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In Southern West Virginia, Abandoned Rail Lines Emerge As New Tourism Opportunity

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Photo: www.facebook.com/railstotrails/

Hey southern West Virginia! Does your community have abandoned rail lines?

Well, now might be the time to look at convert those unused rails into valuable recreation and tourism assets.

And, if you are already pursuing a rail-trail plan, now is also the perfect time to connect with other people in southern West Virginia to share ideas and information, and explore the possibility of a connected rail-trail network.

Rail-trails are an available and affordable way to diversify the local economy, build communities and improve health.

A new working group is looking to see if there is interest in forming a southern West Virginia rail-trail organization, and they have a survey that you need to take. Here’s the survey link: https://goo.gl/forms/Ta4gvrVzRcbC3uTv1

They are looking for partners across the more than 13 counties of southern West Virginia that are interested in building a vibrant network of folks who care about trails, are building trails, and will advocate for trails.

Rail-trails are an available and affordable way to diversify the local economy,  build communities and improve health.

The decline of coal will result in the discontinued use of numerous railroad corridors in southern West Virginia, providing a great opportunity to preserve our railroading and coal mining heritage.

The Industrial Heartland Trail Coalition, which extends into northern West Virginia, illustrates how building extensive networks can enhance trail acquisition, development, and promotion. Working collaboratively, rather than competitively, across southern West Virginia will be more productive and will encourage shared resources and collective marketing.

Please take this simple first step by filling out the short survey: https://goo.gl/forms/Ta4gvrVzRcbC3uTv1

In Eastern Kentucky, a Whole New Take On Being Young in Appalachia

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Photos by Mountain Tech Media

In West Virginia we’ve been hearing for awhile now about how many young people are leaving the state and how hard it is for them to stay.

Turns out, there’s a totally different way to think about being a young person in Appalachia.

That’s what the It’s Good To Be Young in The Mountains conference in Harlan County, Kentucky is all about. Originated by the community arts group, Higher Ground, they get together once a year to celebrate what it means to be a young person in Appalachia while providing workshops on essential life skills and hobbies.

Alexia Ault, a VISTA serving with Berea College and a coordinator of the 2017 Conference, said the need for this conference became evident after Higher Grounds original play, “Find a Way.”

“What we don’t want to happen is to have a bunch of established leaders to come in and take over. We want these young people to have their voice heard.”

The play featured a family of characters that represented different concepts, including a character that represents the coal industry. This character dies halfway through the play, leaving the family to deal with his loss.

Ault said the play was written through real conversations with students in the Harlan area. She said it made evident that there was a need to teach basic life skills, such as finances and sex education, as well as the ability to find jobs and realize what options existed in the mountains for young people.

The first IGTBYITM featured loads of panels, not just concerning basic life skills. They also taught fun things, such as t-shirt screen printing. Ault said they used social media to ask what people wanted to teach and let anyone that wanted to create a panel.

“People would say, ‘I know how to do pottery, can I lead a pottery workshop?’  I don’t think we turned anyone away,” Ault said.

The the name of IGTBYITM implies that it is primarily for young people, Ault said there is no strict age requirements.

“Our demographic is very fluid, there’s no set rule.  We ask participants to interpret young however they feel comfortable,” Ault said.

However, she also said it is important that the conversations happen with local young people.  Without letting young people express their concerns, IGTBYITM loses its purpose.

“What we don’t want to happen is to have a bunch of established leaders to come in and take over. We want these young people to have their voice heard,” Ault said.

The 2017 conference was buzzing with positivity and it helped remind me that it really is good to be young in the mountains. It reminded me how beautiful Appalachia is and just how much young people are capable of.

10 Years In The Making, Documentary Photographer Brings Life On The Blackfeet Reservation to Morgantown

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© Rebecca Drobis

For lovers of unique and compelling documentary photography, the visit to New Story by highly-regarded photographer Rebecca Drobis will be a very cool moment.

Rebecca will be showing photos from, and talking about, her remarkable project Grown Up West: Children of the Blackfeet Reservation in Northwest Montana.

Rather than attempt to describe for you here the almost indescribable, we thought we’d let Rebecca tell you about Grown Up West in her own words…

“

Where the endless plains are abruptly transected by the dramatic Rocky Mountains lies Blackfeet Country.

