Jenningston, WV (Hinton News) – Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, recently selected small business leaders from across the United States to visit Washington, DC the last week of April for National Small Business Week. Certain businesses were chosen to represent their states in an effort to bring awareness to some of the daunting challenges small businesses face.
Four individuals were chosen to represent West Virginia: Marsha Waybright represented Randolph and Tucker Counties as a leader in agritourism through her 3 businesses – Laurel River Club Bed & Breakfast, Laurel Fork Farm, and the 501 (c)(3) nonprofit West Virginia School of Traditional Skills; award-winning, multi-genre instrumental duo Key to Adam (Kiara Williams and Adam Moyer) represented Upshur County; Jill Scarbro, owner and CEO of Bright Futures Learning Services, represented Putnam County; and Woody Maglinger was the team coach from Run Switch Public Relations out of Louisville, KY.
While in DC, the group met with WV Senator Shelly Moore Capito’s office and conveyed some of the challenges they face as small business owners in West Virginia. “Senator Capito’s staff was very interested in what we had to say and was very attentive,” said Waybright. “Marketing can be a real challenge for small businesses in West Virginia. The West Virginia Department of Tourism has been a huge help and has been very supportive, but there are some major challenges to be faced, especially when your business is in a location with no cell service and spotty internet.”
National Small Business Week began in 1963 by the Small Business Administration as an annual celebration of the small businesses and innovative startups that drive our economy. As a portion of the nation’s 33 million small businesses, the West Virginia businesses represented in DC contribute to creating two-thirds of net new jobs, employing nearly half the workforce, producing over 40% of the US economic output and delivering products and services Americans depend on every day to make their lives and the world a better place in which to live.
During the various accompanying events, comments were made at an event held in the Rose Garden by President Biden, Vice President Harris, Isabella Casillas Guzman (SBA Administrator) and Jill Scarbro (owner and CEO of Bright Futures Learning Services). While in Washington, Marsha said her group met with “business leaders from across the US and it was an awesome experience to connect with them and discuss our passions that are our businesses. It was a real learning experience and I am so honored that I got to represent my fellow small businesses in West Virginia.”
To learn more about the Laurel River Club Bed & Breakfast, Laurel Fork Farm, and the West Virginia School of Traditional Skills; please visit www.lrcbnb.com or call (304) 402-7095.
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