By Stephen Smoot
Last week, Region 8 held a working session at the historic Mullins 1847 in Moorefield. Once a year, the organization holds two Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy meetings, usually in Moorefield and Keyser. The first meeting at Moorefield included Region 8 executive director Terry Lively and Melissa Earl as presenters.
Others present included Keith McIntosh from Senator Joe Manchin’s office, Lynn Phillips representing Governor Jim Justice, Frank Wehrle for the Town of Franklin, county commissioners and other officials from Mineral and Hardy counties, and representatives of Summit Bank and Mountaineer Gas.
Lively and Earl’s presentation adopted the “SWOT” format. They invited the group to offer ideas on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. These reflect economic, social, cultural, and other trends in the Potomac Highlands counties covered by Region 8. As Lively explained, “we are here to assist our counties and try to make the area a better place for residents.”
He added that the annual meeting is held to satisfy the Economic Development Act of 1965 and that the purpose lay in “conducting regional strategic economic and community development planning.”
Before getting into the brainstorming session of the meeting, Lively announced that Region 8 has “the largest list of current projects that we have ever had.” He then informed the group that liens on a group of industrial parks and other development properties would expire soon. Lively explained “they are starting to get some age on them” and added that locations that made sense in the 1990s may no longer be well served by traffic patterns and highways today.
Another announcement concerned Federal Communications Commission funding for low income families to receive financial assistance. Lively encouraged those present to spread the word, saying “I’d like to get away from the things that occurred during COVID when kids had to go to McDonalds to get internet service.” Those receiving Medicaid, Medicare, and/or free school lunches can qualify.
Earl then took over the meeting to drive the brainstorming session. Meeting participants first shared the strengths of the region. Greg Greenwalt, a member of the Hardy County planning commission, shared that “we have some of the finest people in the world.” He elaborated by explaining that most in the region are hard working, neighborly, proud of their area, and “being decent to each other.”
Other strengths named included upgrades in area hospitals like Potomac Valley Hospital and Grant Memorial. Corridor H and its progress also made the list. Others spoke of the many services offered by Potomac Valley Transit Authority. Lively noted that PVTA is “the most profitable transit authority in the state. Once they get their hydrogen project finished, the whole country will be looking at them.”
He also discussed the impact of tourism, which he said was “taking off quietly.” Lively explained that “they have zip lines up at NRocks in Pendleton County. They have Greyhound buses from DC out there for people zip lining.”
“One other strength is that our banking system is local,” Lively said, then added “and they support our community in many ways.”
Participants listed many more strengths than weaknesses, but some notable issues emerged in discussion. David Workman, president of the Hardy County Commission, said “the types of housing that we have do not lend themselves well to a young person or a young family.” He shared that Hardy County ranked fifth in the nation for second home mortgages, loans taken to purchase a vacation or other type of home not primarily in use. “It’s happening in Grant and Pendleton as well,” he stated.
Luke Mckenzie, Mineral County administrator, agreed that the housing shortage hurt economic development, but that Mineral County required more high end, in addition to affordable, housing. He explained that high salary employees at Northrop Grumman and other area businesses struggled to find residences meeting their expectations.
Participants also discussed the impact of the skills gap. Greenwalt stated that “we lack what I call the tangible workforce,” and listed the most needed trades, such as electricians, plumbers, and other fields. Wehrle added that “tradesmen, we absolutely struggle with that.” Lively pointed out that “contractors are kept busy with houses owned by people from the outside.”
Next, participants discussed opportunities facing the region. Lively again touched on tourism and the new businesses taking advantage of rising numbers of visitors, saying that “we do have local breweries and distilleries that fit into the local artisan category.” Greenwalt cited Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College and Potomac State College as institutions that help the region develop.
Finally, the group focused on threats to regional prosperity. Workman discussed the potential loss of locally controlled media, starting with the possible sale of WELD. Lively agreed, saying “we’ll lose the ability to advertise local events.”
The main topic of discussion lay in the continuing opioid crisis and its ripple effects hurting families and the community. Roger Leatherman added that the ending of extra COVID funding could hurt local government budgets. McKenzie concurred, saying he worried about “aging infrastructure and losing the ability to know how to handle it.” Wehrle shared that finding people who can capably run facilities like water and sewer plants has become difficult in recent years.