A small community of people call this place home and this project is about the young people of that community. It is a glimpse into their world as they see and live it.

These challenges unite the community and further strengthen family and neighborly bonds.

Through my photographs, I want to show the triumphs and struggles that are unique to these youth. This photographic project explores the power of place and illustrates how the natural environment and the challenge of reservation life affect a child’s experience.

The remote, yet expansive Blackfeet Reservation spreads over 3,000 miles from northwestern Montana into southern Alberta, Canada and borders Glacier National Park.

While the reservation is larger than Delaware, there are fewer than four people per square mile. Long harsh winters and the inaccessible location isolate the reservation from the rest of Montana.

© Rebecca Drobis

It is also cut-off economically – there are no large businesses, little industry and haltingly few jobs with the exception of ranching and agriculture. The reservation has a 69 percent unemployment rate and a high dependency on welfare assistance.

The basic infrastructure is also lacking: housing is insufficient, trash pickup is erratic, water and sewage systems are in a state of disrepair and many roads remain unpaved and scarred with potholes. These challenges unite the community and further strengthen family and neighborly bonds.

In the absence of material excess, the children’s imaginations flourish.

A diverse population coexists on the reservation including enrolled members of the Blackfeet tribe, Blackfeet descendants who are not officially enrolled as tribal members, members of other tribes and other races.

Unlike other Indian reservations in the West, the Blackfeet reservation is not closed. Approximately 15 percent of the population is non-native including many employees of the Indian Health Service and public school teachers. The proximity to the mountains attracts mountaineers as well as employees of the National Park Service.

In the absence of material excess, the children’s imaginations flourish. Without tightly packed schedules of extracurricular activities or the latest video games, children are drawn outdoors to explore and adventure.

© Rebecca Drobis

There exists the purity of imaginative play—an intersection between raw nature and the developing mind of a child. Natural elements—snowflakes, sticks, rocks, animals and water—become toys, crowning these children the princes and princesses of the earth.

These children have tremendous physical confidence, strength and a spirit of fearlessness. Youth race down pothole covered roads on bicycles, bounding from a trampoline onto a neighbor’s car, sledding down a hill at top speed in sub-zero temperatures and running barefoot through deep woods.

My goal in this body of work is to honor the enduring strength, resilience and wisdom of these youth.

The natural world has a deep and meaningful presence in a child’s life on the reservation; this is the land of their ancestors. Their windows look onto the same panorama; they walk the same trails, pick berries off the same plants and likely will be buried in the same soil as their great-great grandparents. Even non-native residents are deeply connected to the land and vast sky, the extreme weather and the power of the mountains.

My goal in this body of work is to honor the enduring strength, resilience and wisdom of these youth.

The project speaks to a universal childhood. To be young is to be free; to act from the essential self, before their bodies and thoughts become stifled by doubt, societal norms and judging peers.

Children do not dwell on what is not; they are unburdened by the past or the future. They simply exalt in the present.

”

New Story is free, but you must register. Do so now at newstory17.splashthat.com

Can New Story Become a Galvanizing Moment for West Virginia’s Photographers?

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Photo by Kristian Thacker

I think it is really cool that a handful of West Virginia’s best photographers were willing to go out this past week and shoot some photos for a special New Story exhibition.

It’s the first time we’ve ever done anything like this, and I’m excited to see how it turns out.

At the heart of this excellent new effort is photographer Kristian Thacker, who recently returned to West Virginia and has wasted no time in becoming an active and energetic part of the photo community here.

Since getting involved in the first New Story in 2016, Kristian has been driven by a desire to create new opportunities for photographers in Appalachia to collaborate, share ideas, and create new workshops, screenings and events together.

And from his workshop in the old FBI Professional Building in Fairmont, Kristian has pulled together a terrific group of photographers and is curating for New Story a digital exhibition of new work by a remarkable group.

The New Story exhibition will screen on Friday at about 4:30 and will feature new work by:

And, we are thrilled to welcome to New Story this year photographer Rebecca Drobis, who will screen and discuss her uncommon, striking photographs of a small community of people living on a Native American reservation at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.

