Published: October 14, 2009 02:37 am      

Teaming to Win showcase for small business, economic growth

Just a little more than a decade ago, the land where the I-79 High Technology Park is now was just the rolling fields of a family farm. Now there’s more than 721,000 square feet of class-A office and research space.

When it began, the West Virginia High Technology Consortium was made up of six businesses. Now there are more than 200 affiliate businesses. There are more than 1,200 people employed there, and officials are expecting the number to reach 2,000 in the next two years.

What a perfect venue for the 20th anniversary of the Teaming to Win conference, which is being held today and Thursday in Fairmont.

For 20 years, business people in North Central West Virginia have gotten together each fall in an effort to show the rest of the world the best we have to offer. And this time, some of the “best” is right here in North Central West Virginia.

The premier event for West Virginia’s business community began as a big networking forum, a way to help small businesses gain exposure and give them a place to interact with other companies and government agencies.

Teaming to Win is an effort to facilitate educational activities and communication between small businesses and other entities. Small businesses get the opportunity to see what everybody around them is doing and often team up because of introductions made at the conference. Around 400 to 500 people from across the state generally attend Teaming to Win each year.

And imagine the kind of impression those hundreds of visitors will get as they converge on the high-tech park, a perfect illustration of economic diversification. Deep in recession, this area found new life and new growth through the high-technology sector.

“With it being the 20th anniversary, we figured it’s a very good time to focus on and showcase the research park,” said event co-director Bob Wentz. “(Teaming to Win) is for small businesses, but it also has a high-tech flavor to it.”

Highlights of the two-day event will be a panel discussion on regional economic diversification with Congressman Alan B. Mollohan, exhibits and technology demonstrations. Speakers will include West Virginia University President James Clements, Fairmont State University President Thomas Krepel and West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Chancellor Brian Noland, who will speak on higher education and workforce development.

And guests will get a glimpse of the stars, too. Astronaut John M. Grunsfeld will speak on the Hubble telescope Thursday. And the conference will end with keynote speaker Lori B. Garver, NASA deputy administrator.

This event is the perfect opportunity to not only showcase small business, but to demonstrate how an area can successfully expand its economy and focus on a new sector.