West Virginia University Innovation Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
611764272
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Morgantown, WV, USA
Phone
3049743810
Rating
62
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Science and Technology N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,710,934
Expenses
$8,512,578
Assets
$55,994,734
Liabilities
$15,710,578

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Albert Wright Jr (WVUHS President/WVUIC Director/Chair)
  • Stacey K Armstrong (WVUIC President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Albert Wright Jr (WVUHS President/WVUIC Director/Chair): $2,726,278 total reported compensation
  • Nicholas Barcellona (WVUHS CFO/WVUIC Director/Treasurer): $1,233,901 total reported compensation
  • Jessica R Alsop (WVUHS Chief Legal Officer/Director starting 12.11.25): $933,983 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To offer a wide range of strategic partnerships, academia, employment and community opportunities to the state, while promoting innovation and critical thinking within our workforce. Our vision is to catalyze economic growth and improve health outcomes through the advancement of science, medicine and technology in West Virginia and beyond.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2022, WVUIC acquired a substantial manufacturing, development, and research facility as a donation the Facility. With the acquisition of the Facility, WVUIC will further its purpose of i providing facilities, resources, and support to facilitate the development or incubation of companies that will improve the economic development of the region through contractual agreements designed to maximize the stimulation, protection, and exploitation of intellectual property within the University community and ii encouraging, promoting, and supporting activities of the University related to the entrepreneurship and the development, testing, and evaluation of new technologies, research, and innovation by assisting and evaluating technologies and projects owned by the federal government and private industry.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 72% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.4%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 29.7%; rating input score 30
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -214%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.58; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.1%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.3% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 30.1% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.4% of revenue deployed · 29.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.7M · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $182K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.