Governor Releases July "Open for Business"
Report
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -
Gov. Joe Manchin today released the latest
in a series of regular "Open for Business"
reports, documenting the state's economic
progress. The July 2006 report reflects progress
in the state's economic development efforts
during the past month, with projects and related
announcements that will assist with the creation
of as many as 923 new jobs and the preservation
of a significant number of existing jobs.
A.K. of West Virginia Corporation
held a grand opening ceremony at
its new facility at Route 33/2 and K.S. of
WV Road in Ravenswood. In July 2005, Kazuo
Kato, CEO of K.S. of West Virginia Co. Ltd.
located in Ravenswood, West Virginia, and
president of Kato Seisakusho Co. Ltd. of Nagoya,
Japan, announced a joint venture between K.S.
of West Virginia and ASKA Corp. of Kariya,
Japan. A.K. of West Virginia, a 50/50 ownership
between the two companies with a projected
$10 million combined investment, will create
as many as 100 jobs. A.K. of West Virginia
Corp. is a metal stamping company manufacturing
small- to medium-sized precision parts, which
will also perform welding and assembly, to
serve the automotive industry.
Cabela’s is expanding in July
with the opening of a second distribution
center at The Highlands in Ohio County.
The expansion could create up to 250 jobs.
The 550,000-square-foot addition will bring
the total distribution facilities at The Highlands
to nearly 1.7 million square feet with current
employment at close to 800.
The Offices of the Insurance Commissioner
have approved an overall 10 percent decrease
in loss costs – the portion of the workers’
compensation rate for prospective indemnity
and medical benefits. Overall premiums
will go down about 9.5 percent. According
to the state insurance commissioner, Jane
Cline, this decrease will result in an additional
$55 million back into the pockets of many
state businesses. The new loss costs will
be effective for workers’ compensation
insurance policies July 1.
BlueSky Brands, Inc., announced an
expansion in Martinsburg. Blue Sky
considered several states for its expansion
and decided to locate in Martinsburg. The
company is a direct-to-consumer retailer that
markets gift items, apparel and household
items primarily via its print catalog, Paragon
Gifts. Its subsidiary company, Bits &
Pieces, specializes in puzzles, models and
craft items. In 2005, BSB acquired AB&C
Group, one of the largest processing and fulfillment
providers for direct marketers. The company
currently employs 400 in West Virginia and
expects to create up to 400 new jobs over
the next four years.
Longwoods International, an international
travel research firm based in Toronto, reported
significant jumps in West Virginia tourism
statistics. Their study showed that
overnight leisure travel increased from 11.1
percent from 2004 to 2005, up from 8.1 million
to 9 million. The overall overnight travel
increased 7.1 percent from 2004 to 2005, up
from 10.46 million to 11.2 million.
The 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder engine
manufacturing lines at Toyota’s Buffalo
plant in Putnam County have again been rated
the most productive in North America by the
Harbour Report. The 2006 Harbour
Report singled out the 4-cylinder line as
the most productive of its kind in the United
States, Canada and Mexico for the fifth consecutive
year. The 6-cylinder line at Buffalo was singled
out as the most productive of its kind for
the fourth consecutive year. Toyota celebrated
the 10th anniversary of the Buffalo plant
last month.
A New York Times article highlighted
Lewisburg, West Virginia, as a great getaway.
In the June 2 article titled “Kayaking
and Martinis: An Alleghenies Getaway,”
Lewisburg is described as a city of history,
culture and nature. The article highlights
several popular restaurants, bars and theaters
in the “artsy town.” The article
also notes that Lewisburg is drawing second-home
owners.
