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Ohio Valley Resource: Reclamation of mine lands Appalachia’s New Deal

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BY BRITTANY PATTERSON FOR OHIO VALLEY RESOURCE

From solar farms in Virginia to a green energy subdivision in Kentucky, a new report by a group of regional advocacy organizations highlights 20 ready-made projects across the Ohio Valley that could give abandoned mining operations that were never cleaned up a second life, and create new economic opportunity across the region.

In the report, released Tuesday, the Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition, which advocates for high-impact mine reclamation projects throughout Central Appalachia, says innovative mine reclamation “could be Appalachia’s New Deal.”

“This report marks an important step as Appalachia citizens continue to re-imagine and work toward a future of sustainable and healthy local economies, where young people can find meaningful work and stay to raise their own families,” Adam Wells, regional director of community and economic development with Appalachian Voices, said in a statement…

Read the story on the Ohio Valley Resource site »

City Lab: Where the creative class thrives in rural America

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BY RICHARD FLORIDA FOR CITY LAB

Across the nation, the creative class is overwhelmingly concentrated in urban areas. As the map below shows, the location of this class is highly uneven. (The creative class is composed of knowledge workers and professionals in fields such as science and technology; business and management; healthcare, law, and education; and arts, culture, design, media, and entertainment.)

Almost 90 percent of the class’s members, or 24 million workers, live in urban counties, with more than 60 percent of them in urban counties in large metropolitan areas with over 1 million people. Just a bit more than one in 10 members of the creative class live in rural communities. But these broad trends mask more nuanced patterns in the distribution of the creative class across urban and rural communities…

Read the article on City Lab »

Forbes: Why this workforce program in WV can be critical for the nation

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The Social Enterprise Summit is a recent event presented by Coalfield Development. Image from Coalfield’s Facebook page

BY ASHOKA CONTRIBUTOR GROUP FOR FORBES

Born and raised in West Virginia, Brandon Dennison has always loved Appalachia and its people. It was painful to see unemployment raising but he knew one thing: “West Virginians love to make stuff, grow stuff, fix stuff.” So he started from there and conceived of a new kind of workforce development program that is part social enterprise incubator, part training, and has a key principle: it creates a work schedule for the participants that is a mix of paid work, classes and personal development. His vision: to unlock the courage and creativity of the region and turn job-seekers into job-creators. Ashoka’s Simon Stumpf caught up with Dennison to learn more.

Q: You’re from central Appalachia, coal country. Can you tell us how you see the challenge you’re working on?

A: We’re addressing generational poverty caused by an over-reliance on one industry — coal in our case. We have some of the higher unemployment rates in the country. What worries me more, though, is our labor participation rates. Fewer than 50% of working age adults are in the workforce.

Q: How does Coalfield Development, the organization you started and run, step in?

A: We’re trying to create opportunity in a rural place that’s become very, very distressed…

Read the interview on Forbes »

See how Princeton is creating a business-friendly community

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Mercer Street Historic District in Princeton

BY KAYCIE STUSHEK, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT NETWORK COORDINATOR, THE HUB

Creating and supporting a thriving business-friendly community takes a lot of time, effort, and a 360 degree approach.

In Princeton, multiple community groups, along with members of the The Hub’s Communities of Achievement Program (HubCAP) team have been working together to attract and support new and existing businesses in many different ways. And their hard work and creativity is paying off with multiple new businesses.

Princeton has been making their community a fun, creative, inviting place to live for years, with their events, artwork, and creative spaces attracting people to the area to who support existing and new businesses in the area.

For an in-depth look at Princeton’s efforts, check out this recent post over on the Princeton Renaissance Project site. 

The team has also been hosting regular gatherings for the Grassroots District merchants, and this last one was a special edition where they invited all Mercer Street merchants as well as special guest Barbara Wyckoff to give a talk about best business practices, and identify business needs in order to target efforts to assist them. The goal was to continue to unite the downtown business community & empower the merchants with support. The support started with a new business, Bucha Brewhouse & Bistro, who provided a wonderful meal.

Community leader Lori McKinney said, “It was a great night, we provided peer to peer support; ways we could support and cross pollinate; cooperative marketing, open houses and more.”

There will be many more merchants gatherings to come, and the team invites all to join.

