Entrepreneurs in Action

Making Movie Magic With Jeff Tinnell

In this episode of Innovators and Entrepreneurs, Andy Malinoski talks to Jeff Tinnell, owner of Allegheny Image Factory. Tinnell runs his media company out of Morgantown, West Virginia, where he creates award-winning content for major studios and organizations. “We’re very excited about bringing this consistent work into West Virginia by...

Growing Your Business – A Collaborative Model

Growing a business is a lot like growing a garden. You start with a seed – an idea – and plant it. With proper care, effort, and time, your business, like that seed, will grow. To get the most out of your garden, you need to fertilize the soil to...

5 Business Cost Hacks for New Entrepreneurs

Today's blog was submitted by Edgington Studio Co-Founder, Keegan Zacharie. Edgington Studio is a cut-and-sew apparel manufacturing studio based in Wheeling, WV.    For most people starting a new business, there is one key question on their minds: how am I going to afford all of this? Costs, both expected and unexpected,...

Melting Pots and Building Blocks- The Founding of Piddlin’ Rooster

The Melting Pot Business ownership is like a melting pot. Not in the normal sense of different people coming together to form a community, but similar:  it takes many different forms of personal experiences, education, actions, trials and errors, lessons learned, tears, sweat, long nights, hard work, and an unbelievable amount...

West Virginia Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Update June 2022

Spotlight Programs: Lauren Prinzo Community & Economic Development Specialist WVU Extension Service Equity in Entrepreneurship Findings Update and Discussion West Virginia University is conducting in-person strategic planning meetings across West Virginia as part of an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) POWER Technical Assistance grant aimed at expanding entrepreneurship opportunities for rural and low-income youth. The next round...

Five Days to Engage: National Entrepreneurship Week 2022

National Entrepreneurship Week is a congressionally chartered, annual initiative that takes place the third week of February. A network of stakeholders, including entrepreneurial educators, ecosystem builders, and most importantly – individual entrepreneurs, come together to share resources, learn from each other, and share their support for America’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.   This year’s...

Home Is Where the Opportunity Is

An all too common WV story I never wanted to leave West Virginia in the first place, I just knew that I had thus far been unsuccessful in finding my place in the world and had wondered if it might lie somewhere else. When a college friend in a similar situation...

West Virginia Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Update December 2021

Program Spotlight for December Downtown Appalachia: Revitalizing Recreational Economies (DARRE) Stephanie Tyree, Executive Director, WV Community Development Hub  s.tyree@wvhub.org Ray Moeller, Economic Redevelopment Specialist, WVU Northern Brownfields Assistance Center Raymond.Moeller@mail.wvu.edu  DARRE is a three-year program partnership between the WV Community Development Hub, WV Northern Brownfields Assistance Center, Woodlands Development & Lending, and Partner...

West Virginia Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Update November 2021

Program Spotlight for November Tamarack Foundation for the Arts Spotlight Program: Domenica Queen   Programming & Operations Director, dqueen@tamarackfoundation.org Tamarack Foundation for the Arts helps to grow West Virginia’s creative economy by providing essential programs that equip Mountain State artists and creative entrepreneurs with the skills necessary to succeed and thrive in the place they...

West Virginia Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Update October 2021

Program Spotlight for October Small Communities Big Solutions Sara Payne Scarbro, Alliance for the Economic Development of Southern WV sara.payne@marshall.edu This annual event showcases all the successes and highlights what is working across the southern part of the state. Each year a mix of community leaders, educators, businesses, and public officials come together...