Category: Articles
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Research, Innovation, Commercialization…Growth
The innovation economy continues to pop up its head in West Virginia. While still not quite up to the growth rate found in other states, West Virginia’s technology, biomedical and related R&D-driven industries are beginning to share the impact they are having on our prosperity. The most recent update was from WVU, supported by the…
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Cafe Cimino Brings Quality to Sutton’s Place
If you asked a business consultant for an ideal location to place a high-end, nationally recognized restaurant and country inn, Sutton, WV, in Braxton County, may not show up on the list…or at least not near the top. createwv.typepad.com However, Tim and Melody Urbanic, the entrepreneurs who started Cafcreatewv.typepad.come Cimino nine years ago, turned their…
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Rural Broadband Education Workshops
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct four educational workshops focused on rural broadband during 2008. The workshops will provide an opportunity for communities and organizations in rural America seeking to bring the benefits of broadband to their communities to learn about the resources, programs, and policies of…
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Government’s Role in the New Economy
Whatever your opinion of government, whether you fall into the pure free-markets, “less is more” camp or the hands-on government camp, there should be one thing we all agree on: government has quite an influence on our state. With up to 52% of our state economy somehow connected to government spending (yes, the highest in…
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Building Our Collective Creativity
Our rallying cry for Create West Virginia is provided by legendary communications guru and author George Lois: “Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.” So how exactly do we embrace this mantra and develop our collective creativity in West Virginia? How do we apply this…
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What is West Virginia’s Brand?
What does the name West Virginia stand for in the minds of most people? For those in the business world, this is often referred to as our “brand.” One definition of the term brand from BusinessDictionary.com is: Unique design, sign, symbol, words, or a combination of these, employed in creating an image that identifies a…
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OneWVU – Getting Proactive in the Fight Against Bigotry
With some of the recent concerns over racial discrimination in our state, it is important to identify and celebrate examples of people taking a stand against bigotry. OneWVU was developed after a WVU soccer player, who is black, was harassed with a racial epithet on campus. WVU’s soccer coach, Marion LeBlanc, who is also black,…
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Economic Gardening
Way back in 1987, the City of Littleton, Colorado pioneered an entrepreneurial alternative to the traditional economic development practice of recruiting industries. This demonstration program, developed in conjunction with the Center for the New West, was called “economic gardening.” The belief was that “economic gardening” was a better approach for Littleton (and perhaps many other…
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“Teach to Test” – not in the 21st Century.
State School Superintendent Steve Paine’s recognition that “we’ve relied too heavily on standardized tests to improve student performance” and that standardized tests like WESTEST are “not good as a tool to improve individual student achievement” (Daily Mail, Jan.2) is a welcome start to making education relevant again for students. Emphasizing fine arts, wellness, global awareness,…
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WV State U Extension Site is Fabulous!
Just ran across a new site today after seeing a comment on Bill Gardners’s Oncee@Blogger blog. By the way, if you’re into blogging and facebook and in the Charleston area, you ought to check out the Charleston Area Bloggers facebook group. So in response to the post Bill wrote about Sarah Winn’s Gazette article on…