West Virginia Small Business Development Center

Morgantown was Josh Bennett’s home while he attended West Virginia University in 2006, but the distance between the college town and the farm he grew up on in Highland County, Virginia stretched further than the 150 miles of country roads separating the two locations. As far as Bennett was concerned, city living, and farm life were a world apart.

Bennett had a genuine passion for agriculture and couldn’t wait to get back to his roots once he finished studying horticulture at WVU.

“All I knew was that when I got out of college, I wanted work with agricultural products,” he said. “I wanted the agrarian lifestyle.”

Bennett only needed to find a way to make it all work.

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Psychopath Escape Room opens in Raleigh County

What started as a whim for escapist fun grew into a business adventure.

Philip and Paul Akers are member managers and Nikki and Belinda Akers are members of Psychopath Escape Room LLC in Mount Hope.

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Bluefield café owner transitions from employee to entrepreneur with help from WV SBDC.

Nicole Coeburn had a respectable career working in a community she loved. But like many millennials she yearned for more.

Having grown up in a family of entrepreneurs, Coeburn wanted to own a small business like her grandmother, father and uncles before her. But starting a business is easier said than done. And like many young professionals looking to take the leap, she still had a day job. How would she make a clean break and pursue her dream? And where would she even start?

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A new automotive service store, Ziebart, opened its doors last Friday, August 9th in Morgantown. The store offers automotive services including undercoating, rust protection, rhino-lining, detailing, window tint, ceramic paint protection. The franchise is owned by twin brothers Mark and Nick Lambie. The West Virginia Small Business Development Center (WV SBDC) assisted with:

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Imagine how confident you would feel knowing that your business is positioned to be successful for years to come. With profits rolling in, you could focus on strategically growing your company. Whatever plans you have for taking your business to the next level, the West Virginia Small Business Development Center can help you come up with a  plan, get results and make more money in the process.

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Buckhannon Lanes had been a recreational fixture in Upshur County for 56 years. Now teens, friends and family can continue to have a ball in the same spot, updated under new owners as Woody’s Bowling Center.

Opened in 1962 by the Archer family, the bowling business was purchased by the Archer sisters and their husbands in 1974. Upshur County natives Cemantha and her husband Ron Woody purchased the second-generation family-owned bowling alley in 2018.

The couple had a vision of what they wanted to achieve. They’re getting it done, with a little coaching from the West Virginia Small Business Development Center and investment from BCBank.

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Buckhannon market and catering service specializes in chef-prepared meals made fresh daily with regional foods

Longtime friends Dale Hawkins and Teresa Lipps opened Fish Hawk Acres in 2007, operating their farm-fresh catering business out of the back of an IGA in Rock Cave, Upshur County. 

As their customer base expanded, so did they, and now you can find Fish Hawk Acres at its own storefront in Buckhannon. The catering business has grown to include a restaurant, café and market where customers can enjoy fresh-prepared daily specials, salads and desserts or shop for West Virginia-made food products and handcrafted wares.

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