Highway 49 Bridge, East Glacier Blackfeet Reservation, Montana. © Rebecca Drobis

Grown Up West: Children of the Blackfeet Reservation in Northwest Montana, the collection of images that Rebecca photographed over the course of 10 years visiting the reservation, is a remarkable and insightful body of work. That Rebecca will be in Morgantown to discuss it with us will be a special occasion for all lovers of powerful documentary photography.

If you haven’t registered for New Story yet, make sure you do so now at newstory17.splashthat.com

It’s free, but the place is fast filling up. Gotta leave some room to swing your arms.

Local Businesses Get Behind New Story Celebration in Morgantown

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Chestnut Boutique Hotel

These guys know a good thing when they see it.

Everyone here at The Hub is enormously grateful to the local businesses that have put their hand up to support our upcoming celebration in Morgantown of the people behind innovative and extraordinary things happening across the state, New Story 17.

Thank you to the finest West Virginia craft beer makers Chestnut Brew Works, Pubstomper and Big Timer Brewing for donating their liquid gold for the New Story Knees Up on Friday afternoon.

This will be a terrific moment for all New Story attendees to kick back, catch up with old friends, meet new ones and hatch grand plans of world domination. And it wouldn’t have been possible without these sterling local businesses supporting New Story.

Chestnut Boutique Hotel is providing a special rate of $79/room for New Story attendees.

And thank you also to the Chestnut Boutique Hotel in downtown Morgantown which is providing a special rate of $79/room for New Story attendees. There’ll be a lot of folks coming in from out of town, and so we are stoked that the Chestnut is helping us keep some of the people in town overnight (good for the local economy!) so they can take part in New Story on goodness on both Friday and Saturday.

To get that special rate, call them at 304.777.4100, or email info@chestnuthotel.com and mention that you’d like the special rate for New Story attendees.

Stay tuned – we’ll be announcing a few more New Story partnerships with fine local businesses in the next few days.

And if you haven’t registered for New Story yet, you better do so now! We’re up above 240 folks and are going to have to cap it pretty soon!

All the info: newstory17.splashthat.com

Do Vacant, Run-Down Buildings Impact Your Life? We Need Your Story…

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FlickrCC

The West Virginia Community Development Hub and the Abandoned Properties Coalition (APC) understand that vacant, abandoned, and dilapidated buildings affect residents in communities across West Virginia.

This is an issue not just of dollars and cents, but also of health, safety and pride of place.

In order to develop actionable solutions, we need to better understand how the state’s residents have been personally impacted by these problem properties.

If you have a story to tell, please take a few moments to share via this Google Survey.

No story is too small.

Do vacant and dilapidated buildings impact your day-to-day life? Tell us. We need your stories.

By collecting these stories statewide, The Hub and the APC hope to demonstrate the ways in which West Virginians have been impacted by vacancy and abandonment despite the population, capacity, or resources of their community.

This project is part of The Hub and the APC’s larger engagement with the Center for Community Progress’ Technical Assistance Scholarship Program (TASP), along with the Huntington Urban Renewal Authority and the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center.

Community Progress, a national nonprofit, will focus its efforts on delinquent tax enforcement systems, public safety, and neighborhood stabilization in Huntington and across West Virginia.

The goal is to better understand the costs of vacancy and abandonment, raise awareness of the solutions in rural communities, and develop legislative options to establish additional solutions to mitigate problem properties at the state-level.

More information about the Technical Assistance Scholarship Program is available on the Center for Community Progress website.

Once again, please take a few moments to share your story about how you’ve been impacted by vacancy and abandonment.

If you’d like to share any photos that help illustrate your story or would just like to chat, reach out to me at n.marrocco@wvhub.org. 

Exponent Telegram: More Than Fresh Eggs, Bridgeport Farmers Market a Launch Pad for New Businesses

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By Brittany Murray/The Exponent Telegram

Over 90 percent of West Virginia’s workforce is employed through small businesses, and among the state’s many resources to help those entrepreneurs is one unexpected avenue.

Area farmers markets are creating opportunities to individuals looking to start a business by providing them an existing client base and marketing platform.

Area farmers markets are creating opportunities to individuals looking to start a business.

