Talk of the Town October 23, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Klucksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two five five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike Nolting.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well, good Thursday morning.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
It is a nine oh six clouds and forty five
degrees in the University City, West Virginia. Five one one
gives us an incident free interstate system at this hour.
Welcome to Talk of the Town and happy Thursday. I'm
Mike Nolting. Now over on X you'll find me as
your news guy. Ethan Collins is our producer today. He's

(00:41):
at eight hundred seven six five eight two five five
And Texters, get your fingers ready. That number is three
oh four Talk three oh four. Coming up at nine
point fifteen. Got the director of the Chestnut Mountain Village,
Greg Clutter.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
He'll join us.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
It's gonna be talking about his testimony about their facility
during legislative interim meetings earlier this month.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Will also get an update about care Portal.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
That program is the system where churches and nonprofits they
can see needs in the community in real time and
then they can just step in and intervene before those
needs even get to a governmental agency. We'll talk with
Greg about that. It's homecoming week today. Got the pleasure
to speak with Jackie Riggleman. Many of you may recognize

(01:32):
that name. She's the recipient of the Margaret Buchanan Cole
Young Alumni Award. Also back in twenty eighteen, she was
the recipient of the West Virginia Living wonder Woman Award
and also the recipient of the New York Penn League's
Female Executive of the Year. She has been involved with

(01:53):
the Black Bears and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Her efforts have
supported vets, survivors of domestic violence, and youth athletes while
promoting diversity and belonging in the sport of baseball. We'll
talk with Jackie coming up at nine thirty. Then at
nine we're going to break some local news. I'm just

(02:16):
gonna stay quiet for now, but we're going to be
talking about a story that is embargoed until ten am today.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
We're going to do that at nine forty.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
They have agreed to come on and spill the beans
about twenty minutes early. It's a great story. I think
you'll you'll get a lot of a lot of pleasure
out of that. Coming up at nine forty, a couple
of headlines and we'll get things started. State Division of
Taxes says companies owned by the family of US Senator
Jim Justice the more than one point three million dollars

(02:49):
in sales taxes that were collected but not forwarded to
the state at the Greenbrier Resort and Greenbrier Sporting Club.
Those tax lienes have been filed. This comes on the
heels of an announcement from the IRS that eight million
dollars in tax leans have also been filed against the
governor and his wife.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Kathy.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
Metro News statewide correspondent Brad McIlhaney has that full story
over at wvmetronews dot com. Mont County commissioners they're continuing
their efforts to establish a human resources department. Commissioners say
the interview process for an HR director could be coming

(03:29):
in the very near future. I would say with two
hundred and sixty five employees, it's I think long overdue
for the county to have some sort of professional human
resources representative. All firefighters from multiple departments battle to structure
blaze on Chestnut Street in Enterprise late Wednesday afternoon.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Fire was reported at about four thirty five.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
Departments from Bridgeport, Lumberport, Manonga, Shenston, Spelter, and Worthington responded.
Harrison County EMS and deputies from the Harrison County Sheriff's
Department assisted at the scene. Marion County School officials are
hopeful of professional cleaning team can clear out the mold
detected in part of the East Fairmount High School. The

(04:17):
mold was found in the athletic trainer's room, weight room,
and a health classroom. It's been isolated to those spots.
Hopefully they'll have that rectified by next month. And last
thing I wanted to share with you is WVRC Media
Cares for Community. We're ramping up for a food drive

(04:41):
in early November. November the seventh, we're going to be
at the University Town Center Giant Eagle collecting food for
local families in need. Now, this is an operation that
will happen between six am and six pm. WAJR, WVAQ,
WKKW will all participate and we'll be doing Talk of

(05:02):
the Town that day live from the University Town Center
We'll have more information as that event gets closer, but
if you were your nonprofit, we'd maybe like to be
a guest on that November seventh program. Shoot me an email,
give me a call, let me know. We'll certainly make
that happen, all right. Coming up next, we've got the

(05:24):
director of the Chestnut Mountain Village, Greg Klutter, coming up,
going to get an update on their facility care portal,
and we'll also be discussing foster care throughout the state
of West Virginia.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
We'll do that next Clouds forty five degrees.

Speaker 3 (05:42):
As we get the program started on AM fourteen forty
FM one four point five WAJR.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two fivey five. This is the talk of
the town.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Good Thursday morning, Clouds in forty five in the University City,
just about nine seventeen. On the phone, We've got the
director of Chestnut Mountain Village, Greg Clutter with us in.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
Greg, Good morning, sir, how are you.

