This list of 5 organizations impacting Appalachian businesses showcases trailblazers securing a bright future for WV and Appalachia.
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 by rapidly diversifying 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 Continuity of Operations (or COOP) mission, an initiative designed to address the possibility of crippling terrorist threats targeting 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, such as biometrics and advanced materials in West Virginia.
TechConnectWV similarly seeks to diversify West Virginia’s economy. In TechConnectWV’s case, however, they focus on a narrower range of fields: advanced energy, chemicals, advanced materials, biosciences, and biometrics. Based in South Charleston, they 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 Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (iCenter)
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 Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (iCenter) is something of a corollary to WVU’s Vantage Ventures initiative. Located on Marshall University’s campus in Huntington, the iCenter dedicates itself to fostering a culture of start-up entrepreneurship through training, consulting, funding, and even providing office space.
Vertx Partners
Great if your business is: looking to connect with other Appalachian businesses or to contract with the federal government.
Vertx Partners is bridging the gap between cutting-edge thinkers in the United States and the Department of the Air Force (DAF). Committed to securing lasting partnerships through events, education, consulting, and beyond, Vertx is helping lead the way in the ongoing effort to revitalize Appalachia and other regions in the country.
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.
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