The Frontlines in America (FIA) team was honored to again join forces with Coalfield Development in their dedicated pursuit of impacting communities and fostering economic diversification in Appalachia. This year, FIA and Coalfield partnered to identify entrepreneurs in the region and provide resources for them to grow and further impact their communities through the SEED Challenge. The collaboration presented a unique opportunity to learn about and better understand entrepreneurship in Appalachia while also providing Coalfield with the resources to conduct the necessary due diligence required of such an impactful initiative.
In line with this partnership, Notre Dame’s FIA students have completed the following deliverables and activities:
1. Partnered with Coalfield to define investment priorities for the SEED Fund and the SEED Challenge, resulting in a more standardized evaluative process.
2. Created a robust scorecard for evaluating applicants, analyzing applicants’ abilities to impact their communities, create jobs, operate profitably and further Coalfield’s mission.
3. Interviewed 25 SEED Challenge applicants virtually to assess potential fit for Coalfield’s SEED Fund, followed by 10 in-person interviews in West Virginia.
4. Recommended specific allocations of the $250k in SEED funds to 5 SEED Challenge applicants based on the framework developed jointly with Coalfield.
Following the FIA team’s trip to West Virginia and its recommendations surrounding the allocation of funds to applicants to the Challenge, the team reflected on new insights from meeting with entrepreneurs around Appalachia and identified further recommendations based on those learnings.
These primary insights include:
● Despite broad recognition of Coalfield Development and its mission, entrepreneurs did not always understand how to engage with the organization.
● While there was interest in competing in the SEED Challenge, some of the terms and details of the Challenge were unclear.
● Many Appalachian entrepreneurs are averse to debt and content with slow, localized growth.
● Appalachian entrepreneurs have a deep desire and need for mentorship and connection.
Given these insights, we offered recommendations regarding:
● Marketing and brand awareness for the SEED Fund and the Challenge
● Suggestions for the Challenge’s application
● A proposed timeline for future Challenges
● Post-investment recommendations regarding networking, growth, and mentorship and the launch of a new initiative, Coalfield Catalysts Mentorship Program.