Speaker 4 (06:14):
Good morning, Mike. I'm doing great, hope you're well on
this cool fall morning.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
Absolutely, we're doing good and it's really good to catch
up with you.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
Greg.

Speaker 4 (06:24):
Thank you. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it,
my friend.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
Absolutely. Well, let's go back to the beginning of the month.
You provided some testimony to state lawmakers during legislative interim
meetings and.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
Would like to get an update on that.

Speaker 3 (06:39):
But before you do, wanted to let the audience know
that the reason that testimony from Greg is important is
because you know, he's not a political guy. He's a
political but he sees what is happening in the foster
care system with his own eyes, and his testimony is
a statement of fact for lawmakers.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
But I'll let you take it from there.

Speaker 4 (07:02):
Greg, absolutely so, Michael's okay. I'd like to start out
just to kind of level set in terms of what
Chesnut Mountain Village is, and that'll make more sense in
terms of the update that we gave to the Joint Committee. So,
Chessnut Mountain Village, we are a statewide initiative that's helping
churches all across the state of West Virginia care for

(07:23):
vulnerable children and families. These are families that are involved
in foster care, kinship care, adoption, or facing crisis. I
think most of your listeners probably are aware of the
foster care and the child welfare situation in West Virginia.
At nearly six thousand kids in care, we have a
really high rate for capital of kids in care. We
also lead the nation and removal rates per one thousand.

(07:47):
That said, what we see across the entire state is
that churches and people in those churches really they want
to help. They want to be involved. They may not
all feel equipped or want to be falseter parents, their
kinship parents, but they want to be involved. They just
don't know how. It's complex, it's and sometimes they don't
even feel like they have much to offer. So the

(08:10):
village we guide, equip and connect local churches so they
can be part of the solution. We give a very simple,
proven model to meet real needs, to strengthen families and
bring hopes to these kids and children. So what we're
doing is we're taking kind of this larger community perspective
of pulling the church in to these conversations. So I

(08:30):
did as you mentioned, Mike, I recently had an opportunity
to speak to the Western of the legislatures Joint Committee
on Children and Families about how churches are stepping into
foster care and family support in very practical ways. We
talked about Chestnut Mountain Village and what we're doing and
the fact that, you know, our mission is around getting

(08:52):
the church more engaged. There are a lot of pastors
and churches that want to be engaged, they just don't
know how, They don't even know where to start. So
that is our mission. We talked about why why the church?
Why are we having this conversation about polling churches in
more and to this situation. Main reason is, you know,

(09:15):
the temperature was foster care. It was the care for
the orphans until nineteen twenty thirties, and then later federal
legislation even expanded government's role. Also, very recent studies continue
to show that Christians are more apt to foster at
a rate about two times higher than the normal population

(09:38):
the rest of the population, and they'll adopt at about
three times the rate those same studies. Those same studies
show that the most trusted organizations in child welfare, oddly enough,
are churches and faith based organizations. And people in those
studies say agree that about about two thirds of them

(09:59):
say they say that the church should be more involved
in this, and I think so. So we talked a
lot about that. We also talked about our partnership with
a Department of Human Services around care Portal, and we
had this discussion about you know, government programs can provide
resources and respond to crisis, but real healing for these

(10:21):
children and families happen in relationships and that's where the
church itself and you know what relationship And.

Speaker 3 (10:29):
Greg, as I hear you tell this story, I can't
help but think that, you know, six thousand kids, it's
kind of like eating an elephant.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
You have to go one boy the time.

Speaker 3 (10:42):
Yes, And I think that when you talk to some
of these smaller churches, you know, they're looking at that
six thousand number and they're thinking, oh my gosh, you know,
I'm drowning in that. But I think that through maybe
the context, in the vision that you provide, you're able
to give them a lane in which they can make

(11:02):
a difference.

Speaker 4 (11:04):
Absolutely. And when we walk into communities, Mike, like when
we walk into going to mont County, we're not talking
about six thousand kids in mont County. We're not talking
about six thousand kids in north central West Virginia. In
mont County, We're talking around two hundred Montounty kids that
are in care. And we're talking over one hundred churches

(11:25):
in the communities that if you think about that the
number of kids in care, that means if you can
support one family, if you can support one child in cares,
it actually makes a measurable difference. And we think everyone
could do something when we go into churches, Mike, we're
not talking. We're not encouraging everyone to be foster parents.

