VCEDA presents a ceremonial check from the Seed Capital Matching Grant Fund to Tom Moore, owner of Moore2Come in Tazewell County. From left, are Margie Douglass, director, Small Business Development Center, Southwest Virginia Community College; Tom Moore, Moore2Come; and Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA executive director/general counsel.
Lebanon, VA (November 10, 2017) — For Tom Moore and Moore2Come, it’s all about the “more” in his business name, he says – “more service, more visitors to a website or social media page and more customers.” Moore’s new business, located in Tazewell County, Va., was recently approved by the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) for up to a $7,000 Seed Capital Matching Grant under a new funding program offered by VCEDA.
The dollar-for-dollar matching grants in the Seed Capital program are designed for businesses three years and under with less than 10 full-time employees. Applicants work with the Small Business Development Centers at Mountain Empire and Southwest Virginia community colleges to prepare the applications submitted to VCEDA for consideration. Moore worked with Margie Douglass, director of the Small Business Development Center at Southwest Virginia Community College.
No stranger to Southwest Virginia, Moore was raised in the Claypool Hill area and is a 1978 graduate of Richlands High School. He lived in the Raleigh-Durham, NC area from 1985 to 2006, returning home in 2006 to care for his aging parents.
He opened the business in September 2017 with the idea of providing website, social media and video services to clients to beef up their online presence.
“Marketing is an investment,” Moore says, adding he wants to work with area businesses to help them better understand the use of the Internet as a marketing tool.
“I felt like this was a great opportunity,” he says. “It’s been a little slow to start, but I hope to be a part of helping businesses in the area to catch up in the global marketplace by incorporating Internet marketing into their planning.”
Moore notes among the services he provides — in addition to website development and social media channel audits, development and maintenance — is recommending a market plan to help small to medium-size businesses achieve their goals. Audience research is part of the equation he adds. E-mail marketing, newsletters, video content, infographics and other promotional item development are also services offered by his company.
“Many local businesses face problems like potential customers not knowing where they are located, what it is they do or that they even exist,” Moore says. “They don’t fully understand how to leverage online marketing to create more opportunities for them. My aim is to be part of changing that.”
The seed capital grant he received from VCEDA for his business is something he says will be helpful in terms of allowing him to upgrade the computer and video equipment he has and he expressed his appreciation for the grant program and what it means to small businesses like his business.
“I grew up in the Richlands area before moving to North Carolina in 1985,” Moore says. “I have since moved back to be closer to my parents who are in an Assisted Living facility and to begin the next part of my life.
“I love the mountains and feel this area can rebound from some lean economic years,” he adds. “I want to be a part of the recovery and impact the growth which is one of the primary reasons I want to build my business here.”
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About Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and Virginia’s e-Region: The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1988 to enhance and diversify the region’s economy and help create jobs, markets Virginia’s e-Region and its focus on electronic information technology, energy, education and emerging technologies. VCEDA is a unique economic development organization that manages funds for economic development projects from a percentage of the coal and natural gas severance taxes paid by coal and natural gas companies that operate in the region. Located in southwestern Virginia, the region includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton. www.vceda.us or www.e-Region.org.
About the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority Seed Capital Matching Grant Fund: VCEDA region businesses three years and under with less than 10 full-time employees are eligible to apply for dollar-for-dollar matching grants up to $10,000 from the VCEDA Seed Capital Matching Fund. Applicants work with the Small Business Development Centers at Mountain Empire and Southwest Virginia community colleges to prepare the applications to VCEDA that include detailed business and financial plans. Businesses must be located in or plan to operate in the VCEDA region in southwestern Virginia that includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton.