Governor Releases August"Open for Business"
Report
| The August 2006 report highlights recent progress in West Virginia economic development, with projects and related announcements that help create and maintain jobs and business opportunities in the Mountain State.
STATE DEVELOPMENT NEWS
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT
NEWS
CORPORATE NEWS
TOURISM NEWS
NEW DEVELOPMENT LOANS
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WEST
VIRGINIA: IN THE NEWS
Huntington:
One of the country's largest ports
In
its Spring 2006 issue, Southern Business
& Development magazine lists Huntington,
W.Va., as the sixth-largest U.S. port
by cargo volume. The ranking was gleaned
from the U.S. Department of Transportation's
Bureau of Transportation statistics
for the article on southern ports. Huntington
is among company such as Houston, New
York/New Jersey, New Orleans and Long
Beach, Calif. |
STATE
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
State provides $41 million for modern
water and sewer service
The state Infrastructure and Jobs Development
Council in July provided more than $41 million
for 26 public water and sewer service projects
across the state. The West Virginia Legislature
this year added an extra $14 million to the
infrastructure council’s budget.
The council has distributed more than $2.5
billion for 600 public works projects and
100 economic development projects since 1994.
State closes fiscal year the strongest
since 1970s, without tax increases
West Virginia closed its fiscal year June
30 with about $300 million more in general
revenue than expected and did not rely on
tax increases to do such. State law dictates
that half of any surplus goes into a special
reserve fund to accommodate potential future
budget deficits.
Most of the remaining surplus goes toward
state retirement programs, which for years
have been underfunded. With this year’s
boost, Gov. Joe Manchin and lawmakers will
have put an extra $900 million into the pension
funds since 2005. Manchin said the revenue
boost is further proof that West Virginia’s
business climate is changing.
State Small Business Development
Center helps 100-plus clients in July
The West Virginia Small Business Development
Center (SDBC) provided more than 2,700 hours
of counseling to 112 clients last month, helping
to create or retain 77 jobs. The SDBC has
provided more than 10,000 hours of counseling
to 1,600 clients since last October, helping
to create or retain almost 900 jobs. SDBC
staff trained 133 people at 20 events in July
and trained more than 3,000 people this fiscal
year. Out of eight loans totaling nearly $1.8
million approved in June, three were Small
Business Administration loans totaling nearly
$420,000. Out of 143 loans totaling $24.5
million approved year-to-date, 69 are SBA
loans totaling $11.8 million. New customer
satisfaction was 100 percent in July and for
the year.
New shell building at Wayne County industrial
park to bring 50 new jobs
At its July meeting, the Infrastructure and
Jobs Development Council (IJDC) approved an
economic development loan of up to $660,000,
with West Virginia Economic Development Authority
funding of $682,000 and private financing
of $560,000, to build a 40,000-square-foot
shell building at the Prichard Industrial
Park (Wayne County). The project will allow
for the creation of 50 new jobs in steel fabrication
and distribution, with projections to expand
the shell building and increase employees
within three years.
The IJDC also approved a $55,000 loan to
the Wyoming County Economic Development Authority
to fund the Intermediary Relending Program,
which makes West Virginia more competitive
in securing federal USDA-RD funds for small
businesses.
West Virginia showcases its specialty
food makers at New York show
The West Virginia Development Office joined
the West Virginia Department of Agriculture
and West Virginia State University in early
July to sponsor a West Virginia Pavilion at
the 52nd Summer Fancy Food Show in New York.
Seven companies from across the state exhibited
and provided samples of their products for
the show, which attracted 24,000 attendees
and 2,200 exhibitors.
This is the second year the two state agencies
have sponsored the pavilion and the largest
contingent from the state ever to attend such
a show. Companies that participated included
Blue Smoke Salsa of Ansted; Custard Stand
Food Products of Webster Springs; DeFluri's
Fine Chocolates of Martinsburg; East Meets
West dba Lui Lui of Vienna; Poochie's Choice
of Morgantown; Thistledew Farm dba West's
Best Products of Proctor; and Uncle Bunk's
of Sisterville. Vita Specialty Foods of Inwood
also exhibited in the international section
of the show.
West Virginia displays its aerospace
pedigree at U.K. airshow
Officials from the West Virginia Development
Office, the West Virginia High Technology
Consortium Foundation and the Mid-Atlantic
Aerospace Complex sponsored an exhibit at
the Farnborough International Airshow in England
on July 17-23. The exhibit showcased West
Virginia as a lucrative location for aerospace-related
industry and promoted the products of five
participating West Virginia companies: Azimuth,
FMW Composite Systems, Innovative Response
Technologies, FCX Systems, and PowerSonix.
More than 1,480 companies from 35 countries
exhibited at Farnborough, one of the world’s
largest aerospace industry events.
Local, state development officials
learn how to attract automakers
West Virginia Development Office joined local
economic development representatives from
the Charleston Area Alliance, Corridor G Regional
Development Authority, HADCO, Lincoln Economic
Development Authority and the Putnam County
Development Authority at the Southern Economic
Development Council (SEDC) Automotive/Logistics
Seminar July 24-26, 2006 in Louisville, Ky.
Attendees said they learned more about the
growth of automotive supplier and distribution/logistics
sectors and explored successful marketing
strategies of southern states.
Speakers included experts from leading site
selection firms and industry representatives
from world-class automotive manufacturers
and suppliers.
Corridor H construction clears another
hurdle with $50 million contract
Gov. Joe Manchin in late July announced the
awarding of the second-largest highways contract
in the history of the state Division of Highways
– a five-mile segment of Corridor H
in Hardy County. This segment reaches the
Grant County line and is another major step
toward the growth and development of West
Virginia’s business and tourism infrastructure.
About 61 miles of the highway are finished
and 61 of the remaining 71 miles are in various
planning phases.
When complete, the four-lane Corridor H will
provide quick and easy access to interstate
highways in Virginia that connect to metropolitan
Washington. The route traverses some of the
most dramatic and beautiful scenery in the
East and was made possible through funding
established by U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd.
Small Business center launches entrepreneurial
training program
The West Virginia Small Business Development
Center (WVSDBC) this month launches a statewide
NxLeveL training program to help small business
owners start, grow and manage their businesses.
WVSBDC Director Conley Salyer said the program
works best in rural states and has proven
to increase sales for small businesses that
have participated an average of 28 percent.
More information is available at www.sbdcwv.org
or by calling 1-888-982-7232.
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT
NEWS
Business booming at Beckley airport
park
More and more businesses are growing or relocating
to Beckley’s Raleigh County Memorial
Airport industrial park, according to airport
officials. W.C. Hydraulics is expanding its
workforce of 40 and recently moved from a
15,000-square foot facility to a 55,000-square-foot
operation at the airport.
Three major out-of-state companies moved into
the airport park. A medical clinic and a child
care development center soon will be on-site
for employees who work at the industrial center.
Airport Manager Tom Cochran said in addition
to the industrial park growth, they are building
two new taxiway sections on the airport’s
primary runway to improve safety and speed
access for smaller aircraft, as well as renovating
the main terminal. He said commercial flight
enplanements are up 34 percent over last year.
Developer gets go-ahead for 1,600-home
development in Eastern Panhandle
The Berkeley County Planning Commission in
early July approved the plat for the first
phase of The Villages at Rolling Hills, a
1,600-home subdivision on 361 acres that likely
will be the largest such development in the
county. The developer plans to donate 20 acres
within the project for a high school, five
acres for an emergency services station and
a community center with tennis courts.
CORPORATE NEWS
Martinsburg aircraft company continues
to add jobs
Texas-based Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp.
Chief Financial Officer Kelly Simmons said
payroll at its Martinsburg facility had risen
to 260 employees by early July, an increase
of nearly 40 percent. That’s on track
with the company’s plan to employ 400
by the end of next year.
Sino recently announced an expansion of its
production facility in San Antonio, which
should increase need for more workers in Martinsburg
as planes roll off the assembly line there.
