A cornucopia of opportunity

Tim Preston/The Independent

Ashland October 31, 2007 07:02 am

— Portable project power, personalized computer pages, pregnancy monitoring and a massive racing facility were among the investment opportunities discussed on Tuesday during a meeting of the Tri-State Capital Investment Club.
“The whole idea is to bring investors and entrepreneurs together to let them make contacts and pursue business opportunities,” said Mick Fosson, director of the Ashland Area Innovation Center, explaining this week’s gathering at Bellefonte Country Club that included investors and business owners from Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio and students from Russell High School.
A small group of entrepreneurs is selected to make 10-minute presentations during each meeting, allowing potential investors a chance to meet with them afterwards for more information if their interest is piqued. Business owners or spokesmen in the audience are also encouraged to provide a one-minute overview of their operations.
Ron May, director of Global Defenses, put his company’s Power Wagon into use to provide electricity for the public announcement system and other equipment in operation during the meeting. The portable power supply, which operates silently and stores electricity generated as it is towed (or if plugged into a wall), shows great potential for military applications as well as field hospitals and kitchens, emergency service operations and construction sites, with enough capacity to power a 2,500-square-foot home for 72 hours.
Investment funding for Global Defenses’ Power Wagon would be used to build assembly line models as well as to promote the product and build the company’s inventory.
Eric Denemark of West Virginia International Raceway Park brought a powerful vehicle of a different sort to Tuesday’s meeting, parking his race car near the country club’s front door.
Denemark explained a plan to develop the existing Kanawha Dragway Park into a well-rounded motorsports facility to meet the demands of race fans, and drivers of everything from motocross bikes to NASCAR vehicles. The $25 million project will also provide an outdoor concert venue, testing facilities and driving schools, he said. Once in operation, West Virginia International Raceway Park will have 23 full-time employees (125 on a race day), and would be considered a tourist destination.
Denemark said an 80-page business plan would be provided to investors willing to sign confidentiality agreements.
Paul Helmick, president and CEO of State Newslines, said his company has projected revenues of $25 million to $50 million with two revenue streams and a goal of returning 250 percent to 300 percent to investors within 18 to 24 months. Helmick said State Newslines provides state- by-state headline news, press releases and personalized information pages for business professionals and others with a “fundamental need” to read online news.
Ending the day’s presentations, Marc Solochek of Medical Information Systems Technology asked audience members to consider putting their money behind technology to improve health care for pregnant women with hypertension.
The company’s combination of software and equipment provides doctors with the information they need to diagnose hypertensive mothers and reduce or eliminate lengthy intensive care treatment, lowering malpractice premiums while providing physicians a solid return on investment and the option of maintaining relationships with high-risk patients.
The club meets quarterly. For more information about the organization, visit www.tristatecapital.org.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2651.

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