The Morgantown, W.Va., and Parkersburg-Marietta,
W.Va.-Ohio, metropolitan statistical areas
(MSA) were named 4-Star Quality of Life Metros
by Expansion Management magazine in its 2006
Quality of Life Quotient rankings. In the
most affordable housing category, four MSAs
including W.Va. locations were listed in the
top five: 1. Weirton-Steubenville,
W.Va.-Ohio; 2. Parkersburg-Marietta, W.Va.-Ohio;
3. Huntington-Ashland, W.Va.-Ky.-Ohio; and
5. Wheeling, W.Va.-Ohio. The magazine compared
and ranked 362 MSAs according to 49 different
statistical categories to come up with the
best places – from a livability and
affordability standpoint – for manufacturing
companies to grow and prosper.
New Century Truckload Services Group,
a division of New Century Transportation,
announced an open house of its new location
in Martinsburg. The company specializes
in moving truckload freight and has purchased
temperature-controlled trailers for customers
requiring protection of commodities such as
polymers, paints, plastics, floral, pharmaceuticals,
chocolates and nutritional products. The company
credited the location and proximity to major
interstates, as well as a strong customer
base, as the reason for the move. The company
currently employs 60 and expects to create
50 jobs.
Representatives of the West Virginia
Development Office joined with the Polymer
Alliance Zone of West Virginia to exhibit
at the NPE 2006, the International
Plastics Showcase held at McCormick Place
in Chicago. Representatives of local development
groups and local plastics companies also joined
the team. The week-long show has more than
2,000 exhibitors and 75,000 international
attendees. It is the largest exhibition solely
dedicated to the plastics industry this year.
WVDO representatives joined with
the Charleston Area Alliance and Mid-Atlantic
Technology, Research & Innovation Center
to exhibit at Medical Design and Manufacturing
East in New York City. The trade
show presents the latest advances, leading
suppliers and technical experts in the field.
Also in June, WVDO Business and Industrial
Division representatives met with site location
consultants in Baltimore and Boston
to market the state as a profitable location
for businesses.
The West Virginia Economic Development
Authority (WVEDA) granted preliminary approval
for a loan in the amount of $1,560,150 to
FMW Composite Systems, Inc. The company
will purchase a shell building in the Preston
County Industrial Park to establish a manufacturing
site for Titanium Matrix Composites (TMC).
FMW produces 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 company currently
employs 46 people and expects to create 32
jobs over the next three years.
The WVEDA granted preliminary approval
for a loan in the amount of $2,126,250 to
Summit Point Automotive Research Center (SPARC).
The loan will finance a 277-acre site located
in Summit Point, Jefferson County. SPARC is
the holding company for Summit Point Raceway
Associates, which conducts motor-sports events
on the weekends, and BSR, which conducts specialty
driver training, accident avoidance training
and anti-terrorist procedures on weekdays.
The facility consists of three road racing
circuits, off-road and unimproved road circuits,
five firing ranges, three hostage rescue training
areas, a hand-to-hand training area and numerous
classrooms. SPARC intends to create a training
and research campus similar to a business
park to lease to security firms on the 277-acre
site, which is contiguous to their existing
facility. The company currently employs 33
people and expects to create 22 jobs over
the next three years.
The WVEDA granted preliminary approval
for a loan in the amount of $400,000 to Hughes
Supply Company. The company will
acquire a six-acre site on which a 12,900-square-foot
office building and a 4,160 square-foot showroom
are situated. Hughes Supply Company is a manufacturer/distributor/repairer
of electrical and communication products for
the mining industry as well as for various
local and state agencies. The company currently
employs 24 people and expects to create 12
jobs over the next three years.
The WVEDA granted preliminary approval
of an amended application for a loan in the
amount of $685,000 to New River Adventure
Resorts, LLC. The original project
was for the acquisition of approximately 136
acres of land near the New River Gorge in
Fayette County with the intent of leasing
ten cabins to Class VI River Runners, a white
water rafting company. The scope of the project
has been amended by converting from a three-season
cabin to a four-season cabin and reducing
the number of cabins from 10 to eight, which
includes larger floor plans and nicer amenities.
New River Resorts is a real estate holding
company. New River Adventure Resorts, LLC;
Class VI River Runners, Inc.; and Lost Paddle,
Inc., are all related through common ownership.
The company employs 118 people and expects
to create 50 jobs over the next three years.
