From Classrooms to Careers
SAMANTHA CART
Photo by Tracy A . Toler Photography .
Establishing an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in West Virginia
Across West Virginia , a simple idea has taken root . For the Mountain State to become a place where startup companies and innovators thrive , entrepreneurship must be taught at every level of the education system and supported by state and local government and the business community at large .
While traditional businesses and large investments that create hundreds of jobs are something to be celebrated — especially in a state working to define itself outside of its longstanding energy identity — the fact remains that 96 % of employers in West Virginia are small businesses . According to the U . S . Small Business Administration , the state was home to 113,410 small businesses in 2019 and saw an increase in business startups in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic created job losses that forced people into a creative survival mode .
While the seed for this idea was planted long ago — seemingly inside the very DNA of Mountaineers — it is finally starting to bear fruit and has grown into a network of partners working together across demographic and geographic lines to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem in West Virginia .
Empowering the Emerging Workforce
If the first time a student is introduced to the concept that they are able to start their own business is in college , it might already be too late . The West Virginia Department of Education ( WVDE ) empowers the state ’ s emerging workforce every year with career technical education ( CTE ), providing academic and technical skills , knowledge and training in a variety of categories .
In 2019 , 7,690 students in West Virginia completed stateapproved CTE programs , and the number grew to 8,812 in 2020 . There are 152 CTE locations in West Virginia , including 121 high schools and 22 county centers . CTE gives students the power to explore potential careers in a variety of handson , technical training programs , including agriculture , construction , communication , education , finance , government , health sciences , hospitality and tourism , information technology , manufacturing , mathematics and science , among others .
One such CTE category is referred to as entreag , and students in this program are required to complete an immersive
66
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE