For 30 years the Robert C. Byrd Institute has been an invaluable resource for manufacturers, inventors, entrepreneurs, educators and students.
Born in the humble surroundings of the basement of Old Main in 1990, the Robert C. Byrd Institute has had an impact that extends well beyond the university and beyond the borders of West Virginia. From the entrepreneur with an idea sketched on a napkin to Fortune 500 companies, RCBI assists businesses of all sizes as they develop and launch new products, enter new markets and increase sales so they can thrive and prosper. And it has been doing this for 30 years now.
“That’s 30 years of working with companies to help improve their manufacturing and operational practices,” said Charlotte Weber, RCBI director and CEO since 1996. “Thirty years of introducing new technologies. Thirty years of offering hands-on skills training in manual and computer-controlled machining. Thirty years of advancing innovative economic development in West Virginia.”
Marshall President Jerome A. Gilbert is an enthusiastic supporter of RCBI.
“The development and continued sustainability of RCBI at Marshall University is the result of the efforts of many forward-thinking people, including Director Weber,” said Gilbert. “Marshall and RCBI, working in tandem over the last three decades, have helped launch small businesses, trained thousands of workers and provided a solid base of economic support for opportunities across the state. I’m optimistic the next 30 years will be even brighter.”
RCBI was founded when the federal government funded eight “Factories of the Future” pilot projects across the country designed to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers adopt the latest technology. The late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., made sure one of those projects was located at Marshall. All the centers have since closed except one — RCBI.
“Part of our ability to outlast the other centers is our willingness to change and adapt,” said Mike Friel, director of communications at RCBI. “Not only have we survived, we have thrived.”
RCBI quickly outgrew its cramped quarters at Old Main and moved to the former Huntington Trust & Savings Bank building at 1040 4th Ave. in downtown Huntington.
“Today we operate not just the facility here in Huntington, but additional advanced manufacturing centers in South Charleston and in Bridgeport, as well as manufacturing training centers in Williamson and Welch,” Weber said.
RCBI is a multi-faceted technology center that provides diverse services to manufacturers, entrepreneurs, educators and students. It’s perhaps best known for its shared manufacturing facilities that provide access to state-of-the-art equipment and cutting-edge technologies that are available for affordable lease.
Workforce training is a key component of RCBI’s operation. Responding to a nationwide shortage of skilled machinists, RCBI in 1998, with the help and guidance of a statewide industry board of advisors, created its nationally recognized Machinist Technology Program, which combines classroom instruction with hands-on training.
The program offers certifications in both manual and computer-numerical-controlled (CNC) machining. Graduates earn individual certifications from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills and have an opportunity to earn a two-year degree from a local community and technical college — either Mountwest in Huntington or Southern in Williamson and Welch.
RCBI is also widely known for its advanced welding programs, offered at partner locations, the Cabell County Career and Technical Center and the Spring Valley Career and Technical Center. Students and individuals have the opportunity to learn the most advanced welding techniques as well as earn their AWS certification and an associate degree from Mountwest Community and Technical College.
RCBI provides clients a wide array of design engineering, reverse engineering, additive manufacturing (more commonly called “3D printing”) and rapid prototyping capabilities.
The former bank that now houses RCBI had a vault which, naturally enough, held money. Today, the repurposed vault is home to an array of high-tech equipment that includes 3D printers, laser etchers and engravers, routers, vinyl cutters and more. RCBI’s community makerspace — better known as the “Maker Vault” — regularly welcomes inventive souls who’ve come up with an idea but may have nothing more than a sketch on a paper napkin.
RCBI’s reach is far and wide. Through its customized training programs and Apprenticeship Works initiative, RCBI helps manufacturers across the nation implement training programs and manage apprenticeship programs.
Apprenticeships offer workers an opportunity to learn while they earn, providing them with both a weekly paycheck and essential on-the-job training. Both customized training and apprenticeships benefit employers large and small by providing them with a strong, dependable talent pipeline.
