Welcome to the daily304 – your window into Wonderful, Almost Heaven, West Virginia.
Today is Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026.
…and now for the rest of the stories…on today’s daily304.com!
#1 – From WVU – Building West Virginia’s outdoor economy
West Virginia’s mountains, rivers and trails aren’t just great places to play.
They’re part of a growing economy.
The West Virginia University Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative has released its 2025 Impact Report, highlighting its work to use outdoor recreation as a tool for economic and community development.
The collaborative works across West Virginia to connect outdoor recreation, workforce development, entrepreneurship and communities, helping create opportunities around one of the Mountain State’s greatest assets: the outdoors.
Read the report:
https://oedc.wvu.edu/2025-smith-oedc-impact-report/?utm_content=384817798&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&hss_channel=lcp-71496659
#2 – From LONG WEEKENDS – Tune in to 100 years of technology in Huntington
Want to see the only surviving television camera from the 1939 New York World’s Fair? Or hear the surprisingly impressive sound of a 1915 phonograph cylinder?
Head to Huntington’s Museum of Radio and Technology.
The museum houses about 3,000 objects, including vintage radios, televisions, telephones, computers, telegraph equipment and record players. It’s housed inside a 10,000-square-foot former school building dating to the 1920s.
There’s plenty of West Virginia broadcasting history, but the collection stretches well beyond the Mountain State. Visitors can find everything from a 1927 RCA Radiola once owned by Chicago’s Wrigley family to that one-of-a-kind World’s Fair television camera.
Filmmakers also turn to the museum for period radio and television props, with pieces from its collection appearing in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
The nonprofit museum is open Saturdays and Sundays, and admission is free, although donations are welcome.
Read more:
https://long-weekends.com/articles/fallwinter-2026/the-museum-of-radio-and-technology
#3 – From WV BUSINESSLINK – West Virginia startups are turning ideas into results
Test the idea. Listen to your customers. Learn. Then do it again.
That’s the approach behind Vantage Ventures, the entrepreneurship center housed within WVU’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics. Its 13-week accelerator helps founders test assumptions while learning customer discovery, experimentation, financial modeling and pitching.
And the numbers are adding up.
In just two years, 40 participating startups have generated more than $1 million in new revenue, raised more than $6 million from investors and created or retained more than 70 West Virginia jobs.
Vantage Ventures can also put money behind promising ideas. Six companies have received $100,000 pre-seed investments, for a total of $600,000 invested.
Find these stories and more at wv.gov/daily304.
The daily304 curated news and information is brought to you by the West Virginia Department of Commerce: Sharing the wealth, beauty, and opportunity in West Virginia with the world. Follow the daily304 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @daily304. Or find us online at wv.gov and just click the daily304 logo.
That’s all for now. Take care. Be safe. Get outside and enjoy all the opportunity West Virginia has to offer.
