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Photo of Best Dam Tape products in a hockey rink

Hockey, Sticking

Hockey, Sticking

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!

Leaving her own Mark

For many students, WVU feels like family. For Amaya Gray, it is family. Gray’s grandfather, Ken Gray, may have founded the long-standing program WVUp All Night (which hosts events and activities for students as an alternative to the bar scene), but Gray is leaving her own mark as a Mountaineer. She’s been part of the Career Readiness Program with our in-house Center for Career Development, served as a Peer Mentor for incoming freshmen in BCOR 191 and a Chambers College Ambassador, has been a member of the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) with Naomi Boyd, and founded Students of Color in Business with the help of Susan Lantz. “Students of Color in Business is geared towards business students and business minors, as well as any student who wants to be an entrepreneur or learn more about business,” Gray said. 

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Cap it Off

Just like the COVID-19 vaccine protects against contracting the contagious virus, the collective elements of self-efficacy, optimism, hope and resiliency - otherwise known as “PsyCap” - helps inoculate employees from the negative effects of working through a pandemic, according to Jeffery Houghton, management professor. Houghton and two of his Ph.D. students, Richard Oxarart and Luke Langlinais, found that those lagging in PsyCap characteristics drifted to maladaptive behaviors and exhibited a high perception of stress. Read more at WVUToday.

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No Dessert - or Dinner

One of seven West Virginians don't know where or when they’ll get their next meal. Food deserts are defined by the USDA as areas that lack fresh and healthful foods, and these are found throughout the state in impoverished areas lacking grocery stores, farmers’ markets and healthy food providers. John Saldanha, Sears chair in global supply chain management, is addressing this West Virginia problem head-on with his supply chain technology students. Read more in an upcoming edition of our magazine.

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Focus Forward

A student veteran and graduate student in business administration is in elite company as one of only 18 women chosen for a fellowship designed to support military-connected females.

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Fashion and Finance

Interested in finance, but also fashion? You can do both! John Pineda, finance senior and fashion merchandising minor, attended New York Fashion Week this fall as a production coordinator. He had the opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes to put on a show — everything from hair and makeup to seating, lighting, ticketing and security.

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