The WVEDA granted preliminary approval
of an amended application for a loan in the
amount of $720,000 to Hammack Enterprises
to finance a 48,000-square-foot building on
1.6 acres in Nitro. Hammack Enterprises, LLC,
was formed in 2004 and acquired the pipe and
valve machining and fabricating operation
of McJunkin Corporation. The company currently
employs 40 people and expects to create seven
jobs in the next three years.
Developers announced that Hawthorn
Suites will build a $7 million allsuites hotel
at Charles Pointe, the planned neighborhood
in Bridgeport. The hotel will feature 87 studio
and one-bedroom suites with kitchens and separate
living and sleeping areas. The hotel will
be built near the Bridgeport Conference Center.
Charles Pointe’s community development
plan combines residential, social and business
agendas.
The Public Service Commission issued
final approval for a $1 billion Longview Power
plant in Monongalia County. Longview
Power plans to build the 600-megawatt plant
near Allegheny Energy’s Fort Martin
plant. All of Longview’s output is scheduled
for the wholesale electricity market outside
West Virginia, while about 25 percent of the
Fort Martin plant’s current generation
goes to state consumers. The plant is expected
to use more than 2 million tons of coal each
year. Longview estimates that the plant will
create up to 1,600 construction jobs and have
about 60 permanent employees.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
reported that West Virginia’s economy
grew by 3.2 percent last year. This
growth was higher than surrounding states
such as Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Kentucky’s
economy grew by 2.3 percent, Ohio’s
by 1 percent and Pennsylvania’s by 2.1
percent.
Gov. Joe Manchin met with representatives
of a Russian trade delegation to discuss economic
trade opportunities. This meeting
was a follow-up to the West Virginia Development
Office-sponsored trade mission to Russia that
took place in 2004. That mission included
two mining equipment-related companies, A.L.
Lee Corporation of Lester and Kanawha Scales
and Systems of Poca, as well as two non-mining
related companies, Appalachian Electronic
Instruments of Ronceverte and FCX Systems
of Morgantown.
April provides the lowest unemployment
rate on record. West Virginia’s
unemployment rate declined three-tenths of
a percentage point to 4.2 percent in April,
WORKFORCE West Virginia reported. This is
the lowest April unemployment rate on record,
the fourth month in a row to post a new monthly
low, and the lowest monthly rate so far this
year. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose
8,100 in April, with notable gains of 3,600
in the goods-producing sector and 4,500 in
the service-providing sector.
Gov. Manchin joined the National
Science Foundation (NSF) Deputy Director Dr.
Kathie Olsen in announcing an $8,999,903 NSF
grant award to the West Virginia Experimental
Program to Stimulate Competitive Research
to fund higher education research
at three West Virginia universities. The state
of West Virginia will match this grant with
an additional $4.5 million bringing the total
funds available to $13.5 million. The $9 million
award represents the largest science and technology
research grant ever awarded to West Virginia
by the NSF.
Acknowledging the trend for travelers to
use the Internet to make plans and book reservations,
the West Virginia Division of Tourism
has introduced an "e-zine" or
Internet magazine that goes to potential visitors
who have opted to receive the monthly report
on what's happening in the state’s tourism
industry. An early report shows that more
than 490,000 e-mails have been successfully
delivered with an open rate of almost 18 percent.
In comparison, similar programs have about
a 12 percent open rate. Even better, the e-zine's
content sections are outperforming the advertising
section in terms of readership. The division
believes this trend shows that viewers are
reading about West Virignia destinations and
events, not just clicking on the ads.
The Cooperative Tourism Promotion
Fund, which is the division’s matching
advertising partnership program, has accepted
23 applications for the new $7,500 program
for a total amount of $133,000 since April
4. They have accepted 46 applications
for $5,000 Fair and Festivals grant applications
since February for a total of $120,000. This
year the Legislature also approved a 75/25
matching program that allows tourism businesses
and their partners to get up to $7,500 in
program funds with just a $2,500 matching
amount. This is a change from the program
and fairs program that is a 50/50 match.
