find another Dish Café or another favorite boutique, and so those are really what the community becomes known for.'
As a business owner as well as the CEO and president of the local chamber of commerce, Rotellini said small businesses are the backbone of small communities because they are tailor-made to fit the community's needs.
'Every community is unique in what services they need, and in small towns, there are a lot of missing services,' Rotellini said. '. . . So the small businesses really have to step up and fill those needs. It's very important because without small businesses, people in rural communities would have to spend a lot of time on the road getting what they need.'
Rotellini took over at the Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce in 2016 and she enjoys being able to promote and aid small businesses.
'People have an assumption that everybody opens a business because they have deep pockets and they can afford to open a business,' she said. 'But people open businesses because they have great ideas and they want to share them, and it's hard. There's sweat equity, there's late at night and early mornings, and a lot of times they're putting in their personal money to make their payrolls . . . so through the chamber of commerce, we're really able to help promote our businesses.'
What is one of the most important things you've learned as CEO and president of the chamber?
Collaboration is important. Everything that happens takes partnerships.
What is your favorite dish from your restaurants?
Anything with our shrimp. We cook our shrimp to perfection. A lot of people are hesitant to order seafood in a landlocked state, but once they've tasted it, they're like me, it's perfect.
Do you have a favorite baked good from your restaurant?
My favorite is our gluten-free butterscotch blondie. To me, when you get it with a scoop of ice cream, it tastes like a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats.
What's your favorite meal to cook at home?
I have a couple of specialties that my family always craves, just from my time in Charleston, South Carolina. They love when I make low-country cheese grits. When my kids were little, I used to make quiche a lot because it was just something that was easy to heat up for them in the mornings and it wasnutritious.
