Fayetteville: One of four businesses will walk away from dinner with $5000 on, September 25, 2015 as the training portion of the 8th Annual Create West Virginia Conference culminates. A panel of seven judges with expertise in venture capital, economic development and startups narrowed the field of 25 competitors to four.
The dinner audience will have the final say as they cast their votes in real time to choose the winner of this year’s state wide business pitch contest. The cash award is sponsored by the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, and the competition is organized and managed this year by the region’s Valley Ventures Entrepreneurship Café, in partnership with NRGRDA, New River Community and Technical College and Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Authority and Visibility, LLC.
The $5000 prize is seed capital to be used to test business assumptions and develop key infrastructure that could benefit.Communities, grow opportunities, and serve as a model project for other communities seeking to create an entrepreneurial culture.“The four finalists are diverse, which is what we were hoping to see. It will be exciting to see how the crowd reacts to each pitch.
This stateside pitch event may be just what others need to experience to get the ball rolling in their communities,” says Katie Ickes, program manager at Valley Ventures.All four finalists will attend the three-day Create WV Conference courtesy of scholarships provided by Vision Shared.