(11:47):
We think a lot of people are called to do that,
but most of us aren't. Most of us shouldn't be
foster parents. But we do think everyone in every church
can do something that may be supporting those foster parents.
That may be giving them a night out, that may
be taking them a meal. It can be the most
simple things, meeting physical needs, spiritual social needs, or even

(12:08):
just helping them talk through navigating the child welfare system.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
You know, Greg, I think one of the things that
I'm wondering here as we have this conversation is, you know,
what about the contributions that they're making, and it might
not drop that number of six thousand, but it may
might be making life just a little bit better for
that six thousand.

Speaker 4 (12:34):
Absolutely, so, a few things that we see based upon
peer reviewed actual research, Mike is that we all see
these signs foster parents needed. We know that there are
always needed more foster families. I'd encourage any listener that's
interested in it to take a step forward and learn more.

(12:55):
But what we also don't talk about is the fact
that when foster parents get into this system, it within
a year half of them stop fostering. So fifty percent
of them that are recruited this year will not be
fostering at the end of next year. In two years,
eighty percent of them won't be fostering. What we've seen

(13:16):
is that when the local church comes around, a foster
family disapplies with a kinship family, like a grandmother raising grandchildren.
When the local church comes around and does the most
simple things mike like just taking meals once a week,
calling and checking in and offering prayer and support and encouragement,

(13:37):
those numbers almost completely slip, so that within one year
those families that have been supported by a local church,
ninety percent of them are still fostering. Taking a meal
matters when it's done with a group of volunteers. You
don't have to do a lot for it to make
a huge difference that that foster family stays in the

(13:59):
fight and that child doesn't have to be placed again
with another foster family. It can matter tremendously, not just
now but in the future for that child.

Speaker 3 (14:08):
You know, Greg, the last thing I wanted to cover
on this and then wanted to jump over to the
care Portal program is the fact that you know, we
value and we appreciate the work that our government agencies
do in our communities. Absolutely, you bet, you bet, But
you know the fact is they're open from eight to
four Monday through Friday, maybe not available on the weekends,

(14:31):
and you know, sometimes quite frankly, when you're dealing with
the representative from the government, you might not get the
kind of human connection that you get when you deal
with somebody from a church.

Speaker 4 (14:43):
That is it might. You've said it well, and that
is our our frontline, folks. One of our core missions
is actually take the local church and decrease, decrease the distance,
the decrease the space and the relationship with seen local
child protective service workers and the local church. So the
church really starts to understand what are the needs of

(15:04):
the kids. But what those local child protective service workers
are able to do given their volume, is very often
they're not able to pour into those relationships, and the
relationships are what't matter. When when a car breaks down
and a family needs some help, calling the local church

(15:25):
is going to be a better option than trying to
find help through a government program. So and it takes both,
interestingly enough, it takes both. It takes responding to those
crises and distributing benefits to those families, but it also
takes the support of the local community. And we're and
we're increasingly increasingly we're seeing in West Virginia amongst legislators,

(15:50):
amongst amongst Secretary mayor and his staff this idea. Very
often government, government and the local face community are working
down parallel paths where they don't really cross. We see
state seeking compliance and capacity and the faith community offering

(16:10):
compassion and connection. But neither one of them was ever
really meant to do this alone. So we really need
to build bridges where the trust between the two builds
increasingly and where a shared mission, you know, replaces maybe
sometimes animosity towards one another. And that's what it's going

(16:31):
to take, that whole community approach so that kids are
funding not just placements, but families and futures and hope.

Speaker 3 (16:38):
And you know what one of those bridges is the
care Portal program. Now that is yeah, yeah, absolutely, now
tell us about that because that's growing.

