PARKERSBURG A scholarship program through TechConnectWV has been created from donations by a Parkersburg businesswoman.
The Mary Anne Ketelsen S.T.E.M. Scholarship Program will make $22,500 available to women in West Virginia to further their education in preparation for careers in oil and natural gas. Ketelsen is a businesswoman from Parkersburg and the owner of the West Virginia Potato Chip Co., the maker of Mister Bee. Applications for a scholarship are being accepted through March 1.
Mary Anne Ketelsen, a keynote speaker at one of the Women in Technology conferences and successful West Virginia entrepreneur and philanthropist, generously donated funds to TechConnect West Virginia to establish a science, technology, engineering and mathematics scholarship program to support women in the oil and natural gas industry. She also sought to honor the memory of her mother, Mary “Mickey” Welch, a philanthropist and oil and gas industry pioneer.
From staff reports
Contributed
INNOVATORS â Kyle Gillis, left, and Jim Carnes, founders of Iconic Air, have been recognized as part of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Gillis is originally from Wheeling, and Carnes grew up in Weirton.
MORGANTOWN Two Ohio Valley natives who founded a company focusing on the global energy sector have been recognized as part of the recent Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
James Carnes, a Weirton native, and Kyle Gillis, originally of Wheeling, founded Iconic Air during their senior year at West Virginia University’s Statler College of Engineering. Two years later, the company is one of the world’s fastest-growing startups in the energy sector.
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Iconic Air founders and collaborators Kyle Gillis (left) and James Carnes have received a Forbes 30 Under 30 designation for their work in global energy sector innovation. The Morgantown entrepreneurs received a $700,000 grant in October to develop their software technology for the Air Force.
Courtesy photo