Nancy Bruns on Building a Modern Business from Ancient Salt

Kanawha Valley Hustlers · Apr 10, 2025 · 4m

I got to chat with Nancy Bruns, president and co-founder of J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works in Malden. Her family has been tied to salt making since the early 1800s. They bought the land in 1813 and started producing salt in 1817. The Kanawha Valley once had over 50 producers, making it the largest salt-producing area in the country at the time.

Nancy explains that their operation taps into the ancient Iapetus Ocean, buried beneath West Virginia. The salt is over 400 million years old and contains a wide range of minerals that make it distinct in flavor and character.

She runs the business with a…