“It helped us get our name out there, helped us get some attention and even some media coverage,” said Quinn Edgell, a co-owner of Feathered in Bridgeport. “People started hearing about Feathered and started inquiring with us about how to shop outside the farmers market, so it was really able to help us build a client base via Facebook, through Etsy and now through our brick-and-mortar store that we have in Bridgeport.”

Edgell and her co-owner, Shalayna Pulice, participated in their first Bridgeport Farmers Market in 2012.

“I literally just took a suitcase to Debbie Workman, who organizes the farmers market, with a sampling of everything to show her what we had,” Edgell said. “They were kind of hesitant with it at first and how it would do at the market, but everything came together and it really fits in with the demographic, so we just gave it a go…”

Read the full story at www.theet.com

In Morgantown, Meet The Minds Behind Pittsburgh’s Creative Revolution

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Photo: www.facebook.com/groups/artandtech/

This is the latest post about the myriad of people you’ll meet at New Story in Morgantown, June 16 & 17.

It’s a free event hosted by the West Virginia Community Development Hub and our friends at WVU’s Reed College of Media.

Space is limited. Register now at newstory17.splashthat.com

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

This saying was coined by comedians and satirists in order to make them feel okay about doing (not very flattering) impersonations of people. Or by plagiarists.

But to builders, makers, entrepreneurs and people who like to make good things happens, it is a reminder to pay attention to what has worked elsewhere, learn from it, copy what you can, reinvent what you need.

The reality is that Pittsburgh has well and truly rebounded from its industrial doldrums, and is now widely regarded as one of the best places to live and work in America.

In the practice of our work helping some of West Virginia’s most struggling communities find new hope, theft is one of our most powerful strategies – stealing good ideas and implanting them in new places. We actively coordinate and encourage that whenever we can.

And more often than not, the victims of the crime are more than happy to be willing participants.

For example, it’s why our friends behind the remarkable resurgence of an arts and culture community in Princeton, West Virginia, have made trips to their compadres in Welch and Grafton recently, freely passing around the secrets to their success and sprouting new imitators across the state.

And it’s why the folks behind the nationally-renowned creative industries and maker-culture in Pittsburgh are coming down to Morgantown later this month to spearhead one of the feature sessions at this year’s New Story event.

Learn more about New Story, and register now (it’s free) at: newstory17.splashthat.com

Largely thanks to a college football rivalry, many people in West Virginia have an unflattering nickname for this once downtrodden steel city to the north.

But the reality is that Pittsburgh has well and truly rebounded from its industrial doldrums, and is now widely regarded as one of the best places to live and work in America.

It has done this in no small part by focusing on arts innovation and creative tech.

And so we will welcome to New Story on Friday, June 16, the architects of Pittsburgh’s Creative Industries Network and the locals behind many of the city’s coolest and most engaging creative spaces and maker initiatives.

Here’s some info about the Pittsburgh contingent that will be sharing ideas with their West Virginia counterparts at New Story.

Nina Barbuto, Founder and Executive Director
ASSEMBLE – a community space for arts + technology

Nina’s passion for art, new media and social learning led her to found Assemble in 2011.

Nina works in a variety of media including architecture, film, sound, and installation.

She also co-founded I Made It! Market in 2007. An idea based on urban acupuncture, (using small-scale interventions to transform the larger urban context) this nomadic market partners with community, arts and nonprofit organizations to raise funds and awareness to improve their communities while allowing local artists and crafters to sell their wares.

Nina holds degrees in architecture from Southern California Institute of Architecture and Carnegie Mellon University, where she is also adjunct faculty.

Ashley Cecil
Artist and Creative Entrepreneur

Ashley is an artist and illustrator, and part of the pilot-year cohort of the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Co-CREATE Business Ignition Program.

She’s a working artist who has grown her passion for art into a thriving entrepreneurial creative business. Before moving to the Pittsburgh region, Ashley studied with accomplished master painters in London while earning her master’s degree at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

Kim Chestney, Founding Director
Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Creative Industries Network

Over the past 10 years, Kim Chestney has built Pittsburgh’s Creative Industries Network to a nationally-benchmarked initiative.

