When Dr. Erienne Olesh stepped to the podium at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce‘s Business Summit on Sept. 2, 2026, she carried more than a set of talking points. She carried the story of the largest grant in West Virginia University‘s history. The annual summit, filled with West Virginia business, government, and industry leaders, was a perfect platform to share how RETI embodied this year’s theme of “A Legacy That Leads,” honoring a century old energy history rooted in collaboration, resilience, and a commitment to growth.

As CEO of the Resilient Energy Technology and Infrastructure Consortium (RETI), Olesh has spent the past several months turning a landmark National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine award into a moving, statewide effort. Anchored by WVU in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, and backed by more than 60 public and private partners, RETI is bringing $321 million in public and private investment to the region over the next decade. It’s a number that reframes what’s possible for Appalachia’s energy economy, and it’s also, simply, historic: the single largest grant WVU has ever received.

At the Summit, Olesh explained the RETI Engine is helping to solve America’s most significant energy challenges, including a straining electric grid, surging demand for energy across sectors, and the need for a secure source of energy power for industry.

With a team in place ready to get started, the new NSF engine is already working with 60+ industry partners to develop the hardware, software, and AI technologies needed to secure the region’s energy future while building a durable innovation economy across West Virginia and western Pennsylvania.

Olesh emphasized the RETI mission is built for business leaders, employers, investors, workers, and innovators who make up West Virginia’s economic engine.

For the business leaders in the audience, Olesh’s remarks weren’t just a celebration of a big number, they were an invitation. RETI’s model is built on working directly with industry, gathering the region’s most pressing technology and workforce challenges, and channeling seed funding and startup support to the people positioned to solve them.

The conversation continued over breakfast

The next morning, the room was packed with industry, workforce, finance, and education leaders across the Mountain State ready to lean into this work.

Dr. Liz Vitullo, RETI’s Chief Workforce Officer, and Sam Taylor, RETI’s Chief Technology Officer, walked attendees through what the Engine’s workforce strategy looks like on the ground: how RETI is supporting the talent pipeline for the region’s employers as the demand for energy, advanced manufacturing, and AI-driven technologies continue to grow across the region.

It was an intimate, hands-on companion to the Summit’s big-picture vision, a chance for employers, educators, and workforce partners to ask questions, share their own hiring challenges, and find out exactly how to plug into RETI’s growing coalition.

Together, the Summit address and the workforce breakfast told the same story from two angles: a historic investment into West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, and the people and partnerships making sure it turns into real jobs and real opportunity for the people who call this region home. We are RETI. Let’s Go!