5 Organizations Impacting Appalachian Businesses

This list of 5 organizations impacting Appalachian businesses showcases trailblazers securing a bright future for WV and Appalachia.

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West Virginia High Technology Foundation

Great if your business is: looking to break ground in a new field of WV’s economy.

The West Virginia High Technology Foundation’s mission is to institutionalize a “knowledge sector” within West Virginia’s economy. They plan to implement this solution through rapid diversification of business in the state, emphasizing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields through contract work.

Based at the I-79 Technology Park in Fairmont, the organization dedicates itself to the federal government’s mission of Continuity of Operations (or COOP), an ordinance realized for the possibility of crippling terroristic threats that target national centers of leadership (like the nearby D.C. metropolitan area). The West Virginia High Technology Foundation encourages federal projects to allocate resources and buildings to the Tech Park, which offers free land to select federal projects.

TechConnectWV

Great if your business is: looking to break into specific STEM fields like biometrics and advanced materials in West Virginia.

TechConnectWV similarly seeks to diversify West Virginia’s economy. In TechConnectWV’s case, however, they place a focus on a narrower range of fields: advanced energy, chemicals, and advanced materials, biosciences, and biometrics. Based in South Charleston, they’re primed to assist small businesses primarily in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.

Vantage Ventures

Great if your business is: looking for a seed fund to jumpstart a business in the Mountain State.

Vantage Ventures is located on the campus of West Virginia University and emerged from a call to action by John Chambers, a graduate of the WVU Business College and Law School. Vantage Ventures focuses on creating a start-up culture in West Virginia “[t]hrough investments in skills training and digitization.” With a bold promise to “move mountains,” Vantage Ventures gives users the opportunity to invest in start-ups throughout the state. Furthermore, they allow businesses to seek funding for radical ideas that typify outside-of-the-box thinking.

Marshall University Brad D. Smith Business Incubator

Great if your business is: looking to get started in WV and needs professional consulting on everything from training to finding a place to set up shop.

The Marshall University Brad D. Smith Business Incubator is something of a corollary to WVU’s Vantage Ventures initiative. Located on Marshall University’s campus in Huntington, the Business Incubator dedicates itself to fostering a culture of start-up entrepreneurship through training, consulting, funding, and even by providing office space.

Vertx Partners

Great if your business is: looking to connect with other Appalachian businesses or is trying to contract with the federal government.

Vertx Partners is bridging the gap between cutting-edge thinkers in the Mountain State and the U.S. Air Force. Committed to securing lasting partnerships through events, education, consulting, and beyond, Vertx is helping lead the way in the ongoing effort to revitalize West Virginia and the surrounding region.

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Each of these 5 organizations impacting Appalachian businesses plays a role in modernizing the region’s economy.

At Vertx Partners, we highlight entities that may interest your business as they, too, transform the region for the better.