Steve Iwanski, Charter Books

Steve Iwanski grew up in Tiverton and got his start in retail working summer jobs at the Sakonnet Boathouse and the Army-Navy Surplus. He graduated from Tiverton High School and the University of Notre Dame. In 2010 he joined Teach For America and taught high school English for four years in the Mississippi Delta. In 2014 he was hired as a bookseller at Turnrow Books in Greenwood, MS. When author and owner Jamie Kornegay stepped away from the store in 2016, he asked Steve to serve as manager. Under his management, Turnrow was Main Street Greenwood’s 2017 Retailer of the Year and the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 Small Business of the Year. He also served as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Retail Committee and served for two years as a board member of Main Street Greenwood. He's excited to bring his passion for community and bookselling back home to Newport County with the opening of Charter Books at 8 Broadway in Newport.