In order to promote the available, usable spaces in the community, the HubCAP team is partnering with the Grassroots District, Princeton Renaissance Project, and two local businesses to host their next Developer’s Tour on Nov. 27th. The goal is attract new investors and entrepreneurs in the neighborhood by featuring some exciting projects that are underway, and showcase some spaces that are ripe for development.

Join the Developer’s Tour: 

WVU, WV Press Association partner on program to sustain local newspapers

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FOR WVU REED COLLEGE OF MEDIA

The West Virginia University Reed College of Media has received a grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to help strengthen local journalism in West Virginia and preserve it for the future by creating a new ownership pipeline.

The $125,000 grant will support a partnership between the College of Media and the West Virginia Press Association (WVPA) to recruit, develop and train the next generation of independent community newspaper owners.  The program anticipates that a number of West Virginia’s small-market newspaper owners and publishers will be ready to retire and sell their news operations over the next several years, creating potential news “deserts” in their local communities.

The grant will support the development of a three-year program designed to recruit and train new potential owners and to help current owners prepare their businesses for sale. A goal of the program is to facilitate successful ownership transitions that maintain a strong local news presence in West Virginia. Another goal is to help news organizations adapt and modernize their operations to respond to the demands of today’s local news and information consumer.

A key component of the program will be a year-long fellowship for potential new owners, located at the West Virginia Reed College of Media. Fellows will receive training in both journalism and business practices with an emphasis on digital transition and new funding models for media. They will also be placed in “internships” at West Virginia newspapers, where they will learn firsthand the day-to-day challenges of running a small-market newspaper in a local community…

Read the story on the West Virginia University Reed College of Media site »

Herald Dispatch: Big ideas, bold connections for southern West Virginia at conference

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BY TAYLOR STUCK FOR THE HERALD DISPATCH

Connection was the name of the game during the two-day, sold-out Small Communities, Big Ideas conference hosted by the Alliance for the Economic Development for Southern West Virginia, the West Virginia Community Development Hub and Coalfield Development Corp.

“This conference was all about celebrating southern West Virginia’s successes, lifting each other up and embracing it,” said Sara Payne Scarbro, associate vice president for external engagement at the Marshall University Research Corp. and chairwoman of the Alliance’s operations council. “And to start having the conversation like, ‘Maybe this program in Bluefield that’s working, maybe I can take it to Gilbert. Or how can we scale it across the region?’ It’s that connecting pieces and to start the collaboration.”

The conference took place Monday and Tuesday at the Bridge Valley Community and Technical School in South Charleston. More than 200 West Virginians participated, including panelists, learning about everything from community revitalization to addiction to broadband internet…

Read the full article on the Herald Dispatch site »

WV Metro News: Grafton volunteers restoring local historic theater

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Historic Manos Theater sign

BY BRITTANY MURRAY FOR METRO NEWS

A group of volunteers in Taylor County are working to bring back one of the area’s most historic theaters.

The Manos Theater, located in downtown Grafton, has been a part of the town’s footprint since the early 20th Century, first opening as the Hippodrome — later the Strand Theater — in 1912.

“It’s been closed now for several years,” committee chairman Tom Hart said Tuesday during an appearance on WAJR-Clarksburg’s “The Gary Bowden Show.” “Of course, when you leave something sitting, it doesn’t always get maintained and it starts going south, but a group of us talked, and we wanted to try to initiate action to make something happen with this theater to get it back open so it can serve the community both in the performing arts and possibly, once again, with some motion pictures.”

Though the group is still in the organizational stages, those traveling through Grafton have likely noticed changes to the facades already occurring…

Read the full story on the WV Metro News site »

This Thursday – Raising Capital Workshop for WV entrepreneurs

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BY EMMA PEPPER, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS, THE HUB

The WVU Entrepreneurship and Innovation Law Clinic in partnership with the West Virginia Securities Commission is hosting the “Raising Capital Workshop” in Charleston, WV on October 4. This free workshop and networking opportunity is for existing and new entrepreneurs in West Virginia.

From the organizers:

“For most entrepreneurs, finding the funds to grow your business can be challenging. Traditional financing through bank loans can be difficult for smaller enterprises, requiring cash balances or credit scores that are not realistic for the average entrepreneur in West Virginia. Whether you want to create outdoor seating for your cafe or transform a hobby into a viable business, you need capital.

