Sarah Bellos, founder and president of Stony Creek Colors, is the recipient of the AATCC Young Entrepreneur Award. Bellos is being recognized for producing regionally-sourced natural dye colorants and pigments for industrial use. By blending education and experience, she has developed a complete agricultural supply chain to deliver reliable and safe bio-based dyes to the textile industry and to help fashion brands reduce hazardous chemical use.
After studying sustainable agriculture at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in 2001, Bellos worked as a farm production manager at Dilmun Hill Organic Farm in 2002, while attending Cornell University. In 2005, Bellos began ASK Apparel, where she monitored the manufacturing of naturally-dyed apparel and accessories for ASK Apparel brand (in-house) and external dye clients.