SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Trails of Opportunity
Entrepreneurs and Investors Needed
www.trailsheaven.com
Bryan Shaw
(304) 687-7908
[email protected]
www.facebook.com/
southernwvbusiness
Justin White
(304) 575-1462
[email protected]
www.ncifund.org
The Hatfield McCoy Trail System
in Southern West Virginia reached
a milestone in permit sales in 2018.
The system, which operates more
than 700 miles of all-terrain vehicle
trails (ATV) in five Southern West
Virginia counties, sold more than
50,000 annual user permits to trail
riders in 2018, with more than 87
percent of those permits going to
non-West Virginia residents. This
has created a tremendous opportu-
nity for new investments in lodging
and other trail-related businesses
for these areas. The continued
growth of the trail system is centered
around private-sector investment—
without it, the system cannot
succeed.
The Hatfield McCoy Regional
Recreation Authority continues
to expand and develop new trail
systems, providing new areas in
which entrepreneurs can invest.
The public-private partnership that
exists between the authority and its
entrepreneurs is one of mutual
benefit and necessity—the two
need one another to succeed. The
Hatfield McCoy Regional Recre-
ation Authority operates the trails
and trailheads and provides main-
tenance while the entrepreneurs
develop businesses the riders need.
While the trail system has grown
substantially in its 18 years of
existence, this growth can only
continue with capital investment
into more ancillary businesses like
lodging facilities, restaurants and
ATV rental companies. The glass
ceiling for the trail system continues
to be a lack of beds for riders. On
any given weekend during peak
season, there are far more riders
wanting to visit the trail system
than beds to accommodate them,
and it’s a problem that can only be
solved by entrepreneurs and capital
investments. The authority has part-
nered with Bryan Shaw at South-
ern West Virginia Community and
Technical College and Justin White
at the Natural Capital Investment
Fund to help entrepreneurs with
business plan assistance, techni-
cal assistance and capital access.
Shaw and White are working to
help businesses open around the
trail system and make Southern
West Virginia a tourism destina-
tion for outdoor recreation.