Speaker 4 (16:47):
It really is. So here at the village, we equip
churches in a variety of ways and we give them
a lot of tools where they can go support families,
you know, either by just one on one supporting a
family within their church, or they can they can support
local child welfare workers, or they can give rest at
nights for families, just a lot of different ways. In
one of those activities and these volunteer led ministries is

(17:09):
care Portal. And care Portal connects the needs of It
connects the needs of local children and families with the
local church. It is a care sharing technology that drives
action for local children and families in need. It's a
very simple concept where the people that are sitting on

(17:31):
the front lines, child protective service workers, people in placing agencies,
those types of organizations, they see these needs and very
often they don't have the resources to meet. The Careportal
gives them ability to just put those needs in in
a very generic way to say here's what we need.
A family might need a bed, a family might need
a crib. They put them in and then through churches,

(17:55):
the village team has recruited and enrolled those needs, go
out to all the churches and all their volunteers, and
those volunteers are able to just very simply click yes,
I can help and say here's how they can help.
And that connects the frontline child serving professional with the
volunteer and the volunteers able to go out and meet

(18:18):
those needs. This is a partnership that we have with
our friends at the Department Human Services, and they've been
very supportive of this. We did a pilot last year.
I say last year, Mike, it's this year. It went
so fast. We did a pilot in mand and Preston
County that we launched in the spring, and we've seen
about two hundred and seventy four children served in the

(18:40):
two county region. We've seen about ninety percent of those
posted needs have been met. And the contribution, the financial
contribution from the local church and the local community has
been around sixty thousand dollars of community based support in
terms of things that are being purchased and assistance then

(19:02):
been given and the hours that are there. It has
been a very quick return on investments.

Speaker 2 (19:08):
Most certainly.

Speaker 3 (19:09):
And I tell you what, Greg, we're running close on time.
A couple of comments I wanted to leave you with
is the fact that you know these This is sixty
thousand dollars in needs that just popped up and people
rushed to the front and said, hey, you know what,
sign me up, let me do that.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
Nobody had to go out and beg for this support.

Speaker 4 (19:29):
But no one did.

Speaker 2 (19:31):
Hey, Greg, one did Until we can.

Speaker 3 (19:33):
Do it again, buddy, I really do appreciate your time today.
Take care of yourself.

Speaker 4 (19:37):
Thank you so much. Appreciate you, Mike.

Speaker 2 (19:38):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
It's time now to find out what's happening across the
great state of West Virginia.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
And to do that, we'll head to the Metro News
anchor desk.

Speaker 1 (19:58):
Now back to the of the town.

Speaker 2 (20:01):
Well, good Thursday morning.

Speaker 3 (20:02):
Jackie Riggleman is a two time WVU grad also the
recipient of the Margaret Buchanical Young Alumni Award back in
twenty eighteen, recognized as a West Virginia Living wonder Woman,
and also a New York Penn League's Female Executive of
the Year. Now, professionally, she has made her mark in

(20:23):
professional sports with the West Virginia Black Bears and the
Pittsburgh Pirates. She is Jackie Riggleman, and she's on the
phone with us right now. Jackie, good morning, How are you?

Speaker 5 (20:34):
Good morning? I'm doing wonderful.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
How are you hey? Pretty good? Pretty good?

Speaker 3 (20:38):
So I guess give us the first person feeling of
how it feels to be a decorated alumni coming back
for homecoming.

Speaker 5 (20:47):
It is quite special. I have to tell you. When
Kevin Barry called to tell me I'd won the award,
I was completely shocked and just very honored, to be
quite frank. And it is such a great feeling to
pool in Morgan today. The leaves are at peak, which
is wonderful, and I think it's going to be a
really great weekend.

Speaker 3 (21:05):
Well, I guess tell us a little bit about your career,
and you know, what are some of the key things
that led to you earning this award.

Speaker 5 (21:13):
So my career, I feel like I've had a pretty
exciting and fun career so far. I started here in Morgantown,
West Virginia, with the West Virginia Black Bears. I was
a part of their inaugural season. I went with them
for about four years, all the way up to be
their assistant General manager, and then from there I started
working with the Pittsburgh Pirates at spring training in Brandonton, Florida,

(21:34):
where I was assistant GM and manage our director of
ticket sales for their spring training property and the Brandonton Marauders.
So did that about two years, spent COVID in Florida.
Then after those two years, I headed to Pittsburgh where
I eventually became the Director of Facility Operations and Strategy
for the Pittsburgh Pirates at P and C Park. So
I've had a wonderful career thus far. Today I am

(21:59):
now the senior project manager for Canopy Team. Canopy Team
as a owner's representation, design and strategy firm, so I
have the opportunity to work with the Pirates still every day,
assisting them with long term strategy of their properties, and
also some other pretty amazing teams out there in the
sports industry.

Speaker 3 (22:18):
Now, what would your message be to that WVU sophomore
out there that is, you know, in a slog an
academic slog and they're just not really sure they can.

Speaker 2 (22:27):
See the end.

