Governor
Releases October "Open for Business" Report
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Gov. Joe Manchin today released the latest "Open for Business" report documenting the state's economic progress. The October 2006 report highlights projects and related announcements that will assist with the creation of as many as 400 new jobs and the preservation of a significant number of existing jobs.
 Ukranian
company opens its first U.S. operation in
West Virginia
Felman Production Inc. announced
that it soon would start production at its
New Haven, W.Va., ferroalloys plant, its first
U.S. operation. The company purchased and
restored the furnaces and structure of the
former Highlander Alloys plant in Mason County,
which had been out of production since a fire
last October severely damaged the facility.
Felman bought the assets from Highlander and
since has employed 135 in rebuilding the plant.
Felman is a subdivision of the Group Privat
from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, which also owns
the largest commercial bank in that country,
as well as active plants in the chemical,
metallurgical, food, machinery and oil industries.
Felman plans to employ 220 at the New Haven
plant by the end of 2007.
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West
Virginia companies start Minority Business
Council
More than 75 entrepreneurs and business leaders
from across West Virginia joined Gov. Manchin
on Sept. 27 in Charleston to announce the
formation of West Virginia’s Minority
Business Council. The council will connect
minority-owned businesses that supply quality
goods and services with corporations and public
sector entities that need those services.
These goods and services could range from
manufactured parts to landscaping services.
The council will work with the Kentuckiana
Minority Business Council, which will change
its name to reflect its affiliation with West
Virginia and place a full-time employee in
West Virginia to represent and promote its
activities. The Development Office will provide
office space.
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Gov.
Manchin, company officials celebrate opening
of state-of-the-art testing laboratory
Gov. Joe Manchin on Sept. 27 joined officials
from North American SGS to cut the ribbon
on the company’s renovated testing laboratory
in Sophia, Raleigh County. The SGS facility
is a full-service laboratory that serves major
mining, transportation and consumption areas
globally. The 30,000-square-foot facility
employs about 175 and has been recognized
as a global "Center of Excellence"
for metallurgical coal analysis. Employees
at the Sophia lab analyze samples from around
the world. SGS is an international company
with 46,000 employees worldwide.
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More
doctors staying in West Virginia thanks to
medical malpractice reform
Medical malpractice reforms passed by the
Legislature in 2003 are helping to keep more
physicians in the state after they graduate,
said West Virginia University Health Science
Vice President Dr. Robert D’Allesandri.
In 2005, 52 medical school graduates stayed
in West Virginia, compared with 18 in 2002,
he said, and it’s now easier for doctors
to obtain malpractice insurance at lower rates.
The legislation also has helped to reduce
frivolous lawsuits, which is helping to recruit
doctors to the state’s hospitals, he
said.
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Fitch
Ratings gives West Virginia solid bond rating
Fitch Ratings of New York, a leading global
rating agency that provides credit opinions
about companies and investments to potential
investors, in late September assigned an “AA-”
rating to West Virginia’s series 2006
infrastructure general obligation bonds, saying
the rating outlook is stable for the state.
The high rating comes in response to the state’s
2005 and 2006 fiscal years, which were some
of the most successful in recent history.
Fitch cited a generally growing economy, as
well as the state’s positive fiscal
and management practices, including the governor’s
power to cut spending and aggressive efforts
to reduce unfunded pension liabilities.
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Mercer
County machinery company expanding
Tabor Machinery of Princeton, W.Va., says
it will create 20 to 30 new jobs in the next
five years after it moves just outside Princeton
into an industrial complex it recently purchased.
The 46-year-old company, which currently employs
50, makes equipment for the mining and extractive
industries. It is investing in new buildings
and equipment to grow in markets in the United
States and overseas, said company President
Bryan Walker. “We’ve had overtures
from many states to move, but we feel one
of the biggest assets Tabor Machinery has
is its employees,” he said. The company
should be fully established in its new quarters
by late November. The move was made possible
through negotiations with the state development
authority and the Mercer County Development
Authority.
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Eastern
Panhandle resort to become new housing and
business area
Officials with Coolfont Resort near Berkeley
Springs in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle
expect to break ground in late-2007 or early-2008
on a new master plan for the resort that calls
for 1,100 homes, a new spa and recreation
facilities, and a business area to be built
in the next 10 to 12 years. The Freeman Companies,
the resort owners, plan to build a variety
of homes, townhouses and condominiums ranging
from $250,000 to $800,000, as well as three
community centers, a nature center, amphitheater,
equestrian center, walking trails and a lakefront
park.
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Baby
boomers snapping up Monroe County ‘forested
community’ lots
Mountain America LLC is completing road work
for and has sold 54 out of 99 individual home
sites on the “Walnut Springs Mountain
Reserve,” a planned forest community
near Union in Monroe County, W.Va. The company
is marketing the property, which overlooks
the Washington and Jefferson national forests
where the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains
come together, to baby boomers from Washington,
Chicago, New York, Virginia, Maryland, North
Carolina and California. CEO Jonathan Halperin
said the community’s 60-mile views and
privacy are complemented by the area’s
charming towns, historical sites, golf and
ski resorts, outdoor activities, cultural
events, performance venues, fine cuisine and
shopping. Halperin said covenants and restrictions
will ensure all residents have a natural viewshed
and development will be environmentally friendly.
