Have You Met…Genee West

by CT State Student Frejnki Lawlor • Designed by CT State Student Juli Weik

With over eighteen thousand members in six years, the Facebook group “Support Local - Bethel, CT” has helped dozens of small businesses disseminate information about store hours, closing, and sales as well as allowing customers to post reviews.

Started by Genée West, a Bethel resident of thirty years, in March of 2020, the Facebook group began with the pandemic. Having lived through the post 9/11 recession and seeing Bethel’s downtown suffer, West knew that the incoming pandemic would have the same effect on the now booming Greenwood Avenue commercial district, and sought to prevent that.

Greenwood Avenue features a number of businesses, including a coffee shop, bookstore, ice cream parlor, barbershop, bakery, hairdresser, printer, lawyer, toy store, hardware store, as well as two churches and several pizza places. West described it as “living in a Norman Rockwell painting”.

West majored in Marketing & Design at the Connecticut Institute of Art. She then worked as a designer for Pemberton Press. During her time with Pemberton, West worked on design for both books and magazine, enjoying working on both. After her time with Pemberton, Genée moved onto a different company, HEH Associates. She recounted how her department received an award from the Art Director’s Guild, and was invited to Windows on the World in the north tower of the World Trade Center for the ceremony on September 11th, 2001 at 7pm. Only one ticket was provided, and both her and the other person from her company refused to attend alone, so neither went.

After that, West began freelance working as a designer. She created several independent designs, with one even being seen on CW’s “The Flash”. Her designs are available on a variety of merchandise, such as t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, blankets, pillows, hats, mugs, bathmats, notebooks, phone cases, and much more. These designs can be found at: littlegdesign.threadless.com.

For her commitment to supporting local Bethel businesses, West has been awarded with an official recognition from the Connecticut General Assembly thanking her for her commitment to supporting the Bethel Community and local businesses as well as a proclamation making January third “Genée West Day”.

West has done an incredible job supporting her local community and plans to continue to do so. She says that “[she] was just the rock that went into the water and the community is the waves” and will continue with the Facebook group as long as she can. Genée addressed the issue that businesses from surrounding towns often try to post in the Facebook group, to which she gently reminds them it is for Bethel businesses only. She has had a number of moderators, but not many who have stayed on long due to other commitments, a problem she understands all too well.

The entire town is eternally grateful to Genée and her hard work with Support Local- Bethel. She is loved and recognized in every business she goes into. Genée West is truly a benefactress to this town. •