FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The inaugural one day Tech Yeah conference brings hundreds together to showcase innovation and opportunity available to potential employers considering a move to West Virginia. The event kicks off in Morgantown Monday with a cocktail reception then moves to Fairmont for the one day presentation.
On MetroNews “Talkline,” Fairmont-based Trilogy Innovations co-founder and Tech Yeah organizer Randy Cottle said the I-79 Technology Park is an example of what is possible in the state.
“We actually live on Silicon Mountain,” Cottle said. “They have Silicon Valley out in California, but here we have all these government technology agencies and we really want to make sure people are aware of this because we are trying to bring more jobs and opportunities to our state.”
On Tuesday, the conference will be held at the the Robert H. Mollohan Research Center in Fairmont from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Gayle Manchin, Federal Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission is scheduled to be the keynote speaker. Other presentations are planned by officials from FBI Criminal Justice Information Services, NASA Independent Verification and Validation Program, The U. S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory, U. S. Air Force and Department of Treasury.
Cottle said they want inform potential employers and residents about the innovation taking place at the I-79 Technology Park everyday. At the same time, Cottle wants those potential employers to see how well existing government agencies work from that location.
“You see those big satellites on the hill and wonder what it is,” Cottle said. “With the weather going on they don’t realize most of the data that’s being collected is coming out of there.”
The conference is sold out this year, but Cottle hopes to expand the event to an entire week next year.