The West Virginia Hive Network is proud to announce it is working in partnership with the Tamarack Foundation for the Arts (TFA) to provide entrepreneurship support for Establishing The Creative Network: West Virginia’s Arts Entrepreneur Ecosystem Project.
Through a Tamarack Foundation grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, WV Hive is a sub-awardee responsible for providing entrepreneurship coaching and training and working with arts business experts to develop comprehensive business training for artisans throughout West Virginia.
“This partnership with the WV Hive Network represents a significant milestone in our mission to support West Virginia’s creative economy,” Renée Margocee, TFA’s executive director, says. “By combining our expertise in the arts with the hive’s proven business development resources, we’re creating a powerful ecosystem that will help artists transform their passion into sustainable livelihoods.”
Judy Moore, executive director of WV Hive and deputy director of the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, says this initiative will address the gap in knowledge and expertise to meet the niche needs of artists who want to monetize their talents.
“We are very appreciative of the WV Hive’s longstanding partnership with The Tamarack Foundation for the Arts,” says Moore. “This collaboration is allowing us to formalize our partnership and combine the expertise of our two organizations – entrepreneurship and artisan support. It is also allowing us to work closely with Elaine Grogan Luttrull of Minerva Financial Arts and Jennifer Reis of Make Do Creative to develop an arts business module and training materials that will not only be rolled out to artisan entrepreneurs statewide through this project, but will also enhance the WV Hive’s toolbox and training offerings.”
Moore says Luttrull and Reis will facilitate this training for the WV Hive Network’s business coaches, and this pilot program will establish a solid base for support of arts entrepreneurs by educating business coaches on how to better serve artists. As Creative Network members prepare to list on the new online marketplace, WV Hive business coaches will provide arts business coaching to every member.
Moore says the grant sub-award will allow the WV Hive to hire one artist with business and entrepreneurial experience and train them as a business coach this year. She says the full WV Hive business coaching team serving southern West Virginia will be trained by the arts experts by September 2027 and will result in dozens of Creative Network members being connected with the WV Hive to receive one-on-one business coaching.
“Our business coaches see many artistic endeavors in their small business development counseling,” says Moore. “We are all very excited to tap this rich potential for the region.”
