FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Contact: Ginny Painter, Communications Director, Marshall University Research Corporation 304-746-1964
Marshall, RCBI host roundtable discussion to celebrate Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge awards
University
to partner in federal jobs initiative
HUNTINGTON,
W.Va. – Marshall University and its Robert C. Byrd Institute for
Advanced Flexible Manufacturing (RCBI) hosted a roundtable
discussion focused on spurring job growth in regional economies. Marshall
was selected to host the event, which was convened by U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall,
because the university and RCBI are key players in one of
two West Virginia projects recently selected for funding through
the federal Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge.
At the
roundtable held at the RCBI facility in Huntington, Rahall, officials
from Marshall and representatives from the U.S. Department of Commerce
Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Appalachian Regional Commission
(ARC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development joined
local businesses to discuss how federal investments in southern West
Virginia can facilitate economic growth and job creation in the region.
Officials
joining Rahall for the roundtable included Dr. Stephen J. Kopp, president,
Marshall University; Matt Erskine, acting assistant secretary for economic
development, U.S. Department of Commerce; Earl Gohl, federal co-chairman of the
Appalachian Regional Commission; Bobby Lewis, state director, rural
development, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Keith Burdette, secretary,
West Virginia Department of Commerce.
Rounding
out the panel were representatives of RCBI, Concord
University, TechConnect West Virginia, the Summit Bechtel Family National
Scout Reserve, Carbon Fiber Composites, Collaborative for the 21st Century, the
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, the West Virginia Community
Development Hub and the National Capital Investment Fund. The moderator
was Dr. John Maher, Marshall vice president for research.
Panel
participants addressed a number of topics, including the network of
partnerships that will carry out the Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator
Challenge projects, the state of entrepreneurship and how the grants will
advance other economic development activities in the region.
The
two West Virginia projects funded through the Rural Jobs and Innovation
Accelerator Challenge include the Southern West Virginia Rural Jobs
Accelerator, which will receive $717,985 in federal funds, and the West
Virginia Value Chain Cluster Initiative, which was awarded $815,000. The West
Virginia initiatives were two of 13 funded from a national pool of 62
applicants.
In
the Southern West Virginia Rural Jobs Accelerator, the Marshall University
Research Corporation and RCBI are partnering with TechConnect
West Virginia, the Concord University Research and Development Corporation, and
the National Capital Investment Fund on an effort to create new jobs in
southern West Virginia. The partners will use the grant funding to concentrate
on the expansion of manufacturing and tourism by providing technical
assistance, workforce development, entrepreneurism support and a wealth of
collaborated resources in Fayette, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe,
Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming counties.
The
second award, for the West Virginia Value Chain Cluster Initiative, is a
statewide project that will expand the business and financial capacity of four
regional food-related “value chain clusters.” It will deliver a comprehensive
and integrated set of hands-on technical assistance and coaching services that
will further strengthen management, operational and financial expertise of the
clusters. The primary objective is to support the clusters’ ability to increase
capacity and extend their impact and the long-term sustainability of their
value chains.
The
Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge is an interagency collaboration
combining the resources of the EDA, the USDA, the ARC and the Delta Regional
Authority into one funding opportunity focused on regional approaches to rural
economic growth. The competition was established last summer to bring greater
federal attention and collaboration to the needs of rural communities and spur
job creation and economic growth in rural regions across the country.
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