The Women Building Lynchburg’s Entrepreneurial and Workforce Advantage

By: Megan A. Lucas, CCE, CEcD, IOM CEO & Chief Economic Development Officer of Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance

Strong business ecosystems don’t happen by accident. They are built intentionally, collaboratively, and consistently by leaders who understand that entrepreneurship is not a single event, but a life cycle.

In the Lynchburg region, many of the critical pillars of that life cycle are stewarded by exceptional female leaders—not because it was designed that way, but because the right leaders stepped forward to build the right infrastructure at the right time. When I’m asked what makes our regional economy resilient, I don’t start with buildings or balance sheets—I start with the ecosystem that supports everyone in our region.

If you have a business idea in this region, whether it’s muffins or manufacturing, there is a pathway for you.

At the center of that pathway are the Small Business Development Center – Lynchburg Region and the Center for Entrepreneurship, both of which are led by Stephanie Keener, our Vice President of Small Business Development at the Alliance. Stephanie and her team walk alongside entrepreneurs from concept to capital access to expansion strategy providing free business counseling, training, and access to sector-specific experts. Through Co.Starters, founders pressure-test ideas before risking everything. Through Start-Up Toolbox, they gain practical tools in licensing, marketing, and financial management. The Import Export Summit opens global markets to companies ready to scale.

Radically Rural has become a nationally recognized platform elevating rural innovation and entrepreneurship.

These programs, most at no cost, are practical, accessible, and designed to meet entrepreneurs where they are, whether that’s at a kitchen table with a family recipe or inside a facility expanding advanced manufacturing operations.

Ideas also need space to become real.

Autumn Evans, Director of the Spark Innovation Center, and Elise Spontarelli, co-founder of Vector Space, are strengthening the region’s hands-on innovation economy in complementary ways. Through prototyping equipment, technical training, collaborative workspaces, and intentional connections between entrepreneurs, technologists, creatives, and small manufacturers, Spark and Vector Space lower barriers to entry, accelerate idea development, and cultivate the applied problem-solving culture that positions the Lynchburg region for the future of work.

Entrepreneurship requires place.

Under Stacy Garrett’s leadership at the Downtown Lynchburg Association, downtown Lynchburg has become a proving ground for retail, hospitality, and creative enterprises. Vibrant commercial corridors create visibility, foot traffic, and energy—all essential ingredients for small business success. Whether a business desires the urban core or the rural ring, the ecosystem can find the desired location.

Leadership development is another essential layer.

Christine Kennedy, COO at the Alliance, oversees a leadership continuum that strengthens our region’s workforce from high school through executive leadership. Through Leadership Lynchburg, participants gain exposure to regional systems and build cross-sector relationships. The Emerge Women’s Summit and Elevate New Managers Conference strengthen professional capacity. The award-winning SHE Week initiative introduces young women to career pathways, financial literacy, and mentorship, thus expanding the future talent pool.

But even the strongest entrepreneurial infrastructure cannot succeed without workforce alignment.

That is where Traci Blido, Executive Director of Virginia Career Works – Central Region, plays a critical role. Virginia Career Works connects employers with job seekers, coordinates training resources, and ensures that workforce systems respond to real industry demand. From upskilling dislocated workers to supporting employer hiring needs, workforce development is not separate from economic development—it is foundational to it.

At the Alliance, Tori Gilmartin, Director of Talent and Workforce, has led the region’s first comprehensive workforce roadmap aligning career pathways, workforce access, employer engagement, and wraparound supports into a unified regional strategy. That roadmap moves us beyond isolated programs and toward coordinated action.

Tori also launched Say Yes to Lynchburg Region, a workforce recruitment and retention portal designed to help employers attract talent and help prospective residents envision a future here. Recruitment is only half the equation; retention requires connection. Say Yes to Lynchburg Region tells the story of opportunity, livability, and career growth in one cohesive platform.

And then there is growth at scale.

Marjette Upshur at the City of Lynchburg Office of Economic Development, Nina Rezai with the Campbell County Department of Economic Development, and Lori Saunders at Amherst County Economic Development ensure that companies, large or small, do not just start here—they expand here. They focus on site development, business retention, industry recruitment, business capital support and strategic growth.

What makes our region distinctive is not that these leaders operate independently. It’s that they operate in alignment.

An entrepreneur can validate an idea through the SBDC, connect at Spark, prototype through Vector Space, launch in any downtown in the region, build management capacity through leadership programs, access workforce pipelines through Virginia Career Works, recruit talent through Say Yes to Lynchburg Region, and expand with support from local economic development offices—all within one coordinated regional network.

That is ecosystem thinking.

After more than two decades rebuilding chambers and economic development organizations across the country, I can say confidently: alignment like this is rare. It requires trust. It requires shared vision. And it requires leaders who are willing to collaborate for regional impact.

In the Lynchburg region, women are managing many of the ecosystem’s most critical levers: entrepreneurship, innovation, workforce, leadership development, and economic growth. Not for recognition, but for results for everyone.

And the results are clear: stronger startups, stronger talent pipelines, stronger companies, and a clearer pathway for anyone with an idea.

That’s good economics.