The purpose of this whitepaper is to outline the research and analysis done by Chapman and Company regarding GO Virginia Region 1 – Southwest Virginia (“Region 1”, “Southwest”, “SW VA” or “Southwest Virginia”). The firm was hired in April 2020, amidst a historic pandemic, to analyze and provide insight for the region about steps to improve the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Whitepapers of this type are inherently difficult because they must provide enough guidance to be actionable but not too much – making them prescriptive. The simple reality is that there are some simple rules of thumb that are generally true in entrepreneurial ecosystems that can act as general guidance in Southwest Virginia, but also in most other circumstances.
Can you identify your entrepreneurs? Knowing your entrepreneurial community is step one in any plan. This goes beyond knowing their names – to being able to provide a brief, high level explanation of them as people and their businesses.
Have you built a relationship with them? Being able to interact with them and ask their opinion is essential to being able to provide services, capital, and attention.
Have you built trust that permeates the entrepreneurs and spreads outward into the rest of the ecosystem? If the answer is yes, then you will have on-going conversations and engagements that go far beyond a prescriptive plan for a new building or educational track.
20190115_ChapCo Ecosystem Study_Final
20250115_Southwest Virginia Ecosystem Study Update_Final