Tara St. Clair on Fostering Collaboration and Connection while Ecosystem Building

For anything to come together in a short amount of time AND without funding, it takes a community of people believing in the same mission and working together to create a network of resources to act as a strong foundation. This week, season 2 episode 3 of Entrepreneurship on the RISE Podcast is about fostering collaboration, connection, and building a statewide network of entrepreneurial support!

RISE Collaborative is striving to create a more inclusive and vibrant regional economy in which makers, entrepreneurs, innovators, and service providers interact organically and collaboratively. Our mission is to enhance equity and access to entrepreneurship and innovation for people who have been underserved based on geographic location (anyone who lives, works, or owns a business in Southern Virginia), and for people who have been underrepresented based on race, gender, religion, or other factors. We are doing this by creating regionally-relevant incubator services and accelerator programs that can be accessed at many locations across our service area.

In this episode of Entrepreneurship on the RISE Podcast, Jacob and Lauren, joined by their guest Tara St. Clair are sharing how far we can go when we come together as a network of one and the true value in integrating ecosystem building into our school systems to build the next generation of leaders. Some of the talking points we go over in this episode include:

• How Tara and her colleague’s work fills the need to match resource providers with entrepreneurs looking for support in growing their business. 
• The Bridging Innovation Summit’s impact as the jumping off point to continue fostering collaboration and connection in West Virginia and beyond. 
• The responsibility of future generations to build upon the natural grit and hardworking nature of West Virginians. 
• Where Tara hopes to see her efforts and the ecosystem as a whole expand into in the coming years. 
• Tracking the correlation of integrating entrepreneurship into education at a young age with the likelihood that these students will go on to become better entrepreneurs and employees.   

When we work together towards a common goal, everybody wins. 

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag us!  And don’t forget to follow, rate and review the podcast and tell me your key takeaways!

Learn more about RISE Collaborative at https://sovarise.com/ 

CONNECT WITH TARA ST. CLAIR:

tara.stclair@mail.wvu.edu

LinkedIn

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 

Encova Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
West Virginia Business Link
Grit by Angela Duckworth
Bill Woodrum