About Matt

Matt and the team at Mountain BizWorks help local small businesses start, grow, and create jobs through loans, classes, and coaching. Previously, Matt served as the Vice President of Entrepreneurship at AdvantageWest, a regional economic development partnership in western North Carolina. As director of AW’s entrepreneurship efforts, Matt worked closely with regional partners to ensure WNC was home to a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem. Building on his considerable work at the intersection of economy and environment, Matt also headed their AdvantageGreen program, an initiative to capitalize on WNC’s exceptional natural assets and opportunity to be a leader in sustainable industries. Through AdvantageGreen, Matt worked with startups, existing industry and regional partners to advance WNC economic clusters in clean energy, green building technologies, natural products, sustainable agriculture, outdoor sports and climate science. Matt holds degrees in Economics and Natural Resources Management from UNC Asheville.