Speaker 5 (22:30):
Don't give up because it's very much worth it. On
the other side, I've been saying lately. You know, some
people say the grass isn't always greener. On the other side,
I like to say, you know what, that grass can
be greener. It can be the nice fluffy grass you
want to roll around in and have a picnic in.
And that is really where you can get to when
you love what you do. So keep going, keep climbing.

(22:53):
As they say, you're at WVU, and you will get there,
and I guarantee you.

Speaker 6 (22:57):
It will all be worth it.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
Jackie Gregelman is with it.

Speaker 3 (23:00):
She is the winner of the Margaret Buchannan Cole Young
Alumni Award. On the field, No, I guess it's no
secret the mountaineers have struggled this year. But against TCU
Saturday evening, do you have a prediction?

Speaker 5 (23:16):
You know I always side with my Mountaineers, no matter
what that is, being a loyal, tried and true fans
to the end. So I'll be right there cheering on
the mountaineers because they often surprise it. So don't count
the mountaineers out for Saturday, because sometimes the toughest opponents
are the ones that they get their leg up on.

Speaker 3 (23:35):
You're absolutely right. I couldn't have said it better myself. Hey, Jackie,
enjoy your weekend here in Morgantown and really do appreciate
your time.

Speaker 5 (23:44):
Thank you so much, Mike, have a wonderful day.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
Yes, ma'am, you take care.

Speaker 3 (23:48):
Coming up next, we're gonna take a have a conversation
with another WVU alumni. This one is actually going to
be making a big announcement in about twenty minutes, but
he'll share that with us. Coming up at nine forty
that's next on Talk of the Town AM fourteen forty
f M one oh four point five WAJR.

Speaker 1 (24:20):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
Talk of the Town.

Speaker 3 (24:26):
Good Thursday morning, and welcome back to Talk of the Town.

Speaker 2 (24:30):
Clouds and forty five degrees now.

Speaker 3 (24:33):
Iconic Are is the story of two sub proclaimed hustlers
from the Northern Panhandle, Kyle Gillis and James Carnes.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
Now.

Speaker 3 (24:40):
Their entrepreneurial dreams started with an education system designed to
steer kids to stem education and that was called Iconic Edu. Now,
after entering the Vantage Ventures program at WVU. At program
it actually into Iconic Air and Iconic Air they were

(25:03):
able to take in more than a million dollars in
revenue back in twenty twenty one. Now Our guest this
morning is James Carnes. He is the project builder, the workhorse,
He's the nose to the grindstone part of the business.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
Good morning, James, how are.

Speaker 4 (25:20):
You doing well?

Speaker 6 (25:23):
Good morning Mike.

Speaker 4 (25:23):
How you doing?

Speaker 2 (25:24):
Hey? Pretty good? Pretty good?

Speaker 3 (25:25):
You know, I think it was about five years ago.
Let's say I ran into you and Kyle's at an
open house their Advantage Ventures at their facility and had
an opportunity to talk with you. Then a lot of
your work there was using drones for anything from surveying
to agricultural applications. But what is the announcement you guys

(25:50):
are prepared to make at ten o'clock this morning.

Speaker 6 (25:54):
Yeah, we're super excited for the announcement, and it's kind
of crazy to look back to some the journey, even
from Yale we ran into you, or kind of back
in the Vantage Ventures program. Since then, we've really focused
on building the best sustainability software within the energy sector,
and so that means helping you know, energy companies, only
gas companies, utility companies, et cetera, better track their missions,

(26:16):
very similar to how companies have to track their financials.
And as part of that, we've been building you know,
We've raised a little over five million dollars to date
for the business, and we're excited today to announce that
our company has actually been one hundred percent acquired by
A Swayne, which is the leading Asia sustainability platform. So
it's a Tokyo based software company. In our entire team

(26:38):
company products, we'll be joining a Swayne, you know, post
to the acquisition to be leading their US North American
efforts strategy and operations.

Speaker 3 (26:49):
Co founder and CEO of Iconic Air, James Carnes is
with us now. James, tell us what this means for
the Iconic Air brand.

