Born and raised in the small Ohio town of East Liverpool, businessman Craig Newbold’s story is one that inspires everyone who hears it, even those in Washington DC. Mr. Newbold entered the computer industry back in 1968 when they used equipment that current programmers have probably never seen. Working long hours and excelling at every task offered to him, he entered the challenging world of business ownership in 1990 founding an IT company called BEST Consulting. Located in Seattle, Washington, the company quickly grew to 1100 employees and became the 7th largest software development company in the State of Washington, (Microsoft was ranked 1st) and was ranked in the Inc 100 in it’s first year of eligibility.

After several years of great success, Craig decided to sell the company and retire in 2000. With the profits made from the sale, he was literally “set for life”. He and his wife of 30 years were ready to relax and enjoy the fruit of their hard work.

But there was something that kept coming before his mind. Over the years, during his frequent trips back to his hometown to visit his parents, Craig had sadly watched the deterioration of the Ohio Valley’s economy due to the fact that factories and businesses were closing at an alarming rate. As a result, 25% of the people still living in East Liverpool were living below the poverty line. The loss of literally thousands of jobs had taken a heavy toll both financially and emotionally on the residents of the region. It seemed that hope was as rare as a good paying job.

He couldn’t shake it. These were not just statistics, these were people…people he knew and loved. That’s when he got an idea, and the idea turned into a call… a call to return home and give something back to the community that gave him his start.

Rather than trying to revive the faltered industries of the past, Newbold looked to the IT service industry he was so familiar with, recognizing that it could fuel the economic revitalization the area needed so badly. Inspired by this vision and mission, he founded Newlife Academy (now NewLife Technical Institute), a non-profit IT training school that offers a custom curriculum. This curriculum developed by Newbold and other business people in the industry elicited positive review remarks from professors at Carnegie Mellon University and Kent State University. In a span of one year or less the curriculum imparts the knowledge necessary to work at an apprentice level in the field of software development.

He recognized that being trained in IT is one thing and landing a job in the industry is another, especially given these students came out of Appalachia and the majority had not attended college. Newbold proceeded to provide a “proof of concept” by starting an IT company that initially hired the graduates upon their successful completion of the training at Newlife. This approach successfully combines job training with job creation, much as the apprenticeship programs of years gone by. Both NewLife and the IT company also place a strong emphasis on character development through formal instruction as well as on the job experience.

Career training and job creation was only part of the answer in Newbold’s mission to see his hometown renewed. A comprehensive approach to community revitalization was what was needed. After all, an area is only as healthy as the people who live in it, and people need more than just a paycheck to be healthy and whole. Craig saw his calling to be that of a social entrepreneur.

A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes that a holistic approach must be used to address the environment commonly found in economically distressed communities. Both social and economic issues must be addressed concurrently as part of the solution. Using the disciplines he learned in the corporate world combined with his faith in Christ, Newbold began to apply this approach to the needs of the region. He has called this approach and vision “The American Spirit Initiative”.

Now almost seven years into his mission, others have caught the vision and have come alongside Newbold to help him forward his dream of seeing the Rust Belt become the Teachnology Belt of America. People have moved to East Liverpool from all over the country to be a part of a mission that restores hope and renews families.