CHARLESTON — Twenty-six West Virginia small business owners graduated on Friday from the state’s first cohort of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program, which aims to boost rural job markets and economic growth.

BridgeValley Community and Technical College in Charleston led the 12 weeks of hands-on educational programming for the business leaders, who hailed from across the state and represented sects from food service and health care to education and manufacturing.

Goldman Sachs’ goal is to reach small business owners in 20 states over five years with the program as part of its pledge to invest $100 million in rural communities.

The financial services company also partnered with Appalachian Community Capital to deploy resources to underserved communities across the Appalachian region.

West Virginia is the seventh state to partake in the program. Here, 98.8% of businesses are small businesses that employ almost half of the state’s workforce.

According to a Goldman Sachs report released Friday, in the states that have participated in the programming, 66% of alumni saw an increase in revenue six months following the course. And 44% percent have created jobs in their local communities in that time frame.

One of the local graduates of the program is Matthew Welsch, Wheeling’s own Vagabond Kitchen chef and entrepreneur. Welsch said the program gave him valuable insights into running his business as well as connections with industry peers.

“I’ve been running my business for 10 years so I thought I had a pretty good grasp on some of this stuff, and I found myself learning new things right and left — new ways to apply the knowledge that I already had and it was just a really fantastic and useful curriculum,” Welsch said.

Another Wheeling graduate of the cohort, Mountain State CNC owner Toni Brancazio, said the program helped her assemble a “whole tool kit” for her work. Mountain State, which operates out of Ravenswood, West Virginia, has been repairing computer numerical control and manufacturing machines across areas of Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio and West Virginia since 2020.

“The thing that was different from when I got my MBA is it was all applied. We learned the concepts and then we applied them to our companies” she said. “So it was very hands-on as well.”

The cohort learned lessons outside of business management, marketing and accounting, Bracanzio said.

“One thing that was brought home in a very concrete way was we also need to take care of ourselves,” she said. “There’s the entrepreneurial urge to work 20 hours a day. And not only for our own sake, but for our business, a balanced life is much better than burning yourself out.”

Small business ownership can be isolating, especially in areas with smaller populations, like many in West Virginia, Welsch said. There is not always someone who owners can talk with about business challenges.

“To be able to sit in the same room with other people that understood the challenges and the passion behind everything that you do, that in itself was transformative,” Welsch said.

Goldman Sachs also maintains a robust alumni system to keep small business owners connected, he added.

Brancazio echoed this sentiment, saying the program was a “gift that keeps on giving” due to the connections and ongoing training and meet-ups that are available to alumni.

Welsch said he already has begun implementing aspects of the five-year strategy he developed for his restaurant during the program.

“I think 2025 is going to be a really big year for Vagabond Kitchen and for downtown Wheeling,” he said.

In a press release statement from Goldman Sachs, Executive Vice President John F.W. Rogers emphasized that small businesses are the “lifeblood” of communities and that they drive opportunity nationwide.

“This new graduating class is proof that the American dream is alive in the Mountain State,” he said in the statement.

Others in the first West Virginia cohort were:

Sharon Campbell, owner of Greater New Martinsville Development Corp. in New Martinsville

Jae Lehew, owner of S&S Diamonds and Fine Jewelry LLC in New Martinsville

Christian Higgins, owner of Brownie House in Morgantown

Anthony Sloan, owner of Sloan School of Music in Hagerstown, Maryland

Dominique Adkins, owner of Dolce e Salato LLC in Chester

Elizabeth Hostler, owner of Brown Dog Group LLC in Martinsburg

Maria Kaneko Millar, owner of Sonic Escape in Martinsburg

Patrick Noland, owner of Briarwood Dental Center in Martinsburg

Elizabeth Webster of Martinsburg-Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce in Martinsburg

Angela Fielder, owner of The Paradigm Group Inc. in Martinsburg.