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West Virginia University West Virginia Public Education Collaborative

Focus Forward: Minds and Machines Grant Opportunity

The WVPEC and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation will award at least two grants of up to $10,000 to conference attendees seeking to put lessons learned during Focus Forward: Minds and Machines into action.

In addition, up to five selected projects will be eligible to receive up to $10,000 in AWS Promotional Credits. Applicants may be considered for both the grant and AWS credits, or AWS credits only.

True to the mission of Focus Forward, the selected projects will be a collaborative effort in the fields of education, economic development, and public policy focused on leveraging artificial intelligence and emerging technology to prepare West Virginia for the future.

Maximum Request:

  • Grant: $10,000
  • AWS Promotional Credits: $10,000

Apply Now 

2026 Grant Recipients

Huntington Analytics in partnership with Advantage Valley $10,000 in AWS Promotional Credits and $5,000 in Benedum Foundation grant funding

Small business owners in West Virginia often struggle to keep up with the administrative responsibilities that come with owning and operating a business. In an initiative described as “Minds and Machines applied to Main Street,” Huntington Analytics and Advantage Valley have partnered to deploy a Claude-powered AI executive assistant to 5–8 small businesses in Advantage Valley’s nine-county Charleston–Huntington metro region of Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, Putnam and Wayne counties.

The AI-powered assistant will help streamline operations by supporting email management, calendar coordination, note-taking, invoice drafts, outcome reporting and more. Businesses across industries and in varying stages of growth will be considered for the pilot cohort.

Neurowired in partnership with the WVU School of Medicine

$5,000 in AWS Promotional Credits and $5,000 in Benedum Foundation grant funding

Rural communities in West Virginia face disproportionately high rates of cardiovascular disease and chronic disability, compounded by limited access to continuous monitoring and specialty care. Neurowired and the WVU School of Medicine have partnered to create a cloud-enabled platform that integrates multimodal health data to deliver quality care and close monitoring to patients, no matter where they live in the Mountain State.

Building on the discussion of the last two Focus Forward conferences, which centered on health and longevity and artificial intelligence, the project aims to break down barriers to access often caused by geographic isolation, lack of transportation and healthcare workforce shortages by enabling continuous, home-based monitoring of cardiovascular and functional health and supporting early detection, personalized care and improved quality of life in underserved rural communities.

STEMpact WV Corporation in partnership with Design-Build-Live $10,000 in Benedum Foundation grant funding

The STEMpact WV Corporation and Design-Build-Live have partnered to establish R.A.I.S.E. Appalachia (Rural AI Skills and Engagement) to help rural students and community members build AI fluency, confidence and future-ready skills while strengthening support for STEM education and workforce development.

R.A.I.S.E. Appalachia will respond to discussions from Focus Forward: Minds and Machines, specifically those that emphasized how communities must be equipped to understand, evaluate and utilize emerging technologies, by expanding access to meaningful AI learning experiences in the Potomac Highlands. The program will help ensure that rural West Virginians are prepared to participate in—and help shape—the state's technology-driven future through workshops, workforce partnerships and community outreach and awareness.

Center for Business and Economics Research at Marshall University

$10,000 in AWS Promotional Credits

The Center for Business and Economics Research at Marshall University (CBER) will bring economic “Nowcasting,” the practice of estimating the current state of the economy in real time, to West Virginia through a state-of-the-art economic Nowcast that estimates current economic conditions before official data is released.

Nowcast estimates update all hours of the day, year-round. Pre-released state-level indicators on employment, earnings and price levels are combined with public and high-frequency indicators from sources such as the Federal Reserve, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, Google Trends and Indeed to estimate market conditions in West Virginia.

Motivated by Focus Forward: Minds and Machines’ emphasis on AI’s ability to provide valuable data to leaders, the project will allow West Virginia policymakers, state agencies, economic development organizations, workforce partners, businesses, academic researchers and community leaders to access timely economic information as needed.

Timeline

January-March 31, 2026

Register for Focus Forward: Minds and Machines.

April 1, 2026

Attend Focus Forward: Minds and Machines to learn about how emerging technology will redefine the human experience. Network with potential partners and think about how you can work together to drive West Virginia forward. The application will open after the event.

April 2-May 31, 2026

Schedule a 1-1 technical assistance session with the WVPEC to ask questions about the application process and receive feedback on your proposal. Email wvpec@mail.wvu.edu to schedule.

June 1, 2026

Submit your completed application by 11:59 p.m.

June 2026

Members of the Focus Forward Planning Committee will review submitted proposals and select projects for funding.

July 1, 2026

Selected proposals will be notified and implementation will begin immediately.

April 2027

Present your project at Focus Forward 2027.

July 1, 2027

Submit a final report to the WVPEC detailing the impact of your work.

Quicklinks

Eligibility

  1. The principal investigator/co-PI must be a confirmed attendee of Focus Forward: Minds and Machines.
  2. Project activities must take place in West Virginia or directly benefit the people of West Virginia.
  3. The proposal must include at least one partner from either business/workforce development or education.
  4. If applying for AWS promotional credits, the PI and/or Co-PI must represent a higher education institution.

Submission Procedures

  1. Attend Focus Forward: Minds and Machines.
  2. Review the eligibility and submission procedures.
  3. Attend a 1-1 technical assistance session with WVPEC staff (optional).
  4. Submit the online application, with completed budget, narrative and timeline, by 11:59 p.m. on June 1, 2026.

Application Questions

  1. Project Title:
  2. Organization Name:
  3. PI Information
    • Name of Principal Investigator:
    • Title of Principal Investigator:
    • Email Address:
    • Phone Number:
  4. Partner Organization:
    • Point of Contact (Co-PI) Name:
    • Point of Contact’s Title:
    • Point of Contact’s Email:
  5. Short Project Description (250 words maximum)
  6. How did Focus Forward: Minds and Machines inform the design of this proposal? (150 words maximum)
  7. Who will this project benefit? Describe your target population. Include both demographic and geographic details. (150 words maximum)
  8. What is the challenge or opportunity this project will address? (150 words maximum)
  9. How will this project address this challenge or opportunity? List key activities and/or strategies.

  10. Are you applying for up to $10,000 in AWS Promotional Credits to support your project? (YES/NO)

    • Describe your need for AWS promotional credits. What are the technology and/or infrastructure requirements for your projects? This may include compute, storage, database, AI/ML, and developer tools.
  11. Outcome 1:
    • How will this outcome be measured?
  12. Outcome 2:
    • How will this outcome be measured?
  13. Provide a project timeline with project milestones and approximate dates.
  14. How do you plan to share the lessons learned from this project with key stakeholders across the state? (150 words maximum)
  15. Upload a completed budget template.
  16. Do you agree to the Requirements for Award Acceptance? (YES/NO)

Requirements for Award Acceptance

  1. Submit a complete application
  2. Submit an updated W-9
  3. Attend midpoint update meeting with the WVPEC (February 2027)
  4. Present at Focus Forward 2027
  5. Submit final report to the WVPEC by July 1, 2027

Selection Information

Proposals will be reviewed and selected by the Focus Forward planning committee and conference speakers.

Quicklinks