Bill Walkup, manager of the Eastern West Virginia
Regional Airport park that houses Sino’s
West Virginia operation, said the company
has a lease on an additional 30 acres of land
ready for future additions.
Greenbrier ‘bunker’ literally
open for business and tourism
White Sulphur Springs’ five-diamond
Greenbrier Resort in July reopened the Cold
War-era congressional relocation “bunker”
to hotel guest tours after a two-year renovation
that converted former emergency dormitories
to high-security data and document storage
“white space” for lease to corporations.
The concrete-walled, blast door-equipped
underground compound is ideal for secure data
storage, said Larry Mazey of CSX Intellectual
Property Inc., which operates the storage
facility. Mazey said seven companies are on
the waiting list for the sold-out space.
As for tourists, the $30 public tours begin
Aug. 20. A new museum-quality interpretive
center preserves some of the former government
relocation facility’s bunks, medical
and communication equipment, photographs and
now-declassified documents that tell the story
of the Cold War and the facility’s purpose.
United Bank declares stockholder dividends
for 33rd straight year
United Bankshares Inc. has declared a third-quarter
dividend of 27 cents per share, a 4 percent
increase over the 26 cents paid out in the
same quarter a year ago. United said it is
the 33rd consecutive year of dividend increases.
United Bankshares is the largest bank holding
company headquartered in West Virginia. The
company has $6.7 billion in assets and operates
90 full-service offices in West Virginia,
Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and Washington, D.C.
Five state projects among top 100
investments in the South this year
Five West Virginia projects were among the
largest corporate investments in the South,
according to Southern Business & Development
magazine’s annual ranking of the top
100 corporate job and investment announcements.
AEP’s $1 billion investment in its John
Amos plant in Putnam County was fifth on the
list. Other investments by International Coal,
Mountain State Carbon, Toyota and BPB NA will
total an additional $580 million and create
900 jobs in West Virginia.
According to the magazine, major corporate
announcements are the best measure of a state’s
or market's willingness and ability to accommodate
companies. The annual Top 100 ranking gives
critical insight into areas of the region
that could become a home for companies.
United Hospital Center breaks ground
on $278 million Bridgeport facility
Gov. Joe Manchin joined officials from United
Hospital Center to break ground on a 289-bed,
$278 million hospital in Bridgeport, which
is expected to open in fall 2009. The nearly
700,000-square-foot hospital will be more
than a third larger than the current Clarksburg
hospital and create nearly 600 construction
jobs.
“It’s a big day for West Virginia
and north-central West Virginia,” Manchin
said. “With the growth that is going
on here, people need quality health care.”
Construction set to begin on Mineral
County hospital
Construction is set to begin on the new Potomac
Valley Hospital in Keyser after officials
broke ground for the 48,000-square foot facility
that will replace the existing 25-bed hospital
built in 1931. While the floor size will remain
about the same as the existing facility, the
new hospital in Keyser will provide higher
levels of care to the community, said Harold
McBee Jr., the hospital’s sole proprietor.
The hospital should be complete within 14
to 18 months, McBee said. Community leaders
are working to find a use for the existing
building. Mineral County commissioners earlier
this year approved a Tax Increment Financing
district to cover construction costs for highway
and utilities leading to the hospital.
International Coal Group opens its
Putnam County headquarters
West Virginia’s eighth-largest coal
company in July moved from a leased building
in Ashland, Ky., to a new $8 million headquarters
building just off I-64 in Putnam County near
Scott Depot. ICG President and CEO Ben Hatfield
said the company moved to West Virginia to
be more centralized among its operations,
and it plans to expand at the corporate and
operations levels.
The company has five mines in West Virginia
and plans to have five more by 2010. A Beckley
facility set to operate in 2007 will bring
about 100 jobs next year and 200 by 2008.
“We’ve allowed for some significant
growth,” Hatfield said. “This
company has a strong development plan over
the next five years.”
