The company offers personalized packaging for birthdays, wedding favors, corporate gifts and local fundraising. Photo: Provided.

Shop the Sweet Tooth Memories stores on the Alleghenies Marketplace

It all started out with a fundraiser. Jonathan Blakely’s son is autistic, and his educational needs were no longer being met at the school that he was attending, but the family couldn’t pay the tuition for the private Christian school where they wanted him to attend.  Blakely said that the baked goods market was saturated with sales, but he realized that old-fashioned hard-tack candy was scarce. With that discovery, Sweet Tooth Memories came to life.

Many associate the treats with the Christmas season, but with an array of flavors, it can be a year-round product. “We started with traditional flavors, but at our customers’ request, we started experimenting with different alcohols and liquors to enhance the flavors,” Blakely said.

The leap from fundraising to business formation was a journey the Blakelys couldn’t navigate alone. “We didn’t know the process for starting a business. Startup Alleghenies connected us to resources and individuals to ensure all the documents, numbers and the business plan were viable and correct,” he shared.

Read more about Sweet Tooth Memories here.

Sweet Tooth Memories offers traditional flavors like banana and wintergreen along with adult flavors infused with drinks like Jack Daniels, Crown Royal and Smirnoff. Photo: Provided.

Startup Alleghenies helps startup and emerging small businesses succeed by providing free coaching to entrepreneurs in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties. To access personal, one-on-one support from a coach in your county, including guidance, resources, tools and networking opportunities, sign up at startupalleghenies.com.