Speaker 6 (26:59):
Yeah, it's you know, looking back on the journey Cow
and I actually started. It's such the typical come up,
you know, underdog story, which I think is very true
in common with with folks building something in West Virginia.
But we started the business out of a small, small
garage out of the townhouse we lived in right after college,
graduating at WU, with the goal of building world class software,
you know, in the sustainability sector. And when we kind

(27:20):
of pivoted, as you mentioned earlier, away from the education
dren Stent kits and eventually found our way into the
energy sector, we knew we really wanted to build something
that would have a large impact on a global scale,
and so we really view this as that milestone to
achieve that. You know, so to date, almost all of
our customers have been predominantly US energy companies within the
United States, and so now by joining joining forces and

(27:42):
becoming a part of the broader, swinging group of companies,
we'll be able to, you know, start selling in our
technology and services to energy companies, you know, across the world.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
Now, back in twenty twenty one, your annual revenue I
think was a little bit over one million dollars. What
has that total done since then?

Speaker 6 (28:03):
Yeah, we're software companies, so we like to track annual
recurring revenue. Back at the time, that million dollars is
actually an Air Force contract, believe it or not, which
just shows kind of the ins and outs of the journey.
Today we're at a couple million of recurring revenue, which
just means that customers may us the same amount basically
every year for our software, and then we have additional

(28:23):
revenue that we pull from from services as well with
our customers.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
James karn Is whe Us.

Speaker 3 (28:28):
He is the co founder and CEO of Iconic Care
who has been acquired by a Japanese firm.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
Now, help us understand how many people do you employ,
What does that part of the business look like.

Speaker 6 (28:43):
Yeah, we employed about ten people total, so we're it's
a common trend that a lot of Silicon based, you know,
Silicon Valley startups or technology companies are seeing today. We're
through a lot of the advancements in AI. You have
really small teams, you know, five, ten, fifteen, sometimes even
twenty five people, you know, building platforms software that are
being used you know, by millions of users or lots
of lots of companies around the world. So we're small

(29:07):
and nimbles. I think why we were such an interesting
target for a to purchase and make us their leadership team,
you know, for their US strategies, because we've built a
really great business but without you know, some of the
bloat that typically comes with the startups, and I think
that was something that was very attractive to them. That's
what we built with the team and product that we
have now.

Speaker 3 (29:26):
James, if you could, I'd like for you to maybe
provide a description or maybe some details about this software program.
You alluded to the effect to the fact that this
will track energy usage much like a company manages their
balance sheet, and you know, you take a look at
businesses and they've got anything from you know, gas, electric

(29:49):
and different kinds of energy options.

Speaker 2 (29:52):
How does this work?

Speaker 6 (29:55):
Yeah, it's it's a great question, Mike, and it's it's
something that I always love explaining because unless you're you
really work in energy, a lot of people just because
it's not really common, don't really understand kind of you know,
the energy sector how it works. So if you think
of an oil and gas company in West Virginia's economy
obviously is a big energy economy, there's a lot of
you know, oil and gas wells or physical facilities that

(30:15):
exist across the United States. That's actually like producing and
extracting energy and transferring that energy that actually you know,
eventually gets to our homes, our businesses and what actually
powers everything we do. And obviously power is now the
big big trend in AI. Our software basically acts as
a system of record for all of their equipment, of
the facilities, everything they basically have and need to operate

(30:37):
their business. So we store, you know, information from the
actual production that they have, which is the product that
they sell. The locations of their facilities. Basically anything similar
to a balance sheet. How you need you know, all
of the high level aspects of the business to be
able to tell how you're performing from a financial perspective.
We do the same thing just from a sustainability perspective,
so we track a lot of their equipment and things

(30:59):
in the field that help them better understand where they're
at from an emissions and operations perspective. And oftentimes they
need that information either from regulatory perspective for you know,
state or federal compliance. But more importantly, a bigger trend
has been for investor reports and market pressures. So there's
a lot of trends right now that are happening where
companies and investors are asking them to actually submit what

(31:23):
their emissions are and communicate what that is, whether you're
a large public company all the way down to small
private companies that operate in Texas or West Virginia.

Speaker 3 (31:31):
And you know, James, there's something else at work here too,
because right here in the city of Morgantown over at WVU,
they have a sustainability plan in order to be more green.
I guess coming in the future, would this be something
that they could look at and say, well, you know what,

(31:52):
maybe we could infuse maybe something green into this particular operation.

