U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) applauded the kickoff of the Southeast West Virginia FastTrac program in Beckley today. "This program is a great opportunity for the entrepreneurs of southern West Virginia and I am proud to have worked with the West Virginia High Technology Consortium to bring FastTrac to our area," said Rahall. "The FastTrac program is internationally recognized and will help residents develop the skills and strategies needed to run a more successful business."

The FastTrac Planning program, of the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, is a comprehensive entrepreneurship-educational program that provides business insights, leadership skills and professional networking connections to prepare participants to grow their businesses. The program has graduated 100,000 persons nationwide and is presented in Beckley by the West Virginia High Technology Consortium (WVHTC) Foundation's INNOVA Commercialization Group.

Bill Loope, Executive Director of Region 1 Workforce Development said, "This latest effort by Congressman Rahall to help the business community in southern West Virginia will be a huge help to small businesses. I applaud Congressman Rahall's continual efforts to create jobs and strengthen the economy in our area."

"This program will help our entrepreneurs gain the skills needed to better succeed in the business world," said Rahall. "I am very excited that FastTrac is coming to southern West Virginia and I appreciate the hard work of all the groups and people who made this program possible."

The FastTrac program will strengthen the business community and bolster the local, regional and state economies. The program will teach future business leaders the skills they need to succeed in many areas, including entrepreneurial mindset, management, legal aspects, marketing, finance, operations, and money sources.

Loope said, "The FastTrac training program is a perfect match for the other services we offer for business people and entrepreneurs in the surrounding counties. The backbone of the economy of Southern West Virginia is built on small businesses and we are doing everything possible to strengthen their ability to compete in today's market."

The program will be offered at the Workforce Career Center Raleigh County starting March 15th. Interested entrepreneurs and future business leaders are urged to contact Patrick Gregg at the WVHTC Foundation for more information. Mr. Gregg can be reached at plgregg@wvhtf.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or by calling (304) 366-2577 ext. 297. Information about the program can be found at http://www.fasttrac.org/

Local sponsors and contacts for this program are Bill Loope, who can be reached at (304) 253-3611 or wloope@r1workforcewv.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and Judy Radford reachable at (304) 254-8115 or jradford@4ceda.org