{"id":25563,"date":"2023-06-20T16:28:40","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T20:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/?p=25563"},"modified":"2023-06-20T16:30:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T20:30:30","slug":"brandon-dennison-tapped-for-marshalls-vice-president-of-economic-and-workforce-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/2023\/06\/brandon-dennison-tapped-for-marshalls-vice-president-of-economic-and-workforce-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Brandon Dennison tapped for Marshall\u2019s vice president of economic and workforce development"},"content":{"rendered":"
Marshall University President Brad D. Smith today announced that Brandon Dennison, founder and CEO of Coalfield Development, will join Marshall as vice president of economic and workforce development, effective July 1, 2023.<\/p>\n

The new post is part of Smith\u2019s goal to position the university as a prosperity platform for West Virginia and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarshall has many expert departments with dedicated staff working to make a positive impact in our communities, so we are excited to have someone with Brandon\u2019s vision and leadership to help us further grow our collective impact,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI cannot think of a better person to lead this team than Brandon. As a nationally renowned social enterprise expert and a son of southern West Virginia, he brings his unparalleled passion, intense energy and knowledge of Appalachia to this post. We are thrilled that he is joining our Marshall community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennison is the founder and CEO of Coalfield Development and will remain as Coalfield Development\u2019s executive president, where he will still work with the team to develop and implement overall long-term strategy for the nonprofit.<\/p>\n

He will help select and train a new CEO this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate President Smith\u2019s confidence in me, and I am excited to help write Marshall\u2019s next chapter of positive impact and positive change,\u201d Dennison said, \u201cThe intersection of knowledge and industry is where real traction begins for modern economic development. Under President Smith, Marshall is leading the way on economic development in this region. I\u2019m going to do all I can to build on this momentum and take it to the next level. Go Herd!\u201d<\/p>\n

In his new role, Dennison\u00a0will be part of Marshall\u2019s external engagement team.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrandon is a great addition to our team,\u201d said H. Toney Stroud, general counsel and vice president of external affairs. \u201cWe are excited for him to bring his entrepreneurial spirit to strengthen our economic development efforts for not only southern West Virginia, but also the Tri-State region and across the Mountain State.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennison is tasked with working with his department heads to develop the collective vision for Marshall\u2019s economic and workforce development efforts and applied research projects. His team includes Marshall\u2019s Advanced Manufacturing Center, the Southern WV Brownfields Center, the Center for Environmental, Geotechnical, and Applied Sciences, Marshall\u2019s Sustainability Department, and the Alliance for the Economic Development of Southern West Virginia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have worked with Brandon for many years on various projects, and I am excited that he is joining the Marshall team,\u201d Derek Scarbro, interim director of Marshall\u2019s Advanced Manufacturing Center said. \u201cHe is a visionary, coalition-builder who will only strengthen Marshall\u2019s reach and help implement the President\u2019s vision to 10x our manufacturing training and services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennison is a winner of the J.M.K. Social Innovation Prize, a DRK Entrepreneur, and an Ashoka Fellow, all awards for social entrepreneurs. In 2019, he was awarded the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy, and Employment.<\/p>\n

He is married to Ashley, and they have two sons.<\/p>\n

Dennison’s Marshall roots run deep.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brothers are both Marshall graduates and my wife did her graduate work at Marshall. My parents taught there. My sons are slated to attend the STEAM Academy,\u201d he said. \u201cThis university holds a special place in my heart, and this is much more than a job. The \u2018We Are Marshall\u2019 rally cry always gives me chills. The \u201cWe\u201d captures the sense of community so special at this place. The \u201cAre\u201d verb captures the in-motion action which defines the university. It is truly humbling to have this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marshall University President Brad D. Smith today announced that Brandon Dennison, founder and CEO of Coalfield Development, will join Marshall as vice president of economic and workforce development, effective July 1, 2023. The new post is part of Smith\u2019s goal to position the university as a prosperity platform for West Virginia and beyond. \u201cMarshall has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":239,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,45,46,26],"tags":[59,60],"class_list":["post-25563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements","category-featured","category-murc","category-news-releases","tag-economic-development","tag-west-virginia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/239"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25563"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25567,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25563\/revisions\/25567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}