Speaker 6 (32:00):
Yeah, it's it's definitely something we could work all with university.
I mean, we're absolutely focused on the energy sector, so
I like to we like to focus. We're very pragmatic
and realistic. We like to refer ourselves as like pro operators.
So you know, any any energy company that is looking
to better tracks information. That's kind of where we got started.
But I think over time, you know, the business and product,

(32:21):
especially with the acquisition and we have a lot more
resources in a bigger scale, will be something that be
you know, branch out and so maybe that that could
be something you know, partnering with university or some of
the energy systems that they have on campus as well.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
You know, something kind of funny that you've just said.

Speaker 3 (32:35):
And I'm sure maybe I might have been the only
one that picked up on it, but you know, you
went through school at WVU and obviously you had to
pay your tuition and things and and uh and then
you know you just said, through your company, hey, you
know what, we could give the university a price for that.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
I thought that was pretty cool.

Speaker 6 (32:54):
Yeah, absolutely, Okayati I'll gotta be selling, Ana be selling
and clothing.

Speaker 2 (32:59):
There you oh, there you go. James Carns is with us.

Speaker 3 (33:02):
He's the founder, co founder and CEO of Iconic Are
your partner Kyle Gillis, He's referred to as maybe the
point guard, the quarterback, the guy looking down the field
for you know, maybe that fifty yard completion. What's in
the future for Iconic Care.

Speaker 6 (33:21):
Yeah, we're excited to take what we've been doing over
the last five years and really just continue to scale
it and grow it on an international level. So, you know,
our entire team, Kyle, myself, our team, our product, all
of us are going to become you know, have become
officially a part of Asuena and so we now have
basically the same team, say mission, just just really a
larger scale. And you know, we wouldn't be don't get

(33:44):
to this point if it wasn't for all of our
awesome investors and customers and team along the way, one
of those being you know, Country Roads Angel Network, you know,
who were one of our earliest believers and really kind
of helped us navigate some other early stage, you know,
parts of the business. And I think that's something in
addition to obviously the company side. You know, both Talent
and I are very passionate about working and mentoring you know,
other young founders and builders in West Virginia, and so

(34:06):
I think that's something that you know, in addition to
continuing to build and operate Iconic Are at an international level,
we also want to you know, continue to be involved
and give back to the community of a entrepreneurship and
founders in West Virginia as well.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
Will you keep your name Iconic Care.

Speaker 6 (34:22):
Yeah, yeah, the brand will continue on. We're you know,
just now a part of this larger group. We built
a really strong brand within the energy sector and I
think that was another reason why they were attracted to us.
And so, you know, keeping that brand and continuing to
work with our customers and build and add value to
them the way you have is something that we intend.

Speaker 4 (34:41):
To keep doing.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
Now.

Speaker 3 (34:42):
You briefly touched on mentoring, and this is the last
thing that I wanted to cover with you. But you know,
years ago when I was up there and talked to
you and Kyle at that open house Advantage Ventures, you
know Sarah Biller, she was in charge of that particular
operation at that time, and she hold together a lot
of tech and just a lot of students with great ideas,

(35:06):
and now one of those ideas is coming to fruition.
And I know that this isn't the only one, But
I guess what would you say to maybe a kid
sitting in a dorm that thinks that they have an
idea that might go, but you know, maybe they're just
not sure.

Speaker 6 (35:22):
I think it comes down to just taking taking the
risk and taking a shot. And it's something that I've
talked a lot with them founders on. You know, West
Virginia's culture isn't necessarily a pro risk taking culture, especially
for young students coming through university. It's just not something
that's a common story that people eating my co found
on a Kyle growing up, we didn't really know what

(35:43):
it meant to kind of start a business, to be
an entrepreneur. We just kind of learned it and figured
it out and kind of found out about it and
do the help with people like SERA continued to grow
and evolved, So I would I would encourage them to
just take the risk, you know, bet on yourself and
find people like myself or other founders who have through
the journey and want to help because it always is
good to have someone who's you know, been where you're

(36:06):
trying to go. And so I think, just take the
risk and really, you know, believe in yourself.

Speaker 3 (36:10):
How do you use your experience to end the West
Virginia brain drain?

