The University of Notre Dame Frontlines in America team partnered with Coalfield Development to further the mission and operations of their SEED (Social Enterprise and Economic Diversification) Fund program. Through the team’s emerging findings, we identified challenges within the SEED Fund’s financing, organizational structure, and overall processes as they looked to reach their stretch goals of investing in 50 social enterprises and 100 social entrepreneurs within the next decade as outlined in their 2022 Strategic Plan. From here, the team was able to develop a path centered around the three I’s: Impact, Internals, and Into the Future.
Since our initial work, we were able to expand our findings through field research with the purpose of gaining more insight into the true needs and challenges of the West Virginia entrepreneur. This work centered around interviews and conversations with:
University entrepreneurship and innovation programs
Organizations providing various business resources for entrepreneurs
Employees and crewmembers of Coalfield Development
Numerous start-up and small business founders
Through these interactions we were able to learn more about the challenges that entrepreneurs face, but also the various resources available throughout the state from different entities. While there is need for investment throughout the state, we identified a gap that existed between the need of rural innovators in West Virginia and the support that was readily available to them. With the resources and brand power of Coalfield Development, we envision the SEED Fund not only providing for social enterprises, but also filling this gap of need throughout West Virginia creating greater impact and catalyzing further economic development through the region.
Our recommendation to resolve this challenge was that the SEED Fund should define its place in West Virginia’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and fill in the financing and support gaps. To do this, the Fund must:
Define its purpose as a supporter of gritty entrepreneurs and driver of economic development
Formalize its internal processes
Form partnerships with other organizations in the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.
We would once again like to thank Chris Yura, Brandon Dennison, and the whole organization at Coalfield Development for their continued partnership with our team and with the University of Notre Dame. We are humbled by the opportunity to play a small role in growing West Virginia through its community and entrepreneurial spirit and hope that our work is able to help both Coalfield Development and West Virginia realize meaningful impact.