Advantage Valley, Inc’s Expanding Markets program was awarded a Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC) Community and Economic Development Award for innovative Business Retention and Expansion programs. The award was presented at SEDC’s Annual Conference in Savannah, Georgia. The Expanding Markets Program was recognized for its impact, innovation and community commitment in regions with populations over 100,000. This initiative is backed by a $1.3 million dollar grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and matched with $348,000 in local funding.
“We are proud of the very close collaboration between our nine counties,” says Terrell Ellis, president and CEO of Advantage Valley, Inc. “It is not often that you find the type of voluntary commitment to supporting neighboring colleagues in what has always been perceived as competing counties. We are truly operating as one regional economy and it’s terrific to see our collaborative efforts recognized with this award. As a result of our efforts, we have helped businesses in our region expand at an unprecedented rate that has resulted in 800 new jobs, the retention of 677 jobs and $178 million in new private investment.”
“Advantage Valley and our local economic development partners have implemented innovative strategies and produced impressive outcomes since the initiative’s inception in 2021,” says Robert Burton, Advantage Valley’s chairman. “We are delighted with this SEDC award and I would like to personally commend the Advantage Valley staff and county economic development partners for their creative design of the program and management of this regional effort over the past three years.”
The goal of the Expanding Markets program is to to create a more resilient regional economy by assisting manufacturers and business services identify new market opportunities, new customers and revenue sources and grow jobs. While most regional economic development organizations across the country focus primarily on marketing and business attraction, Advantage Valley has put a high priority on retaining and expanding its existing business base. This has been especially critical since so much of our local economy has historically been tied to the coal sector. To date, over 300 companies have received a variety of consulting and technical assistance services to support their growth including those from the National Center for Economic Gardening, Marshall University’s Advanced Manufacturing Center, Charleston Area Alliance, Huntington Area Development Council and Jackson, Mason, Boone, Lincoln, Putnam and Wayne county economic development authorities.