Washington Homeopathic Products held
a grand opening of its new 12-500-square-foot
factory in the Morgan County Business Park
south of Berkeley Springs. Growing Internet-based
sales and product demand have increased the
company’s sales by 40 percent to more
than $2 million in the past year. The company
manufactures and sells a complete line of
homeopathic products for people and pets.
With more than 900 retail accounts, the company
focuses on bulk manufacturing and selling
to retail stores, pharmacies, small chains
and private label companies as well as on
the Internet, to walk-in customers and to
physicians.
The seeds planted during the Governor’s
trade mission to Europe this past spring have
resulted in several exciting developments.
Several companies considering West Virginia
for possible investment have already visited
and more are scheduled in the coming weeks.
Baltimore Sun writer, Jamie Smith
Hopkins, reported that something remarkable
is happening in West Virginia: Jobs are coming
back. In addition to a recharged
coal industry (the number of producing mines
statewide jumped by 20 percent last year),
construction and tourism, the state’s
unemployment rate has dipped below four percent,
better than the national average. The article
highlights booming areas of the state such
as Putnam County, the Eastern Panhandle, Fairmont
and Morgantown, which are seeing the construction
of gated communities, technology parks and
chain restaurants – “corporate
America’s stamp of approval.”
The West Virginia Small Business
Development Center offered 1,185 hours of
counseling to 153 clients in June, creating
or retaining 33 jobs. To date this
fiscal year, the SBDC provided 6,711 hours
of counseling to 1,375 clients and created
or retained 664 jobs. At 28 events in June,
the SBDC trained 389 people; year-to-date,
the agency held 206 events and trained 2,495
people. Out of eight loans totaling $869,980
approved in June, four were Small Business
Administration loans totaling $630,000. Out
of 106 loans totaling $21,101,848 approved
year-to-date, 58 were SBA loans totaling $10,830,452.
New customer satisfaction was 100 percent
in June and for the year.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection released its second annual State
of the Environment report on West Virginia
Day. The report is a compilation
of facts and scientific data and tracks trends
and statistics as well as explores environmental
indicators on national and state levels. It
includes information on mining and reclamation,
as well as energy production and provides
a basis for evaluating the success of regulatory
and nonregulatory programs. The report is
based on a scientific approach to describing
elements of environmental quality and, to
the extent possible, it presents a numerical
view of the air we breathe, the quality of
our waters, and the land on which we live.
The report can be found online at www.wvdep.org
under the Citizen Services menu.
The Governor’s REAP –
The Next Generation program is nearing the
end of its push to collect thousands of used
tires across the state. The litter
prevention effort is a collaboration of the
Department of Environmental Protection and
the Division of Highways and has resulted
in the collection so far of 293,709 tires,
which will be properly disposed of. The final
17 collection events are scheduled to wrap
up in July.
Prime real estate in Monongalia County
is moving from an industrial use to new student
residences. Developers for University
Commons Riverside held a ribbon cutting ceremony
to signify the end of environmental cleanup
efforts and the beginning of construction
of upscale student housing near West Virginia
University. The site, known as the former
Star City Terminal, was once operated by Pennzoil
Quaker State as a petroleum bulk storage facility
from 1953 to 1990. In August 2002, Pennzoil,
now operating as Shell Oil, entered a voluntary
remediation agreement with the Department
of Environmental Protection under the Voluntary
Remediation and Redevelopment Act. The company
assessed and cleaned up pollution related
to petroleum contaminants and by August, the
site will be home to 84 four-bedroom condominiums,
a parking lot and an outdoor recreation area
for the residents.
Two massive river cleanups held in
June have resulted in the beautification of
the Monongahela and Ohio and the
removal of several tons of litter and debris
from both rivers. Several state agencies and
programs, including REAP – The Next
Generation, the Division of Natural Resources,
the Monongalia County Solid Waste Authority
and the Monongalia County Commission, participated
in the cleanup.
|