Bluefield Company takes a role in Scale UP WV

 y CART

Bluefield, W.Va. - The Center for Applied Research and Technology (CART) is partnering with TechConnect WV's ScaleUp West Virginia initiative to bring together the public and private sectors in an effort to diversify the state's economy by spurring innovation and entrepreneurship.

The U. S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded a grant of $500,000 to TechConnect WV in the support the ScaleUp initiative, which will coordinate public and private resources to support the development and commercialization of new products and the creation and expansion of small businesses and jobs in 40 West Virginia counties.

ScaleUp West Virginia is a two-year suite of programs designed to make available the necessary resources to existing and start-up businesses looking to bring new products to market and the manufacturers that will produce them.

CART's role in the partnership is to provide assistance with product design for manufacturing, according to its CEO Bruce Mutter.  "ScaleUp West Virginia enables CART to work with up to 10 existing or start-up businesses to refine product ideas and create working prototypes for guiding the manufacturing process," said Mutter. "Bringing new products to market will foster economic diversification in the state and help build a cycle of growth in entrepreneurship and business development," he added.

Other partners in the ScaleUp West Virginia project include The INNOVA Commercialization Group at the High Technology Foundation, the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing, the WV Manufacturing Extension Partnership at the West Virginia University Extension, and ChemCeption and the Chemical Alliance Zone.

TechConnect aims to diversify West Virginia's economy through innovations in advanced energy, chemicals and advanced materials, biometrics, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing.  TechConnect works to build a culture that supports innovation and entrepreneurship, access to capital, and a proactive business climate with incentives for innovation-based start-ups.

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