On Monday, February 28th, the JRTI Company Lab/Entrepreneurship Center celebrated it’s official launch with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Attendees included representatives from WV Department of Education, WVU, EdVenture Group, Morgan County School Board, Jefferson County School Board, Berkeley & Morgan Chamber of Commerce, WV Economic Development, SBDC, Advisory Council, LSIC, Leadership Berkeley, Morgan County Commissioner, Berkeley/Jefferson/Morgan EDA’s, Senator Manchin’s office, JRTI students & faculty.
In addition to touring the facility, guests were treated to a Mardi Gras themed luncheon provided by JRTI’s Culinary Arts students. Guest Speakers included Donna Van Metre (JRTI Principal/Director), Clinton Burch (Technical Education Officer, WVDE), Jim Linsenmeyer (WVEDC), Sandy Hamilton (Berkeley County Development Authority Director), and Anakin Carmickle (Senior from Washington High School and a student in the Entrepreneurship & Graphic Design programs)
Betsy Heath is the Company Lab/Entrepreneurship Center Coordinator. In addition to providing services to the community through the Company Lab, she also teaches an Entrepreneurship class to some of JRTI’s students. Three of her Entrepreneurship students presented their projects to the guests. The students are Anakin Carmickle (Graphic Design, Washington High School), Jonathan Carter (Coding, App & Game Design, Martinsburg High School), and Felipe Cervantes (Masonry, Hedgesville High School). For their projects, they each developed a business plan related to their technical program.