In a pioneering effort, RCBI created a model apprenticeship program for West Virginia employers. Employers that use RCBI’s approach are able to establish apprenticeships more quickly and thus address their need for skilled workers faster.
The RCBI initiative so impressed the U.S. Department of Labor that it awarded RCBI a $4.9 million grant to expand its model to companies nationwide. As a result, RCBI is not only the largest manufacturing apprenticeship sponsor in West Virginia, it also has delivered its Apprenticeship Works initiative to employers in 18 states.
RCBI also assists manufacturers and suppliers with implementation of quality management systems. This service helps ensure they remain effective suppliers and are able to successfully compete for government and private contracts. RCBI also helps clients develop Leadership, Lean and Risk Management skills as well as earn lean canvas manufacturing certifications that immediately help companies identify lead times for new products and assess new markets.
Say a professor has an idea for a new product. Or an entrepreneur wants to test his design for a better fastener. Perhaps an existing business seeks to launch a new product line. These and many other ideas have become reality with RCBI’s help. Since 2012 RCBI has awarded nearly $700,000 in early-stage assistance to 172 West Virginia entrepreneurs and startup companies, helping them design and patent new products, in-source work, cut lead times and create jobs.
RCBI’s early-stage funding programs have generated more than $70 million in state sales and led to the creation of nearly 400 jobs, according to economic impact analyses by Marshall.
West Virginia is home to nearly a dozen auto parts manufacturers that each year spend more than $200 million purchasing goods and services, yet only a third or so of that total is spent with state suppliers.
In 2019, RCBI partnered with Advantage Valley to host an Automotive Supply Chain Expo, bringing representatives from the state’s auto parts industry face to face with suppliers who potentially could provide goods and services faster, more reliably and even cheaper.
The event proved highly successful and was followed by a similar one designed to link small West Virginia businesses with major chemical and polymer manufacturers in the state. That, too, proved a successful event. Now, responding to the challenges presented from the coronavirus, RCBI is hosting virtual supply chain events with major steel companies and others.
Agricultural Innovations, funded by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, is an RCBI initiative designed to improve opportunities for the farming and agricultural economy across West Virginia. The initiative involves realizing a vision of supporting and enhancing a vibrant local foods system powered by entrepreneurship, innovation and technology. State farmers and entrepreneurs who have an idea that will improve opportunities for the farming and agricultural sector are invited to seek early-stage assistance from RCBI to help move their ideas from concept to reality.
A 2016 feasibility study commissioned by the Huntington Area Development Council concluded that the Huntington region is well positioned to support, expand and enhance the footprint of its aviation and aerospace industry by connecting local manufacturers to the supply chain as well as enhancing the aviation workforce.
Today, RCBIAero, funded by a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, is working with Marshall and Mountwest to help make that happen. Marshall is opening a flight school located at Yeager Airport in Charleston, and Huntington’s Tri-State Airport will be home to a state-of-the-art, new Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) program designed to educate students in aircraft maintenance and repair operations. This new program will allow students to earn their FAA certification and earn degrees from both Marshall University and Mountwest Community and Technical College, the first dual degree program in the state of West Virginia.
Looking ahead, Weber sees a bright future for RCBI and its many clients. “We look forward to the next 30 years serving on the front lines of technological sophistication, providing new and powerful tools to help make things we can only now imagine, and bringing them into the lives of people who will use them.”
About the author: James E. Casto is the retired associate editor of the Huntington Herald-Dispatch and the author of a number of books on local and regional history.
Photos: (From second from the top) Charlotte Weber is the RCBI director and CEO. RCBI provides clients a wide array of design engineering, reverse engineering, additive manufacturing (more commonly called “3D printing”) and rapid prototyping capabilities. For 30 years RCBI has been working with companies and students to help improve their manufacturing and operational skills while introducing them to new technologies. Students can learn the most advanced welding techniques at RCBI’s partner locations, the Cabell County Career and Technical Center and the Spring Valley Career and Technical Center. Advanced manufacturing centers are located in Huntington, South Charleston and Bridgeport and manufacturing training centers are located in Williamson and Welch.