Kim has been establishing programs to support creatives at the intersection of creativity and innovation, including: the annual CREATE Festival in Pittsburgh; the Co-CREATE Business Ignition Program for Creative Entrepreneurs; Creative Clash, Design Matters, DIY Creative Business and CMO Insights event series; Innovation City, creative tech party at SXSW Interactive; Inclusion, Innovation and Integrative Design, 2014 & 2016 Creative Industries Research Studies with Carnegie Mellon University and Richard Florida’s research team at the University of Toronto.

Jim Denova, Vice President
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation

Jim Denova is Vice President of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, and directs economic development projects in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Jim has been part of the Creative Industries Network’s leadership team since its inception in 2009, and has been instrumental to the network’s establishment as a national leader in the creative industries. Jim holds a Ph. D. from the University of Pittsburgh with a concentration in social research, and has over 35 years of experience in nonprofit administration and philanthropy.

Ryan Lammie, Founder
Radiant Hall Studio Environments for Working Creatives

Radiant Hall founder Ryan Lammie was born in Pittsburgh and educated at the Pratt Institute in New York. In 2011 he was selected for the Yale / Norfolk Summer Residency in Connecticut and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

As an entrepreneur, Lammie has built Radiant Hall into a nonprofit venture that supports over 50 Pittsburgh artists at three locations city-wide. Radiant Hall has become a framework for creative community building, and has served as a host for school tours, arts patrons, film/photo location scouts, corporate events, interns, nonprofit leaders, and neighbors.

“The Pittsburgh Session” will take place on New Story Friday at 12:40 p.m.

To learn more about this, and all the other sessions happening at New Story, visit newstory17.splashthat.com

In Whitesville, Affordable Rent Space Launches Four New Local Businesses

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The opening on Shoppes in the Ville has sparked optimism about new small businesses opening in Whitesville.

By Marsha Shonk, an AmeriCorps VISTA for the Town of Whitesville

Located on Route 3 at the Boone-Raleigh County line is a small coal town called Whitesville.

In its heyday from the 1950s to the 1970s, it was the “Shopping Center of Coal River.” Over time, more and more businesses closed due to aging owners, the decline in coal mining jobs, and less vehicle traffic due to the opening of the West Virginia Turnpike.

But recently, businesses have started popping up all over town and moving into the vacant buildings that have sat empty for so many years.

The Hubbards not only found a new home for their ever-growing business, they also created an opportunity for the startup of new local businesses.

There is one local couple who has taken entrepreneurship to a new level. This is their story, and the story of a community’s series of fortunate events.

Wayne and Sandy Hubbard have had a silk screen and embroidery business for several years. They reside in Sylvester and until recently housed their business, Bad Dog Graphix, there too.

After a couple years, they relocated the business to one apartment within an apartment building they own. After a couple more years, they outgrew the apartment, and the business spilled over into a second apartment. After a year, their business doubled, forcing the Hubbards to look for another large building.

They found one in Whitesville. It had previously been an insurance office. The building has approximately 9,500 square feet, two floors and a basement.

The owner put on a new roof and offered them a deal they couldn’t turn down. The Hubbards immediately started brainstorming how they could afford the mortgage and utilities for a building this large. They came up with the idea of renting space to small business owners.

Within two weeks, they had every space rented. Then came the name – Shoppes in the Ville.

Most people never get the chance to own a business due to the fear of risk and a lack of resources. But Shoppes in the Ville offers affordable rent, that includes utilities.

Within two weeks, they had every space rented.

The Hubbards not only found a new home for their ever-growing business, they also created an opportunity for the startup of new local businesses.

Bad Dog Graphix is located on the entire second floor. At present, they have four stores open on the first floor. Their goal is to see these businesses grow to the point of moving out on their own.

Along with Bad Dog Graphix, there’s Mountaineer Electronics, Bev’s Country Closet, Beach Bum Tanning and a coffee shop/bakery opening in a few weeks.

See how a series of fortunate events can create five new businesses in one small Appalachian town?

Marsha is one of many VISTA The Hub funds.
You can help us offset the cost of providing such a terrific service for
West Virginia’s communities most in need by supporting
our VISTA fundraising appeal.

wvhub.org/donations/vista-fundraising-campaign/

Whether it’s $5 or $50, your help will go a long way in places like Whitesville. Donate now.