Views & Visions

In West Virginia, small businesses are not a segment of our economy—they are the economy.

Across our communities, the overwhelming majority of businesses are small, locally owned, and deeply rooted. They employ our neighbors. They serve our towns. They shape the places we live.

If we want to grow our economy, strengthen our communities, and create lasting opportunities, we must grow our entrepreneurs.

I have been fortunate to be a successful entrepreneur, economic development professional, and small business owner in our state. I have built businesses here. I have seen others do ...

When most people think of entrepreneurship, they think of small businesses and side hustles or startups and spinouts. At the Marshall University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (iCenter), when we think of entrepreneurship, we think of innovation. Innovation not only sparks new ventures—it enables existing businesses to adapt, grow, and scale in an ever-changing world. It is the foundation that allows ideas to evolve into lasting impact.

Our story begins in 2017, when Marshall hosted the Innovating for Impact Design Challenge. Brad D. Smith, then CEO of Intuit and ...

When I was asked to contribute to this edition of Views and Visions, focusing on entrepreneurship, my first thought was I should learn how to spell it. I misspelled it the first couple of times I tried and then had to rely on spellcheck, praise the Lord!

My 27-year journey of being an entrepreneur, if that’s what you want to call it, began in 1999. My recollection of that summer and early fall is that they were similar to many others, relatively nondescript. I had no idea when my company was born that I was becoming an entrepreneur. It was much simpler, much more basic—I needed to make a living ...

In our first-ever Views & Visions video feature, James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur Paul Smith shares how family, food, and a leap of faith shaped his path from chef to entrepreneur—and why building something lasting starts with betting on yourself.

Chef Paul Smith is a James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur based in Charleston, West Virginia. A graduate of West Virginia State University and the Culinary Institute of America, he owns multiple Charleston restaurants, including 1010 Bridge, Paulie’s Fine Italian, and Bad Happy Burritos, where his work ...