Fortunately, there are funding options in West Virginia that leverage our strong sense of community into local investment opportunities. These community based financing options help small entrepreneurs raise funds and continue contributing to our local economies. This presentation and networking event will introduce entrepreneurs to the different legal options for raising capital in West Virginia.”

Workshop participants will:

  • Learn more about opportunities to raise money for your West Virginia-based business
  • Learn about regulatory requirements for raising money and how to meet them
  • Connect with free legal services and legal resources for small businesses
  • Learn best practices for crowdfunding
  • Network with other West Virginia-based small businesses
  • Learn more about how you can “invest local” to support small businesses in your community

Details:

Raising Capital Workshop
Thursday, October 4, 2018
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
The Clubhouse at Coonskin Park

Find more information at law.wvu.edu/raising-capital-workshop »

Celebrating southern WV’s path forward at the Small Communities, BIG Solutions Conference

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BY STEPHANIE TYREE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE HUB

At The Hub, our goal each week is to share with you the incredible stories of resilience, leadership, innovation, grit and creativity that we see underway in communities across the state.

There is a seemingly endless amount of under-sung leaders, new projects and partnerships with huge potential, and models of action demonstrating impact that we try to turn a spotlight on. We are only ever able to showcase a portion of it.

That is why we are so excited to co-host the Small Communities, BIG Solutions Conference on October 22-23 at BridgeValley’s Advanced Technology Center in South Charleston, WV. Partnering with the Alliance for Economic Development of Southern West Virginia and Coalfield Development, the conference gives us a chance to celebrate a few of our heroes on a larger stage – we hope with you.

Will you be there with us?

Register for the conference today »

You’ll hear about federal action on broadband and addiction recovery services from Senator Capito and Senator Manchin. Major General Hoyer will be speaking to the myriad of economic development and disaster recovery projects that the National Guard is leading. And dozens of speakers will be sharing resources, models and success stories straight from southern West Virginia on topics ranging from supporting children recovering from trauma, to workforce development, stem and manufacturing, and agricultural development programs.

We’re especially excited about the two community revitalization sessions we’re helping with – and we think you might be too.

Our first session is focused on innovative models of community revitalization based in healthy lifestyles initiatives. Have you heard how the mayors of Smithers and Montgomery started a program to provide free YMCA membership to every person in town? Or how about the $250,000 in mini-grants that the Try This program has distributed to hundreds of projects across the state? Just a couple of examples of innovation focused on building healthy lifestyles as a core element of community development and revitalization.

We have a second session focused on creative placemaking as a core strategy for community revitalization. There are the dozens of large-scale murals they’ve put in place in Princeton, only one small part of a multi-layered innovative strategy for economic development based in creative placemaking. From maker spaces to renovated factories to all types of arts-based events that could be replicated anywhere, the amount of ideas you’ll take from this session can’t be understated.

And we can’t forget the 6 Power of Performance awards we’ll be giving during both days of the conference to groups, individuals and businesses who are blowing everyone’s socks off in southern West Virginia.

The categories are focused on putting people to work, revitalizing communities and changing lives. We had dozens of nominees, just another example of how much innovative work there is to celebrate in southern West Virginia that is solving persistent community challenges.

So join us on the 22nd of October!

Register for the conference today »

 

Save the Date for the Small Communities, BIG Solutions Conference

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BY STEPHANIE TYREE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE HUB

This October, The Hub is teaming up with the Alliance for Economic Development of Southern West Virginia and Coalfield Development Corporation to host the Small Communities, BIG Solutions Conference.

Scheduled for October 22-23 at the BridgeValley Advanced Technology Center at WV Regional Tech Park in South Charleston, Small Communities, BIG Solutions will highlight the leadership and innovation that southern West Virginia is taking to a range of challenges and opportunities, including community revitalization, workforce development, broadband, addiction, education, and other issues. The conference will be a chance for state, regional and local leaders to share best practices, discuss southern West Virginia successes, and explore opportunities and potential partnerships to help grow and revitalize the region.

We’re excited to partner with two groups that are committed to innovative thinking and solutions for southern West Virginia communities, and we’re excited to help uplift and highlight the leadership and positive stories that we see and hear about every single day in southern West Virginia.

We hope you’ll save the date, and join us in October. Next month we’ll share more details about some of the sessions we’re most excited about and how to register.

See you there!