Social Enterprise Conference attracts participants from throughout Appalachia

A good mix of social enterprise professionals, students looking to break into businesses with underlying societal missions, and representatives from higher education institutions helped make a recent regional conference on the topic a success, according to a key organizer from Ohio University.

Nathaniel Berger, director of the Impact Enterprise Team at OHIO’s George V. Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, said the two-day Appalachian Conference on Social Enterprise in November attracted more than 160 participants. It was the seventh installment of the event focused on business ventures that are mission-driven and not 100% about profits.

The conference “is our region’s most significant gathering of social enterprises,” Berger said. “The conference is about illuminating social enterprises and social entrepreneurship. The celebration of that is targeted at both those who are interested in or are new to learning about social enterprises, as well as those who are already in the thick of it and those who are in nonprofits who do very corollary work.”

The event provided opportunities for networking and featured several breakout sessions with topics ranging from funding channels, organizational culture, business and venture models, best practices and housing, among others.

Among Berger’s favorite segments were revenue “pitch competitions” for startups and established enterprises that came with cash prizes of $1,000 and $5,000 for the respective winner’s courtesy of Huntington Bank.

He also noted that the swag bag distributed to conference participants was a nod to sustainability, as they were made locally in Athens with upcycled medical fabric. They were produced through a Sugarbush Foundation-funded project involving OHIO, Rural Action, and OhioHealth, he said.

Berger was one of many organizers of the event, which was hosted by the Shawnee State University’s Kricker Innovation Hub in Portsmouth. Others from the Voinovich School included Faith Knutsen, director of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Aaron Kirby, senior project manager of the Impact Enterprise Team.

Along with OHIO and Shawnee State, other key organizers included Coalfield Development, SOAR, Marshall University, and Rural Action, Berger said. Sponsors, whose support helped make the event free for participants, included Huntington Bank, Appalachian Growth Capital, and Marshall University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

“I think this was one of our most successful years yet,” Berger said. “I believe this was the year in which we raised the most sponsorship dollars.”

Organizers are hopeful the event will be held annually, with Ashland, Kentucky eyed for the next possible location.