Opossum Pouch Soft Goods Wins ‘Show of Hands’

Photo by Eric Ayres

WHEELING - Durable goods with a Made in America stamp and hometown pride woven into the fabric helped Opossum Pouch Soft Goods at the latest Show of Hands competition Monday night in Wheeling.

Jay Hercules, owner of the local store specializing in handmade outdoor goods, took the top prize over three other outstanding Wheeling entrepreneurs, artisans and business owners who were finalists in the latest installment of Show of Hands.

Presented by Wheeling Heritage in conjunction with the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce, this round of the popular fundraising event helps local entrepreneurs grow their businesses. Attendees on hand at the Wheeling Artisan Center pay $5 admission and receive a ballot to vote for their favorite pitch from each of the participating business owners.

Also participating in this Show of Hands competition and making their pitches before a capacity crowd Monday night were Helen Bradley of the IDEA Center in Warwood, artist Mindi Yarbrough of Wildheart by Mindi and general manager Shelley Smedley of Wheeling Coffee and Spice. All contestants made compelling pitches, but it was Hercules who knocked the pitch out of the park.

"I’ve lived in Wheeling my whole life," Hercules said. "I grew up in West Liberty. One of the reasons I’m really proud to be opened up in Wheeling is because we used to have a long history of making things in this town. So when I had the ‘Made in the USA' stamp made, it says ‘Made in Wheeling, W.Va., USA.,’ and there’s a reason for that. I want people to know that I’m making stuff in Wheeling."

That passionate hometown pride and unapologetic patriotism noticeably took the air out of the room and filled it with a breath of fresh air, causing the crowd to erupt in boisterous applause.

Hercules said that when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, Americans came together and stepped to the plate - including the people who lived and worked here in the valley.

"Wheeling, like the rest of America, was a slumbering giant that woke up in that moment," he said. "And while all of these other men from across our nation went to war, Wheeling went to war. Wheeling waged war with industry.

"That’s something we’re missing in Wheeling still - our effective industries that provide jobs."

Opossum Pouch Soft Goods is a small business, but it is a growing one, Hercules said. They take raw materials and make durable goods out of it - goods so durable they hope people will use for a lifetime and pass down for continued use to future generations.

"We make outdoor goods for campers, hunters, fishermen that are classic, canvas-style outdoor goods," Hercules said. "Backpacks are always a steady seller, haversacks are a big seller and of course all of our small items - pouches, drawstring bags and little things like that can be used to organize gear with."

Hercules has more than 40 years of sewing experience, and although the business presently consists of himself and a handful of dedicated supporters, the business is growing. It has a physical location at 1003 Main St. and also has an online presence with a customer base that has already reached 11 countries across the globe.

"I really love doing this," he said. "I’m passionate about what I do."

The shop makes a variety of rugged outdoor goods, including a specialty item that was born as a local version of a shemagh - large tactical desert scarf worn as a neck and face wrap by native people in Middle Eastern countries and adopted by military troops stationed in these areas. To fill requests for these wraps, Hercules invented the "shemandanna" - a cross between a shemagh and bandanna - with an American outdoorsman style.

Explaining a customer’s order of this unique item, Hercules became emotional, noting that he sold 18 of them to a customer -- in Israel, where the customer could have easily obtained one locally.

"That’s where they’re from," Hercules said, holding back tears. "That was probably one of my proudest moments - I’ve got a shemagh in Israel. That’s just dumbfounding."

Winning Show of Hands will help Hercules bring 90 percent of his production in-house so he can bring costs down and produce even more products.

"Right now, I have customers that I can’t meet the demand because I can’t produce fast enough," he said.

Hercules said the next step in growing his business will involve the purchase of a new clicker press and cutting dies to help increase his production efficiency and capacity. His victory at Show of Hands will help increase the purchase budget to obtain the best tools he can.

"I want to become as self-reliant as possible," he said, noting that eventually as the business grows, he hopes to be able to hire staff to help him produce even more goods and expand the business. Hercules said he wants Opossum Pouch Soft Goods to become that "new vanguard of industry in Wheeling that is a clean, sufficient, self-sustaining industry that is a good steward of the community that gives something back."

Right now, the business is operating in the black, and profits are being poured back into the business to help with its continued growth.

"Jay’s taking home a check for $5,312, so give yourselves a round of applause for that," Wheeling Heritage Program Manager Alex Panas told the crowd, noting that all of the purchased votes from attendees all went to the winner’s prize.

For more information about the crowd-funding Show of Hands events and other community initiatives supported by Wheeling Heritage, visit wheelingheritage.org.