

Reframing the Future of Appalachia
Our mission is to inspire the inner-entrepreneur in everyone and empower them with the innovation knowledge they need to reframe the future of our state and region.
We imagine a day when an entrepreneurial mindset drives inspiration, innovation, and impact across the Lewis College of Business and Brad D. Smith Schools of Business, the Marshall University campus, and our community.
2018
Year Established
472
People innovated using Intuit's Design for Delight (D4D) at our workshops in 2019-20
612
People reached through our speaking engagements on innovation and entrepreneurship
15
Small businesses and entrepreneurs supported through one on one coaching
Programs

West Virginia Career and Technical Education (CTE) Entrepreneurship Education
The iCenter promotes an entrepreneurial mindset and business venture development within West Virginia's CTE schools through the support of two grants.

West Virginia Innovation and Business Model Competition
In 2020, the iCenter hosted the second annual WVIBMC, a statewide competition open to all college students enrolled at a two- or four-year institution in the state of West Virginia.

Entrepreneurs in Action
Our iCenter Fellows created Entrepreneurs in Action through their Stanford University Innovation Fellows program. This event taught students innovation and entrepreneurship while also helping Huntington's small business community.
Blogs
November 03, 2021
Four Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Business
A couple of months ago, I was telling someone that my job is to help people start businesses and she responded, “So basically you make dreams come true!”
October 07, 2021
Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution
Starting a company is a risky business. (Pardon the pun.) Roughly 2 out of every 10 new businesses fail in their first year, and about 7 out of every 10 new businesses have failed...
August 05, 2021
Implement Tech Into Your Business, Or Get Left Behind
In the modern world, technology is a necessity for all businesses. It is not enough to just have a website that offers your products or services anymore. You need to offer...
June 03, 2021
Why Your Business Should Reinvent the Wheel
We’ve all heard the old adage that there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Yet, history has shown us time and time again that companies that strictly follow this advice often do...
May 06, 2021
Developing the Right Mindset Toward Information Disclosure
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” These sage words, slightly paraphrased from John Heywood centuries ago, have been uttered countless times across inestimable contexts. Most...
April 08, 2021
Jumping Generations in the Land of Opportunity: West Virginia
Reversing the cycle of generational poverty is the grand challenge of our time here in West Virginia. Generational poverty ensues when two consecutive generations of a family have...
March 03, 2021
The Leap from Failure to Success: Why Entrepreneurs Should Test Their Assumptions
Recent data paints a clear picture of the critical role small businesses play in our economy. There were over 33 million small businesses in the United States in 2020. This means...
February 03, 2021
Look Closer: Appalachia’s New Economy is Emerging
The organization I founded in 2010, Coalfield Development, has been a leader in modeling what a new, more sustainable, and more fair Appalachian economy can look like. As the coal...
October 22, 2020
Designing Life Decisions
Each day we make hundreds of decisions. Some of these decisions are simple, like what will you eat for breakfast...
October 20, 2020
Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made?
As a professor who teaches entrepreneurship for a living, I’m often asked the question, “Are entrepreneurs born or made?” It reminds of a similar question...: “Are leaders born or...