The week of April 22 to April 28, 2007 was National Small Business Week, and the companies at the WVU
Business Incubator had something to celebrate.
The WVU Business Incubator, located on the sixth floor of the Chestnut Ridge Research Building (CRRB) on the Evansdale Campus, was started in 2004 as way to help small businesses by providing them with facilities and services that they may otherwise not have access to. Currently five tenants reside in the Incubator at the CRRB, and another ten companies are known as virtual tenants, using the services and some of the facilities, but having principal offices elsewhere.
In addition, the WVU Small Business Development Center is also located in the Incubator. This provides the businesses with yet another level of service and support. Five WVU Business Incubator companies have licensed technologies developed at West Virginia University, and another two are directly related to the work of faculty on campus.
Here are just some of the accomplishments that tenants and graduates of the WVU Business Incubator have
had this past year:
•Protea Biosciences, Inc. held an open house in March 2007 to highlight their new product, the Gel Protein Recovery System and their expanded facilities.
•Choosy Kids, LLC sold training materials to Head Starts all over the country.
•EyeMarker Systems, Inc. finished work on the prototype of the Ocular Scanning Instrument and will begin the research and testing phase of their product this year.
•SportsWeave, LLC produced 40 athletic combines all over the country for high school student athletes.
•Both Protea Biosciences, Inc. and Choosy Kids, LLC were featured in the 100 Most Influential by The Dominion Post.
“It has been a great year for all of our companies. It seems like everyday we have something new to celebrate at the Incubator,” said Incubator general manager Dusty Gwinn.
One of the newest tenants to the WVU Business Incubator also already has something pretty important to celebrate. Derrick McKee, owner and founder of Navway Records won $10,000 in startup money from the WVU Student Business Plan Competition by placing first in the lifestyles category. Navway Records became a resident tenant of the Incubator in July 2007. It is also expected that the technology category winner, Arachnovation, will soon join the Incubator.
From website design and maintenance to assistance is preparing an annual budget or business plan, tenants of the WVU Business Incubator are receiving important services that help them succeed in today’s business environment.
In addition, state of the art facilities such as a fully equipped conference room, high quality printer/copier, and a secure wireless network make the WVU Business Incubator an even better place for start-up companies to reside.
“Our tenants have access to state of the art equipment, as well as important business services provided by highly educated people,” said Gwinn.
The WVU Business Incubator and its tenant companies have been featured in numerous publications throughout the last year including: The Dominion Post, The State Journal, The Daily Athenaeum, Who’s Who in West Virginia Business, Goldenseal Magazine, the Charleston Daily Mail, and the Charleston Gazette. The WVU Business Incubator management and staff would like to congratulate all the small businesses in the area, especially its tenants on another successful year in business.
Written by Sherry White
Posted by Matt Livengood on September 21, 2007 at 12:04 pm in the following categories: Choosy Kids, EyeMarker Systems, Protea Biosciences, SportsWeave, WVUBI
