Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced three funding awards from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Small Business Administration (SBA) for the Greenbrier Valley County Economic Development Corporation (GVEDC), the Wellsburg Urban Renewal Authority, and BridgeValley Community and Technical College.
These awards, which were secured through Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) requests made by Senator Capito in Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), will help support business incubation, economic revitalization efforts, and education programs.
Locally, there will be $819,000 SBA CDS award to the Greenbrier Valley County Economic Development Corporation (Maxwelton) for the Greenbrier EDC Commercialization Center, a 40,000-square-foot space to be used as an incubator space to help provide small businesses, specifically manufacturing companies, with a place to grow. With the organization and its partners’ expertise, on-site trainings and advising will be offered to complement the space in support of true incubation. GVEDC anticipates serving up to eight businesses within the first year with the goal of retaining existing and creating new jobs. The goal of this incubator is for each business to outgrow the space to continue opening incubator opportunities for new businesses in the area.
“I was proud to use my position on the Appropriations Committee to advocate for and secure these awards that will help build on the activities and growth we are seeing at BridgeValley, in Wellsburg, and in Greenbrier County,” Senator Capito said. “Equipping our educators with better tools and resources has the potential to produce better workers and small business owners with a clear path to reach their full potential. I was also proud to deliver funding that will help West Virginia small businesses overcome barriers to entry to give them the opportunity to build and grow here in our state, especially in the northern panhandle and the growing area around the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.”
