RAHALL REPORT: ‘Teaming to Win’ Gives WV Home Field Advantage
From the desk of U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV)Representing West Virginia's 3rd District
Washington, D.C. (HNN) -- The importance of teamwork in accomplishing goals is one of the earliest, most valuable lessons we learn in life. It doesn't take long for a child to figure out that two hands are better than one; that working together really works.
And like so many early lessons, the importance of teamwork doesn't fade when we graduate from the playgrounds to the professional world. One only needs to look to history to see what working together can accomplish.
Today, for example, we are learning more and more about the building of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. We are learning that rather than slave labor, it was community labor, well organized and community-based for the day-that completed what is still considered man's most magnificent engineering marvel.
Jet ahead to our own shores, to the printer -turned scientist - turned statesmen, our founding networker, Ben Franklin, who, in young Philadelphia, brought community members together the formation of a club, the Junto.
It had as its purpose to network for community good and scientific advancement. It served as a springboard for business and public initiatives, eventually leading to public firefighting clubs, a hospital, and even the American Philosophical Society - still a leading scientific engine today.
But one doesn't have to dust off the history books for proof of the power of teamwork. I see evidence of this every day, when I look at the progress we are making on collaborative projects in southern West Virginia, and I saw it just recently, when I again had the opportunity to attend and address West Virginia's annual "Teaming To Win" conference, a premier statewide gathering of business leaders designed to improve small business prospects in West Virginia through the pooling of resources.
"Teaming to Win" was created a little more than a decade ago through the leadership of Rep. Alan Mollohan, to improve West Virginia's business climate. The conference was an instant hit with the business community and since then, has proven successful in helping many small West Virginia businesses.
Through a combination of training sessions, networking, and seminars, "Teaming to Win" continues arms our small businesses with the tools they need to compete with bigger businesses. In other words, it does more than level the playing field....it gives West Virginia the home field advantage.
As always, attending "Teaming To Win" was an enlightening and encouraging experience-there is no doubt that both the entrepreneurial spirit and creative spirit of West Virginia's small businesses is alive and well.
Henry Ford, the father of the automotive, once said, "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."
"Teaming To Win" is a triumph that began by coming together and continues through working together. I commend the all-volunteer planning committee for another successful conference, give my thanks to the generous corporate support and, above all, commend Rep. Mollohan on the establishment of a program that has proven itself vital to our state's economic future.