West Virginia’s Premier Business Publication
Developing and growing a donor base pre-pandemic was a nearly mature industry with defined best-practices. Professional fundraisers reviewed and tweaked mission statements to be relevant and well-coordinated with the level of the ask. Donors and constituents relied on a social and traditional mix of media, annual reports and corporate communication to determine applicable funding.
Like many across America, West Virginia’s small towns have struggled in recent years. Main streets have often been filled with empty storefronts, peeling paint and only a sprinkling of shoppers. City administrators and chambers of commerce work hard to promote and support new business in towns across our state, yet main streets have seemingly stalled. Just what will turn things around? Saint Albans now knows. It is our youth.
Wheeling Country Day School (WCDS) is a unique place. Nestled in the Woodsdale neighborhood of Wheeling with the Ohio Valley foothills rising all around, the six-acre mini college campus teems with energy all year long. Kids and adults are outside every day, rain or shine, and “learn everywhere” has become a motto of sorts, especially these last two years.
In 2018, Marshall University opened the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, or iCenter, dedicated to inspiring an entrepreneurial spirit among students and empowering them with the necessary education to reframe the economic future of West Virginia and Appalachia.
Running a nontraditional business for the past 12 years and working with clients from the health care field to professional athletes, Kristin Meeks, owner of WV Social Media, thought she had seen it all when it came to business techniques, marketing and interpersonal communication. That was until the pandemic hit.
Trilogy Innovations, Inc., an 8(a) certified small business located in Morgantown, WV, kicked off the summer of 2021 with its first Technical Internship Program. The leadership team at Trilogy Innovations started this program with intentions of helping engage and give back to the local community, while also creating an interactive and immersive learning experience through real-world scenarios that are prevalent within the world of IT consulting.