This website made possible with support from Hilliard Lyons

Organizational History

Junior Achievement of the Kanawha Valley, Inc. began in 1971, with Henry Kopcial as Executive Director. At the end of 1972, our organization was named “best new program” in the nation and served over 300 students. In July 2002, we merged with Junior Achievement of the Ohio Valley, Inc. and became Junior Achievement of West Virginia, Inc.

Junior Achievement is the largest and fastest growing financial education entity in the world. We have 130+ chapters in the United States and in 116 countries. We educated over 9.5 million students last year and over 100,000 students during our 38 year history in West Virginia. Junior Achievement is available in EVERY county in West Virginia and in five eastern counties in Kentucky.

On July 1, 2002 Junior Achievement of West Virginia, Inc. Merged with Junior Achievement of the Ohio Valley, Inc., whose office was located in Ashland, Ky. The merger allowed JA to reach students in West Virginia and in neighboring Kentucky and Ohio Counties. At this time the name of the organization was changed to Junior Achievement of West Virginia and the Advantage Valley, Inc.

In the spring of 2007, Junior Achievement moved to its current location of 1700 MacCorkle Ave., SE. Our NiSource board member, Teresa Smith obtained a wonderful suite of offices for Junior Achievement at the old Columbia Gas Building. This prime location provides Junior Achievement with great visibility to the business community and increased request for Junior Achievement services through out West Virginia and Kentucky.

May 2009 was a watershed year for Junior Achievement as we expanded our territory into 48 of West Virginia’s 55 counties as well as increasing our service provision to additional schools in our 5 Kentucky counties. To better reflect our service area, our name was shortened to Junior Achievement of West Virginia, Inc. Various partnerships with the Boys and Girls Clubs, Harambee, Human Resource Development Foundation and others provided a pathway for expansion into various summer and after school venues as well as targeting at-risk students.

A national partnership with PaPa John’s Pizza and Coke kicked off in July of 2009. These corporations provide financial support to local JA offices when their customers use the internet to access various coupons for pizza and Coke. A portion of these proceeds are provided to Junior Achievement of West Virginia.

Visit our Hall of Fame to see past and current JA Laureates