The Marietta Epicenter hosts several intense events this summer to give existing and potential startups opportunities to add sizzle to their business. Seasoned experts Pamela Lankford, Nathaniel Berger, and Ariana Ulloa-Olavarrieto provide training from startup basics to in-depth planning and execution advice.


Lankford, a long-time business coach, provides the basics of startups – planning, resources, and challenges. She asks participants to dig deep to answer whether owning a startup business is for them.

Berger brings his experience in product and business development to bear as he walks startups through the process to map the value they bring to their customers (or potential customers).

Ulloa-Olavarietta’s session on Business Model Canvas provides the audience with the chance to take a holistic view at how to make money, determine necessary resources, articulate a value proposition, calculate infrastructure, identify customers, and estimate finances.

Though each of these sessions stand alone in merit, a business wanting to get a mini-MBA this summer can do so at the Epicenter in Marietta, Ohio. Please click the above image for more information and to make a reservation for each class!

The Building Bridges to Careers Epicenter (BB2C) is a comprehensive entrepreneurial and education center. This is a “Brick and Mortar” center for real-world work experiences that provides space and time for strategic collaboration. Small businesses housed in the Epicenter are supported in an incubator-style environment while they grow. The Epicenter is a partner of the LIGHTS program.

Ohio University’s Innovation Center founded the LIGHTS (Leveraging Innovation Gateways and Hubs Toward Sustainability) program in 2016. LIGHTS’ Innovation Network catalyzes the creation of companies to create high-wage jobs, and attract greater private investment in the coal-impacted regions of Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. The Appalachian Regional Commission generously funded the program because of its unique way of matching complex problems and opportunities facing corporations, communities, and individuals to a network of two strategically-placed Innovation Hubs and seven Gateways. New marketable products arise from these problems. The Gateways and Hubs are new business incubators and makerspaces serving a 28-county area.