Auto parts maker celebrates expansion
and 10 years in West Virginia
Diamond Electric, which makes automotive ignition
coils for Toyota, Chrysler and Ford, on July
31 celebrated its 10th anniversary in West
Virginia and its third major expansion since
it opened in 1997. Since it started with five
workers, the company has grown from a 30,000-square-foot
facility and one automaker customer to nearly
200 employees, three major carmakers and a
112,000-square-foot facility.
David Bagnall, Diamond’s director of
community relations, said the company likes
to locate in smaller communities such as Eleanor.
“Absolutely the best move and best decision
our company has made is to locate in West
Virginia. Our work force is excellent and
we’ve had a really low turnover rate,
which is so important in manufacturing.”
Pennsylvania engineering firm opens
Wheeling office
C.M.E. Engineering of Pennsylvania opened
a Wheeling office in the Heritage Port Business
Center. The company, which will start with
five area professionals, hopes to expand to
about 25 Wheeling workers, said C.M.E.’s
Wheeling project director Farley Wood. The
company mainly works in the mining industry,
but also has expertise in environmental engineering
and sees opportunities for developing abandoned
industrial sites for other uses, Wood said.
TOURISM NEWS
New River Gorge Bridge named among
country’s top 10 structures
Roads and Bridges magazine named West Virginia’s
New River Gorge Bridge one of its 10 Top All-Time
Bridges, “a look at some of the most-heralded
monuments to design, engineering and construction
technique ever built.”
West Virginia’s U.S. 19 masterpiece
was listed among heavyweights such as the
Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.
In 2005, the New River Gorge Bridge was the
featured image on West Virginia’s commemorative
quarter. It is the longest single-span arch
bridge in the Western Hemisphere and the second-highest
in the United States.
Rafting company uses innovative,
environmentally friendly sewage system in
its expansion
West Virginia’s Class VI whitewater
rafting outfitter, along with state environmental
protection officials dedicated a high-tech
environmentally friendly wastewater treatment
facility that allowed the outfitter to build
new cabins without disturbing surrounding
woodland. Typically, decentralized wastewater
facilities for such projects require large
amounts of open land for septic tanks and
leach beds, but this new system incorporates
special filters and ultraviolet light to clean
the water.
“It’s inspiring to see successful
businesses like Class VI whose leadership
weighed development against the environment
and both sides managed to win,” said
DEP Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer.
NEW DEVELOPMENT LOANS
Economic Development Authority approves
$3 million in loans
- FMW Composite Systems
will receive a $1.5 million loan to purchase
a shell building in the Preston County Industrial
Park. FMW produces titanium matrix composites
(TMC), an engineered material system that
uses silicon carbide fiber in a titanium
matrix to match the strength and stiffness
of steel at half the weight. The Preston
County facility will be the manufacturing
site for TMC. Current employment: 46; after
one year: 55; after three years: 78.
- Hughes Supply Co. will
receive a $400,000 loan to acquire a six-acre
Raleigh County site on which a 12,900-square-foot
office building and a 4,160-square-foot
showroom is situated. Hughes Supply Co.
is a manufacturer of electrical and communication
products for the mining industry. The company
operates out of Morgantown, Beckley and
Pax, and this project will consolidate the
Beckley and Pax facilities into one location.
Current employment: 24; after one year:
28; after three years: 36.
- Hammack Enterprises received
final approval of an amended $720,000 loan
application to finance a 48,000-square-foot
building on 1.6 acres in Nitro, Putnam County.
Hammack acquired the pipe and valve machining
and fabricating operation of McJunkin Corp.
The original project was the financing of
a 36,000-square-foot building. Current employment:
40; after one year: 42; after three years:
47.
- S.J. Morse Co. received
preliminary approval for a $299,475 loan
to expand its existing Hampshire County
facility by financing a 4,800-square-foot
metal building, and to purchase and install
new, specialized machinery. S.J. Morse Company
incorporated in 1979 and has been at its
current location in Capon Bridge since 1987.
Current employment: 17; after one year:
19; after three years: 24.
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