As promised, I’m pleased to share our 2022 key statistics for WV BusinessLink with the entire entrepreneurship ecosystem in West Virginia. The major milestone over the past year was getting as many resource partners engaged and to participate on the platform as possible. The good news is we still have room to grow. Currently, we have 151 resource providers who have signed up and have provided a detailed listing of what they do to make it easier for entrepreneurs and small business owners to get access to the resources they need.
Total Number of Users and Searches
During the course of 2022 we had over 11,000 total users who conducted 1,881 searches on WV BusinessLink. The total number of search impressions for resource partners was over 130,000. Which means that out of the 1,881 searches it presented over 130,000 resource partners to those who were conducting their search on WV BusinessLink.
Total Number of Referrals
Out of those 1,881 searches, 43 referrals were generated by someone clicking on the “Connect Me With This Organization” button, which triggered an email to that particular resource partner. Here is a list of the number of referrals by organization in 2022.
- WV SBDC – 6
- Advantage Valley – 3
- RCBI – 3
- 3 Steps To Startup – 2
- WVU Industrial Extension – 2
- Wyoming Co. EDA – 2
- Alliance for the Economic Development of Southern WV – 1
- Company Lab Entrepreneur Center – 1
- Country Roads Angel Network – 1
- SBA – 1
- Unlimited Future – 1
- USDA Rural Development – 1
- WV Dept. of Agriculture – 1
- WV Food and Farm Coalition – 1
Note: In addition, there were 26 intake surveys filled out by entrepreneurs and small business owners. There will be more information about the survey to follow once we become more familiar with the backend.
Top Searches by City
- Morgantown
- Charleston
- Martinsburg
- Huntington
- Parkersburg
- Fairmont
- Wheeling
- Beckley
- Clarksburg
- Keyser
- Moorefield
- Volga
- Harpers Ferry
- Elkins
- Oak Hill
- Petersburg
- Charles Town
- Maxwelton
- Montgomery
- St. Albans
- Wellsburg
Note: There were over 90 cities in West Virginia represented in the results.
Searches By Industry
- Other Services – 8.7%
- Restaurant – 5.5%
- Construction – 5.5%
- Retail – 4.6%
- Real Estate – 3.5%
- Personal Services – 3.3%
- Professional Services – 3.3%
- Health and Child Care – 3.2%
- Manufacturing – 2.3%
- Arts – 2%
- Agriculture – 1.7%
- Information Technology – 1%
- Education – 0.07%
- High Tech Services 0.07%
- Others: Not For Profit, Tourism, Bioscience, Management, Education (K-12), Energy and Utilities, Transportation and Warehousing, Mining, Natural Gas Exploration and Drilling, and Timber were represented.
Note: There were a total of 692 of which 346 were not specified.
Searches By Opportunity Populations
- Woman – 40
- People w/disabilities – 22
- African American – 18
- Youth – 18
- Veteran – 7
- LGBTQIA – 6
- Asian – 5
- Returning Citizens – 5
- Hispanic – 3
- Immigrant – 2
- Native American – 2
- Total: 128
Searches by Business Stage
- Inception/Idea – 152
- Proof of Concept/Prototype/Market Intro – 48
- Rollout/Startup/Early Stage – 49
- Second Stage/Growth & Expansion – 97
- Total: 140 out of 1,881 searches
Searches by Business Type
- Innovation-led (tech enabled and/or intellectual property involved) – 35
- Main Street – 47
- Microenterprise – 37
- Second Stage/Growth & Expansion – 21
- Total: 140 out of 1,881 searches
Searches by Service Category
- Financial Resources & Assistance – 979
- Business Planning – 88
- Starting a Business – 64
- Human Resources, Workforce, and Talent – 32
- Marketing and Sales – 24
- Accelerators and Incubators – 22
- Buying or Selling a Business – 16
- Libraries and Research/Training – 15
- Economic and Site Development – 13
- Mentoring – 12
- Other Services: Nonprofit and Social Enterprise – 10, Internship Programs and Student Services – 9, Manufacturing, High Tech, Life Sciences Development – 8, Legal Services – 7, Operations and Logistics – 6, Events and Community Building – 5, Management Issues – 5, Space – 5, Tax Services – 5, Public Policy and Government Relations – 4, Selling to the Government and Large Corporations – 4, Networking and Associations – 3, Import and Export Assistance – 2, Product Development – 2, Regulatory Compliance – 2, and Technical Assistance – 1
- Total: 1,358
As you can see the value of this data is very encouraging and motivating at the same time. The more entrepreneurs and small business owners use WV BusinessLink the more referrals and overall exposure each and every resource partner will receive. Thank you to everyone who has played a part in the successful launch of WV BusinessLink to date and we look forward to an even better year in 2023.
