What happens when you have a million-dollar idea but nothing to help make it happen? West Virginians can turn to The Robert C. Byrd Institute at Marshall University. Derek Scarbro, Business Development Lead and Deputy Director at RCBI, highlights how the Institute helps innovators transform their “back of a napkin” idea into fully functional prototypes. RCBI helps entrepreneurs and established companies move their innovative ideas from concept to market with their top-notch equipment and expertise. And once the idea is prototyped, innovators can work with RCBI to boost performance and profitability. “Innovators can interface with our design engineers and technical staff who can help produce a 3-D image file using computer aid design software. We can reverse engineer parts and components with laser scanning and use those to develop a model for a person’s product and then help them test their proof of concept by making a prototype. Everything we do is with an eye on the eventual, hopefully, mass production of that item and thinking about how they’re going to replicate this and how we can help them do so efficiently and effectively and hopefully source suppliers in the region who can possibly partner - or who can help that entrepreneur figure out how to make it themselves.” Innovators and Entrepreneurs is a bi-weekly segment of the daily304 that features discussions and wisdom from West Virginians who have built their companies and launched new ideas here in the Mountain State.