West Virginia's Energy Village is Friendly to Small Start-up Companies

A new energy initiative in West Virginia, Energy Village, aims to help grow the state's small and start-up energy and environmental technology businesses. Gov. Bob Wise announced $125,000 in funding for the initiative on Monday.

Energy Village is tasked with coordinating West Virginia’s emerging energy and environmental technology cluster of businesses. The funding provided to the Morgantown-based nonprofit organization will assist in the implementation of a strategic plan to grow these businesses. Energy Village will leverage state and federal resources, including the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, in the research and development of fossil fuel technologies.

“This expertise can provide a key foundation to our efforts to grow new opportunities for the state in the energy sector,” Gov. Wise said. “We already are a leader in the production of coal and other natural resources; we also could become a leader in growing new businesses that allow these resources to be used in a cleaner and more efficient manner.”

Energy Village was developed as an outgrowth of the Energy Task Force created in 2001 by Gov. Wise, which has produced a 20-year energy roadmap for the state. The task force is comprised of 41 members representing a broad range of groups throughout West Virginia. More information is available at: http://www.state.wv.us/governor/IssuesEnergy.htm