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West
Virginia Small Business Development Center
reps keep pace with national trends
Representatives from West Virginia’s
Small Business Development Center (WVSBDC)
in September joined more than 1,000 trainers,
managers and administrative personnel at America’s
Small Business Development Center (ASBDC)
26th Annual Conference. WVSBDC staff members
learned the latest trends, and honed their
skills at professional development workshops
and roundtable discussions that covered critical
small business issues. ASBDC is the national
association recognized by the federal government
as the representative of America’s Small
Business Development Centers Network. The
Small Business Development Center program
is the most comprehensive small business assistance
network in the nation. The WVSBDC is an accredited
member of the ASBDC Network (www.asbdc-us.org).
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Growing
scrubber stack at Putnam power plant adding
jobs, slashing emissions
The first of three new scrubber smokestacks
is rapidly approaching its 900-foot height
at the John E. Amos power plant in Putnam
County, W.Va. The $1 billion project will
install scrubbers at all three coal-fired
power generating units at the Amos plant,
employing as many as 1,800 trade workers and
adding 85 full-time employees. The scrubber
technology, which is expected to be operational
by early 2008, will reduce sulfur dioxide
emissions at American Electric Power’s
largest generating plant by as much as 98
percent, AEP officials said.
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Three-state,
federal government and private industry project
to maximize railway efficiency
Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and Norfolk
Southern Railway Co., and the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) in September joined
in an agreement that governs the release of
$95 million in federal funding for the Heartland
Corridor rail double-stack clearance project.
The Heartland Corridor public-private project
will enable double-stacked international maritime
and domestic containers to be transported
by rail between Hampton Roads, Va., and locations
in the Midwest by raising tunnel clearances
and modifying other overhead obstructions
in western Virginia and West Virginia to Columbus,
Ohio. The project will expand capacity, improve
service consistency and reduce waiting times
for intermodal traffic between the mid-Atlantic
and the Midwest. This agreement allows engineering
and environmental studies to be completed,
with clearance construction expected to be
finished by the end of 2009. “The expanded
rail capacity and improved transit times .
. . will stimulate economic growth throughout
the region and enhance the nation’s
ability to compete for international trade,”
said Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman.
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Morgantown
company lands U.S. Navy contract to develop
robotic vehicle sensors
Augusta Systems of Morgantown, W.Va., has
received a $2.4 million contract to assist
the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command with development
and management of small robotic vehicle sensor
systems, and a $750,000 contract with the
U.S. Army to develop advanced power control
systems for robotic vehicles. Augusta’s
products provide sensor-driven control mechanisms
for the vehicles’ power control systems,
and technology that enhances the intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance of unmanned
systems.
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Wirt
County manufacturer to double its workforce
to make anti-gravity suits
Mustang Survival of Elizabeth, W.Va., plans
to double its workforce of 45 by the end of
this year after receiving a federal contract
to make anti-gravity suits for U.S. Navy and
Air Force pilots. The suits inflate when pilots
are subjected to strong G-forces during flight,
allowing blood to continue flowing to the
brain so the pilots don’t black out.
The company also is expanding its production
of inflatable life vests. The Wirt County
plant is the only U.S. manufacturing facility
for Mustang Survival, which is headquartered
in British Columbia, Canada. Plant manager
Greg Stover said the anti-gravity suits are
stitched by hand and the work is labor intensive.
He said Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller,
and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, helped the
company secure the federal contract.
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Small
Business Development Center helps 138 clients
in September
The West Virginia Small Business Development
Center offered 663 hours of counseling and
training to 138 clients in September, helping
to create or retain 158 jobs. To date this
fiscal year, the SBDC provided 11,823 hours
of counseling to 1,907 clients and created
or retained 1,144 jobs. At 29 events in September,
the SBDC trained 453 people; year-to-date,
the agency held 290 events and trained 3,752
people. Out of 13 loans totaling $963,900
approved in September, eight were Small Business
Administration loans totaling $855,900. Out
of 161 loans totaling $26,349,059 approved
year-to-date, 80 were SBA loans totaling $13,515,793.
New customer satisfaction was 100 percent
in September and for the year.
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Mercer
County sees continued growth in manufacturing
and retail
Mercer County Development Authority officials
are seeing growth in manufacturing and retail
activity, including the sale and occupation
of previously available commercial property.
Gemark, which recovers metals used in photography
material, recently bought a 54,000-square-foot
building in the Cumberland Industrial Park,
which could lead to 30 new jobs, according
to Janet Bailey, executive director of the
authority. She said Bluefield Gear recently
bought the former EIMCO building near Bluefield
and Tabor Machines purchased the former MJ
Electric building, totaling nearly $2 million
in additional investment. Additional retail
outlets include a new Lowe’s that is
under construction and a number of restaurants
that are working to locate in the county,
she said.
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Economic
Development Authority approves $1.46 million
in loans
Fox Lumber Co.of Mill
Creek, W.Va., received preliminary approval
on an $800,000 loan to expand and modernize
its existing sawmill in Randolph County.
The four-acre sawmill, which produces hardwood
lumber for the furniture, cabinetry, millwork
and flooring industries has been operational
since 1988. The expansion is expected to
add 19 jobs within a year.
Skyline Properties of
Strasburg, Va., received preliminary approval
for a $660,976 loan to buy 4.5 acres of
land and a 50,000-square-foot facility at
the Wardensville Industrial Park in Hardy
County, W.Va. Skyline will lease the property
to Carper’s Wood Creations, a manufacturer
of kitchen cabinet accessories and distributor
of kitchen cabinet displays for other manufacturers.
The West Virginia facility will replace
a leased facility in Woodstock, Va., and
create 18 new jobs within three years.
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