CHARLESTON -- It's a big step for a researcher to step out of their field of study and venture into the business world, said entrepreneur Barry Hodge of Morgantown-based SecurLinx Corp.

If they're going to be successful in commercializing a product or service based on their research, they need a lot of support, he said -- support from lawyers and accountants, from investors and from others who have been in their shoes, who can tell them what to expect.

It takes support from the state, when it comes to providing the proper education for the workforce, creating the right business climate, and projecting an image that West Virginia is a great and easy place to do business.

And it's going to take collaboration between universities, all levels of government, private companies and economic development groups.

It's just that type of support that was the topic of discussion Thursday at a meeting in Charleston.

TechConnect West Virginia, a group founded to support technology-based economic development in the state, rounded up researchers, business representatives, educators, Gov. Joe Manchin and others from throughout the Mountain State Thursday to announce a new plan to help lead West Virginia toward success in innovation.

"Today's announcement of TechConnect West Virginia is a vital next step for strengthening West Virginia's economy," said Amy Anastasia, assistant director of the Technology Transfer Office at Marshall University, who sits on the TechConnect board. "Through this collaboration, Marshall University gains a tremendous asset and outlet for (technology-based economic development) activity that will add value to the Bucks for Brains program and help guide University technologies from the labs to the marketplace."

TechConnect West Virginia laid out a report, completed with the help of Battelle Technology Partnership Practice, which showed where the state stands in terms of creating a thriving technology-based economy, and where it needs to go from here.

Its best areas of opportunity lie in advanced energy-related technology; advanced materials and chemicals; biometrics or the field of identification, security and sensing technology; and molecular diagnostics, therapeutics and targeted delivery systems, the report said.

But it has a lot of work to do to catch up to peer states, said Russ Lorince, chairman of TechConnect.

"There is no way we can compete going forward if we don't get fully engaged here," he said.

The state has a lack of technology-focused talent in the state for its workforce, he pointed out. Many of the talented young people in the state leave, and Gov. Joe Manchin said this goes back to his thoughts on requiring PROMISE scholarship recipients to stay in state four years or repay their scholarship money.

There is some talent already here, said Commerce Secretary Kelley Goes. The state just needs to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and project that image to the outside world.

And what it needs to do is continue to grow an academic research and development base, the report said, outpacing the growth in this area nationally. Its goal is a statewide investment of $360 million by 2015, the report said.

West Virginia also needs to increase this funding in other sectors, such as industry. In the report, TechConnect set a goal of increasing the number of technology-based companies, and increasing employment in these companies in West Virginia so that the state catches up with the national average by 2020.

It takes time, as testified by entrepreneurs who spoke at the event, including Dr. Richard Niles of Huntington, co-founder of Progenesis Technologies and a microbiology professor.

Though this kind of progress could take decades, the benefits will go far beyond the researchers and universities, some said. These businesses need both workers and supplies that often can be provided from within the state.

These are good jobs in research and in industry.

West Virginia is in good position to get this going, the governor said.

Manchin said that although the state will start to feel the recession particularly next fiscal year, it's better off than many other states.

"The next four years will be as challenging as we've ever had," the governor said. But "we're going to have a chance to step more aggressively to the plate, with you all in the lead.

"No matter what happens in the country, I think we'll be extremely competitive."

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