Speaker 6 (36:17):
I think personally, I spend a lot of time on
this mike, a lot of time talking with students. A
lot of times. I've started even an organization called Beacon,
which is of organization by founders for founders. It's essentially
a free community nonprofit for founders that have started you
know in West Virginia. And all the time I've spent
you know, with that and with talking with founders, it
just has to be truly at bottoms up change. It

(36:41):
has to be you know, other founders. I mean I
have a list of twenty people in my head right
now I can think of immediately that are working with
me on the concept of Beacon, and they need to
be other people who are actually in the arena. That's
like one of my favorite quotes is be in the arena.
And so by taking that risk and being in the arena,
you're facing the challenges on a day to day basis
as an entrepreneur, and so we need to just one

(37:03):
at a time, you know, through really just bottoms up,
penetrate the schools, penetrate the colleges working with you know,
Group Side, Vantaged Ventures or now marsh Marshall has their
you know, g data program and accelerator that they have.
So there's a lot of these groups in the state
that are trying to you know, lift up entrepreneurs and
we just need to keep finding them one by one
and then eventually, you know, years we'll go by and

(37:25):
live a much much larger group of people who want
to take risks and build businesses within the state.

Speaker 3 (37:29):
James karrn is the co founder and CEO of Iconic Are.
Congratulations on your achievement, James, It just couldn't be any
happier for you. On the way out, though, I would
like for you to address maybe the negotiations with the
Japanese swayin a people.

Speaker 2 (37:49):
Did you have any help? How did that go?

Speaker 6 (37:54):
Yeah, that was something that we actually ran our own
entire process and negotiation, so it was it was great
experiences first time founders, you know, selling your business. We
obviously worked closely with our egisting investors to get their
approval and feedback, but you know, being the first time
I've talked to several exited founders, you know, just kind
of during the journey and even now that we've officially

(38:14):
closed the transaction. U and everyone always says the first
one is the hardest. Uh, and I can say that
that is definitely true. So, you know, learned a lot,
got a lot of good, valuable lessons, you know, but
excited to share those and be able to you know,
pay those forward with other entrepreneurs based in West Virginia
as they look to sell or exit their business in
the future.

Speaker 3 (38:33):
Well, James, congratulations, couldn't be more happier for you. And uh,
homecoming weekend, you're going to be in town going to
the game.

Speaker 6 (38:43):
I will, Yes, I'll be there with my wife and
and some of some of our families. So hoping to
see a mountaineer win.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
Oh, now that's where I was headed next.

Speaker 3 (38:51):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (38:51):
I believe we'll get a win this weekend.

Speaker 6 (38:55):
I'm right there with you, Mike. I think it's I
think it's it's overdue and it's home coming. We got
Cole Rush. I think I think all the ingredients are
right for a mountain Net witness weekend.

Speaker 3 (39:04):
There you go, there you go okay, James, Hey really
do appreciate your time.

Speaker 2 (39:08):
Hopefully we'll catch up again soon.

Speaker 3 (39:09):
Thank you, absolutely, Thanks Mike, you bet, you bet.

Speaker 2 (39:13):
Take care of yourself.

Speaker 3 (39:14):
James carn He and Kyle Gillis the founders of Iconic Air,
purchased by Japanese company Swayney.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
They offer a.

Speaker 3 (39:24):
Audit software that takes a look at energy usage for
companies and handles it a lot like a balance sheet
in their financial matters. Congratulations to them, very very good work,
and of course Vantage Ventures there on the WVU campus
kind of the the brainchild of John Chambers, and they
mentioned the the the angel network that does provide some

(39:49):
of the capital for these projects. And of course it
couldn't have gotten this far without somebody like Sarah Biller,
who certainly has done a great job of haunt showing
the Vantage Ventures operation there on the campus of West
Virginia University.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
Coming up, we'll wrap things up real quick.

Speaker 3 (40:11):
Clouds and forty five degrees in the University city metro news.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
Aci Weather says today.

Speaker 3 (40:17):
Do you have a chance for possibly maybe a sprinkle
other than that? Clouds in the mid fifties. We'll be
back to wrap things up. Coming up, right after this
on Talk of the Town AM fourteen forty f M
one oh four point five.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
W A JR.

Speaker 1 (40:51):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred seven sixty five
eight two fivey five. This is the Talk of the Town.

Speaker 2 (41:00):
Well good Thursday morning.

Speaker 3 (41:01):
The federal government shutdown now lumbering into week number three
and coming up next to Metro News talk Line, US
Senator Shelley Moore Capito will join Dave and TJ and
talk about the possibility of holding a vote today that
could lead to some federal workers getting paid despite the

(41:21):
government shutdown. They'll talk with the Senator coming up at
ten o six this morning. Everybody, make it a great Thursday.
Clouds and forty five degrees Metro News talk Line. Next
on the Voice of Morgantown WAJR.