Born and raised in Cabell County, West Virginia, Brandon grew up understanding both the promise and challenges of Appalachia. Marshall University was always part of that story. His parents taught at Marshall and the institution stood as a gateway of opportunity for the region he calls home.
Today, as Marshall’s vice president of economic and workforce development, Brandon is helping expand that gateway.
Long before joining Marshall University, Brandon was working to answer a question that had followed him through his life: why did economic hardship persist in communities filled with capable, hardworking people?
The answer began to take shape during a college service trip in southern West Virginia. While repairing a home for an elderly resident, two young men approached his volunteer group wearing tool belts and asked if paid work was available.
“They weren’t looking for charity,” he said. “They were looking for opportunity.”
That brief interaction helped inspire the creation of Coalfield Development, the social enterprise Brandon founded to help create jobs while training workers at the same time. His model at Coalfield Development combined 33 work hours with six hours of higher education and three hours of personal development each week. This proved workforce training and economic revitalization could happen together, a philosophy that would later follow him to Marshall.
Brandon credits Marshall President Brad D. Smith’s vision of Marshall For All, Marshall Forever with bringing those ideas into higher education.
“My business mentor became Brad Smith while I was at Coalfield Development. Before he came to Marshall, he was my business coach,” Brandon said. “When he came to Marshall, he basically said, I want you to take what you’ve learned at Coalfield Development and apply it here at Marshall and become part of this vision — Marshall For All, Marshall Forever.”
As a result of President Smith’s vision, the definition of student is expanding at Marshall.
“It could be a welder on a river barge, a truck driver on the interstate or someone learning online from across the country,” Brandon said. “Marshall for All really means for all.”
That shift is reshaping how education connects directly to opportunity across Appalachia and beyond.
Much of Brandon’s work focuses on removing a choice many working adults believe they have to make — earning a paycheck or gaining new skills.
“That should not be an if, then proposition,” he said. “We should be able to learn and earn together, at the same time and have a platform to do that. Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center (MAMC) shows that beautifully with apprenticeships.”
Through initiatives like MAMC, workers train for careers in advanced manufacturing, robotics, machining and welding while remaining employed. In 2025, MAMC trained nearly 1,200 members of the workforce preparing for high-demand careers.
Equally important are the skills employers request most: communication, teamwork, adaptability and leadership.
“These durable skills are what employers everywhere are asking for,” Brandon said.
Programs like the Marshall Skills Exchange allow learners to build those competencies through flexible online microcredentials that can stack toward career advancement. For many participants, the first credential becomes the first step toward renewed confidence.
Brandon’s work at Marshall also connects workforce development with entrepreneurship and innovation through the Brownsfield Assistance Center, the Appalachian Resiliency Center, MAMC and the IDEA District.
Marshall’s IDEA District and partnerships between research, education and private investment, are transforming underused spaces in Huntington into hubs for innovation, training and business creation.
At MAMC alone, more than 300 businesses annually receive support developing prototypes, testing concepts and launching new ventures — sometimes starting with nothing more than an idea sketched on a napkin.
Despite large-scale economic goals, Brandon measures success in individual stories.
During a tour of MAMC, university leaders met a recent graduate, a young mother who previously worked at a gas station while struggling to support her family. After completing training at Marshall, she secured full-time employment as a welder and discovered a passion she never knew she had.
“She talked about how proud her kids were of her,” Brandon said. “That’s what this is all about — helping people unlock potential they already have.”
Each person who gains new skills contributes to rebuilding the region’s economy from the ground up.
Looking ahead, Brandon hopes Marshall will be remembered for changing how higher education serves communities.
“I want Marshall’s legacy to be that we redefined what it means to be a college student,” he said. “And by doing that, we helped prepare the workforce of the future. There will always be a special place for traditional 18-year-olds here on campus, but there are also 100 other ways to become a Marshall student and I’m excited about all of them.”
From apprenticeships and microcredentials to entrepreneurship and advanced manufacturing, Marshall’s impact now extends far beyond campus and into workplaces, communities and industries across the region and beyond.
For Brandon, helping lead that transformation feels less like a career move and more like a calling.
“This university has always meant opportunity,” he said. “Now we’re making sure more people than ever can access it.”
