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Photo of Best Dam Tape products in a hockey rink

Hockey, Sticking

Hockey, Sticking

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Question: What do hockey and entrepreneurship have in common?

Answer: Logan Cuvo, a lifelong hockey player and junior Entrepreneurship and Innovation major in the Chambers College.

Those two passions are why Cuvo started Best Dam Tape, a hockey tape distributor that’s sold over $50,000 of product since its establishment in 2023.

“In the past year, Best Dam Tape has achieved major partnerships with teams like the Anaheim Ducks and Ohio State,” Cuvo said. “We have also started to introduce new, innovative tape options and eco-friendly wax. Having expanded across North America, the brand has become a trusted name for players of all levels."

His success was made possible by his passion for hockey, his education at WVU and the support he received from Chambers College outreach center Vantage Ventures, which gave him the tools needed to grow.

“Vantage Ventures provided essential capital, mentorship and strategic guidance to scale operations and expand the brand’s reach,” Cuvo said. “They also facilitated key introductions and helped create a scalable growth strategy which supported our market success.”

Do you have an entrepreneurial idea you want to pursue? Apply to the spring cohort of Vantage Ventures’ startup accelerator by December 15!

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Celebrating in Style

When COVID-19 hit, many faculty members were left learning virtual tools and hoping for some good news. Our Associate Professor of Marketing, Dr. Laurel Cook, did both. Cook receiving the news of her award of tenure was both exciting and joyful – a rainbow over the year 2020. While she could not throw the celebration party she had always wanted out of respect for our state’s COVID-19 restrictions, she did throw a one-of-a-kind photo session to share her news. “As a first-generation faculty member, this achievement is a reflection of the support and encouragement of my family,” said Cook. “Plus, this award bodes well for future generations in my family, and I am also incredibly grateful to West Virginia University and Chambers College.”

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The Gavel Strikes 20

2023 marks the 20th year of law firm Steptoe & Johnson’s participation in the FAFE (Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination) graduate program’s Moot Court exercise. This capstone experience puts students’ skills to the test by having them investigate mock cases based on real-world financial crimes, culminating in a trial where they must testify as to their findings.  

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The Future is Innovative Females

In an effort to reach innovative and entrepreneurial females throughout the state, the WVU Morris L. Hayhurst LaunchLab hosted its Second Annual Women Innovate Pitch Competition. Ten women entered the virtual competition in October in hopes of winning prizes up to $5,000 to turn their idea into a reality. The contestants had to consider every aspect of their pitch – everything from production to advertising – and field questions from the all-female panel of judges. First place went to Anna Cummings, a business management major and entrepreneurship minor from Ashburn, Virginia, whose pitch identified an unaddressed need for a device to help earring-wearers attach their earring backtracks. “The Women Innovate Pitch Competition is an important opportunity for women entrepreneurs,” said Carrie White, executive director of the Morris L. Hayhurst LaunchLab. “The LaunchLab is here to provide support to all student innovators. However, historically we have seen fewer female clients as compared to male. This event is designed to level that field. The first year we held it, we saw our female entrepreneurs increase by 20 percent. We want to provide encouragement to all WVU students who wish to create something new!” 

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First Pitch

Supported by Silicon Valley CEO Ray Zinn, the first ZinnStarter Pitch Competition, hosted by the LaunchLab, gave aspiring collegiate entrepreneurs an opportunity to win cash to build their ideas into the next groundbreaking product or business. Winners included: First place ($2,500): Emma Adams, WVU animal and nutritional sciences major, and her business idea PetRecord, which provides universal medical records for pets in emergency situations; second place ($1,500): Cameron Keefe, global supply chain management major, and her idea ThermoRoller, which combines physical massage with temperature control to relieve sore muscle pain; and third place ($1,000) to the team of Austin Davis, Anne Byer and Emily Thomas, from the University of Charleston, and their idea Second Chance, a program that helps give active control back to people with quadriplegia and paraplegia. 

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Clothes-Minded

“The future is unpredictable so I focus on the ‘how’ and not the ‘what.'’”

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