President, Mountain Leverage
Facebook: Mountain Leverage
Twitter: @MtnLeverage
LinkedIn: Alex Reneman
Website: www.mountainleverage.com
What once began as a simple idea has turned into a policy—and a globally renowned business: the leveraging of the people of the mountains.
A Grafton native, Alex Reneman got his first taste of entrepreneurship as a teenager when he started a lawn care contracting company, and he has been forging ahead in the business industry ever since. At the age of 26, he founded what would eventually become Mountain Leverage, a strategically focused business in the niche market of voice-enabled technology.
The capabilities and possibilities of Reneman’s company quickly grabbed the attention of the Pittsburgh-based company Vocollect, and Mountain Leverage soon became a key partner that is recognized today as the global leader in Vocollect voice integration. It also gives West Virginia natives the opportunity to play a part in a technology company impacting the quality and productivity landscape worldwide.
Before Mountain Leverage, Reneman held many other jobs. It was during this time that he realized something was missing in his life. “After the events of September 11, I took a hard look at my life and the value I was creating as a whole,” he says. “I was successful, but I wasn’t engaged in a community like I wanted to be, and I wasn’t around for my family.”
Reneman’s dreams of being part of a community were put on hold when the Iraq War called the West Virginia Army National Guard squad leader overseas to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom. “I learned so much during that time,” he says. “It’s an experience I’d never want to relive but also one I wouldn’t trade for anything. It has forever changed the way I look at life.”
Leveraging the people of the mountains has not just been a business philosophy for Reneman; he has spent a lot of his time improving his hometown of Grafton and changing its business outlook. In 2009, he came up with a practical and tangible community improvement project with real economic benefits: incorporating a reliable, wireless Internet connection in historic downtown Grafton. Before its implementation, much of the town did not have access to a secure connection. The addition of Wi-Fi was a great improvement for local businesses, allowing them to attract and better serve patrons.
Reneman is also actively involved in the Turn This Town Around project, which recently selected two West Virginia towns to receive the tools needed to revitalize their communities. For Grafton, Reneman created the Almost Heaven Index, a tool to help the community decide which projects would provide the greatest value to Grafton as a whole. He also worked alongside other community members in executing hands-on beautification projects like street cleanups.
Reneman also conducts political forums with local and state candidates and leaders and posts them to the town’s local access TV station to enable people to get to know candidates, leaders and issues better. “It’s an effort to help people understand more about their local elected officials, any levees up for vote and any major issues facing the community,” he explains. He continues to work on his Almost Heaven Index project, which will remain an important tool for communities in the Mountain State to measure their effectiveness in key areas and improve areas found to be deficient. He hopes this will be a way to incorporate outside studies and statistics, learn from them and transform the findings into unique advantages to living in West Virginia communities.
Transforming and caring for his community helps keep the outdoors picturesque for many of Reneman’s favorite hobbies, such as hiking, hunting, fishing and biking. “One of the interesting and unintended advantages of living in West Virginia is when I leave the office for the day, I am immediately transported out of the corporate business world into a place where life is calmer, nicer and less hurried,” Reneman says. “Add to that two little kids, and every experience becomes new again.”
What is your favorite…?
Color – Blue and gold
Food – My wife’s cooking
Cartoon Character – Bugs Bunny
Ice Cream – Chocolate
Animal – Bighorn sheep
Book – “The Dark Tower” series
App – RadarNow!
Midnight Snack – Cereal
TV Show – “Game of Thrones”
Movie – “The Man with No Name” trilogy
Smell – Honeysuckles in spring
Sport Team – U6 Kangaroos, my son’s soccer team
Car – My old Jeep C17
Pet – Any animal that doesn’t shed
Place – Home with my family
Written by Samantha Cart
Photography by Tracy Toler on location at I-79 Technology Park
