Here in the Mountain State, at the end of the school day, more children than ever are stepping off the school bus and into chaos or poverty at home that impacts their learning. In fact, in a hypothetical classroom of 30 West Virginia children, five would have been born exposed to drugs, seven would live in poverty and 18 would be insured by Medicaid.
For some time, and for many, the connotation of terms like educational attainment, workforce and economic development in West Virginia has been negative. Demographic trends have not been favorable. Data and rankings placing West Virginia near the bottom have been cited far too many times to be recounted here.
Ecosystem building has emerged as a leading strategy for economic development and community revitalization. With the launch of the West Virginia Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (WVEE), the state is at the forefront of this growing movement. What began in 2018 as a coalition of the willing has developed into a flourishing ecosystem of stakeholders.
Chief Human Resources Officer, Director of Human Resources & Marketing, SDI Family of Companies By Pagett Dusic Photo by Tracy A. Toler Photography Christopher Willis, chief human resources officer and director of human resources and marketing for the SDI Family of Companies, understands the values of hard work, integrity and volunteering. From growing up on…
Vice President of Operations, PureTech Scientific By Jean Hardiman Photo by Tracy A. Toler Photography Ask Ashley Rine about her greatest successes, and she’ll point to three things that make her proud. Two are related to her career—she’s the first chemical engineer in her family and the first female to have served as plant manager…
Executive Director, Parkersburg-Wood CountyArea Development Corporation By Olivia Miller Photo by Tracy A. Toler Photography Lindsey Kerr Piersol stepped into the role of executive director of the Parkersburg-Wood County Area Development Corporation just two days after her 26th birthday and immediately faced the biggest challenge of her career: starting an executive leadership role as a…