By Charles Owens
For Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Bluefield — City leaders are still working to grow entrepreneurship in Bluefield.
In recent years, the city has pushed a burgeoning entrepreneurship campaign through various workshops and incubator programs, including the transformation of the former freight station on Bluefield Avenue into the Bluefield Commercialization Station. A food truck program operated by the Bluefield Economic Development Authority also helps to get entrepreneurs started in the food industry.
“We are trying to do everything we can to support local entrepreneurs who exist and individuals who want to be entrepreneurs and develop their own businesses,” Sam Wolford, executive director of the Bluefield Economic Development Authority, said. “We are working one on one with individuals and trying to provide as much support as we can.”
One such upcoming initiative will attempt to link potential entrepreneurs with local businesses.
The inaugural JC Robinson Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur event will be held on Wednesday, May 6, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Bluefield Arts Center, which is located at 500 Bland Street.
Wolford said the program will seek to equip local entrepreneurs with the skills and resources they need to start their own business.
“We will bring in experts either from business or from the different resources that are available to businesses and what happens is individuals who are entrepreneurs will have a chance to sit down with those individuals and ask one to one questions,” Wolford said. “So it is an effort to help young entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs who may be new, to connect with individuals who may have experience. I think it will be a great event.”
The gathering also will include a 30-minute panel and round table discussions where potential entrepreneurs can ask questions and gain insights into how to grow their own business.
The event is being named after Robinson, a native of Bluefield who had a deep passion for entrepreneurship.
Robinson graduated from Bluefield High School in 1971, attended Bluefield State College, and later studied business at the University of Alabama. After returning to Bluefield, he began his career in sales with Coppinger Machinery Service, followed by management roles in a small business. He then partnered to acquire Glass Service, Inc., expanding it into kitchen remodeling and general construction before stepping away in 1996. He founded GCI, Inc., which he led until 2000, when he joined Frye Roofing, Inc. as general manager. Within a year, he assumed leadership and the role of president under owner Joe Burmer, serving in that capacity until his passing in 2020, according to the official JC Robinson Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur event description.
Wolford said other resources also exist to help entrepreneurs, including the Small Business Development Center in Bluefield.
“We work very closely with the Small Business Development Center, and Harold Patterson, to help individuals build and develop business plans and try to get them off on the right foot,” Wolford said.
BEDA’s food truck program is another program designed to help grow entrepreneurship. Through the program local entrepreneurs will apply for and complete the authority’s program training in a food truck or food trailer for a trial period that allows them to test their menus and hone their skills.
Another program for entrepreneurship growth in Bluefield is the Bluefield Commercialization Station.
The 60,000 square-foot mixed-use incubator site is a facility that serves as an incubator site for small business growth with a focus on manufacturing. The station seeks to help small businesses grow with a goal of those businesses later relocating to other available sites within the city.
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