The Regional Research Institute occupies a unique position on the WVU campus. While limited in research staff, its activities and influence extend across a large number of disciplines, colleges and research units.
All RRI staff members are expected to participate in external funding activities,
including the preparation and submission of external funding proposals and the
conduct of funded research. The RRI strives to include faculty from across campus
in collaborative research proposals initiated in-house and also participates, whenever
appropriate and possible, in initiatives centered elsewhere. Likewise, we seek
to build relationships with researchers from other institutions, including continuing
collaborations with scholars at other institutions, which have included the University
of Pittsburgh, Carnegie-Mellon University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the
University of Washington, George Mason University, Florida International University,
Pennsylvania State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Arizona State University,
the National Energy Technology Laboratory, the University of Maine, Marshall
University, and West Virginia State University.
Realigning Skills for the Workforce of the Future
Collaborators: WVU Extension, West Virginia State University, the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority
Start Date: July 1, 2024
End Date: July 31, 2025
Funding: $100,000 from the Benedum Foundation
Project Summary: This project will develop and pilot a methodology for identifying and aligning current workforce skills with anticipated/future skills demand to guide training and economic development initiatives in the New River Gorge region of West Virginia.
EnergyWise West Virginia (WV) Plan
Collaborators: WVU Office of Sustainability and Energy Research, WVU Department of Biology, West Virginia Office of Energy, Marshall University, IN-2-Market
Start Date: October 1, 2023
End Date: September 30, 2027
Funding: $697,915 to WVU from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under a subcontract from the West Virginia Office of Energy
Project Summary: The RRI is leading the WVU portion of the analysis for the EnergyWise WV Plan, which will quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution emissions in the state of West Virginia and identify potential GHG reduction measures. The RRI's roll involves evaluating the workforce and economic impacts of the GHG reduction policies, including their impacts on low income and disadvantaged communities.
Factors Affecting the Success of Female and Minority Rural Entrepreneurs and Rural
Economic Vitality
Collaborators: Pennsylvania State University, The University of Maine, West Virginia University Extension
Start Date: May 15, 2023
End Date: May 14, 2026
Funding: $649,913 from the United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Summary: The objective of this project is to identify the factors associated with higher shares of women and minority entrepreneurs and their relationship with local economic prosperity at the county level, with a focus on rural areas. The project will further use firm-level micro-data to determine the factors relevant to the success or failure (survivability and profitability analysis) of rural women and minority entrepreneurs. The findings will then be translated into Extension and other outreach educational programing for entrepreneurial support organizations and local officials to build the capacity of rural communities to improve entrepreneurship by women, minorities, and other social disadvantaged groups in order to promote rural prosperity.