SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
(304) 345-6200
www.wvjit.org
A Drive for Success
in West Virginia
Economic Impact
WVJIT currently has 20
companies in its portfolio ranging
from education technology,
biotechnology and aquaculture to
automotive products, Fintech
and health care. A study
that evaluated the economic
contributions by WVJIT’s portfolio
companies from 1999-2011
concluded that they created:
• $104,429,000 in total
industry output
• $44,404,000 in gross
state product
• $32,940,000 in total
employee compensation
• $3,765,000 in total state
and local taxes
• 814 jobs
Capital Partners
To date, INNOVA has worked
with more than 500 companies
and entrepreneurs and placed
more than $2.9 million of direct
investments into 18 companies.
Fifteen of those companies
attracted an additional $6,658,000
in follow-up investments. On
average, for every $1 invested by
INNOVA, these companies were
able to attract an additional
$2.23 in follow-up funding,
including out-of-state venture
capital, providing the opportunity
to retain 100 jobs and create 32
new positions.
Early stage investment capital is
a vital and critical component of a
healthy business climate due to its
contribution to rapid economic de-
velopment and growth in state, re-
gional and national economies. Risk-
based equity capital stimulates and
facilitates technological advances
and products into the market place,
thereby enhancing innovation, pro-
ductivity, employment growth and
wealth creation. This type of capital
is often viewed as a catalyst to tech-
nological innovation and advance-
ment across many business sectors
that results in economic growth and
the transformation of economies.
The West Virginia Jobs Investment
Trust (WVJIT), West Virginia’s ven-
ture capital fund, operates with the
goal of investing in entrepreneurs,
funding development, growing
companies and creating jobs.
“Entrepreneurs are the future of
West Virginia,” says Michele O’Con-
nor, WVJIT investment manager.
“They drive economic growth and
will help diversify the state’s economy.
For us, success is seeing a company
go to the next level. That is defined
differently for each company, but
creating jobs and generating revenue
are always considered successes.”
With pressure on the budgets of
many state agencies, organizations
such as WVJIT and INNOVA Com-
mercialization Group, an initiative
of the High Technology Foundation,
are stepping up to provide debt
capital to startups and growing
companies. WVJIT’s proven method
of structuring investments and
loans that are in the best interest of
the fund and the company allows
for transaction flexibility and the
ability to act as a long-term investor
and partner. The group also provides
non-financial resources such as
collaborative networking, technical
assistance, corporate consulting and
strategy development/execution.
“At one point, all new technologies
were research, all companies were
startups and all successful enter-
prises went through predictable
and predefined stages of funding at