But it’s the tasting as well as the talking that brought the company to Richmond.

The company was founded in Long Island, where customers included the likes of Martha Stewart. But the bakery outgrew its New York location and was scouring the East Coast for another one.

That’s when the Webers got lucky. In the process of relocation discussions with the Greater Richmond Partnership, its products were sampled by one of the most discerning palates in Richmond: partnership director Jim Ukrop, chairman of Ukrop’s Supermarkets.

"Next thing I knew, we were getting a call from his office and setting up a meeting to talk," says Kevin Weber. "We went over to meet with him and, of course, we brought some more cookies." Now the 25-store Ukrop’s grocery chain carries Kathleen’s signature products.

The Greater Richmond Partnership also struck a deal with the bakery, and the Webers moved the bake shop’s wholesale operation to Richmond’s west end in July. The bakery’s founder, Kathleen King, retains an interest in the business but remains up north running a retail branch at the old location.

The Greater Richmond Partnership played a big role in bringing the business to Richmond, Weber says, wrestling the 20-employee company from some potential North Carolina and Southwest Virginia sites.

"What came together for us here in Richmond was that the transportation was very good, and we had good access to our suppliers and a good labor base," Kevin says. "But it also came down to a quality-of-life issue. We wanted to set up shop where we felt we could have a nice balance of life, not just work."

With those cookies and pies around, Richmonders’ quality of life just went up, too.

— Mike Ashley