Richwood

In Southern West Virginia, Small Business Recruitment the Key to Bringing New Life to Abandoned Buildings

06.22.17

Hinton, West Virginia. Photo by OZinOH/FlickrCC

Our HubCAP program helps communities in West Virginia redevelop abandoned or underused buildings, and to identify, recruit and support sustainable enterprises to occupy those structures.

The Hub is on the third installment of HubCAP, the Communities of Achievement Program that has already partnered with many communities across West Virginia.

Supporting efforts in Hinton, Matewan, Princeton, Richwood, and Whitesville to build vibrant downtown business areas.

Over the next 18 months, HubCAP III will see The Hub and our partners supporting efforts in Hinton, Matewan, Princeton, Richwood, and Whitesville to build vibrant downtown business areas.

HubCAP III meets communities where they are at in their work addressing an abandoned property process, and emphasizes community capacity building.

Each community is provided with a community coach, who works with teams to grow their already-existing networks to increase community engagement in downtown redevelopment. The coach connects the teams with service providers, subject experts, funders, and developers who have experience in downtown building redevelopment. The team works toward their goal of recruiting and securing businesses to set up shop in the rehabilitated space.

The team works toward their goal of recruiting and securing businesses to set up shop in the rehabilitated space.

Many of these communities in HubCAP III have already identified buildings to focus on for this effort through the Northern Brownfield’s Assistance Center’s Downtown Appalachia Program.

The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation funds this program, which invests in studying economically feasible opportunities, and also provides appraisals, artistic renderings, and site assessments for possible future building uses, in order to promote business. HubCAP III is also funded by a USDA Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) Grant.

The communities of HubCAP programs I and II are Mullens, Martinsburg, Chester/Weirton, Belington, Fairmont, Shinnston, Belington, Buckhannon, Ansted, Mullens, Williamson, Clay, Lincoln/Logan, Wayne, McDowell and Doddridge counties.

Public News Service: New National Monument Could Help Reboot Economy of Southern WV

10.09.16

Photo by www.birthplaceofrivers.org

By Dan Heyman/Public News Service – WV

RICHWOOD, W.V. — A new Birthplace of Rivers National Monument could help Richwood recover from this summer’s devastating floods, according to local officials.

Richwood Mayor Bob Henry Baber said it’s difficult for the city council and the local chamber of commerce to focus on much beyond immediate flood recovery right now. But he said they’re all unified behind what would be the state’s first national monument.

“We all know that our future for the long haul lies in tourism.”

“We all know that our future for the long haul lies in tourism,” Mayor Baber said. “And the Birthplace of Rivers – that title, that name, that designation – is critical to realizing that vision.”

Presidents often create new national monuments near the end of their terms. The city of Richwood would be the closest town to the portion of the southern Monongahela National Forest that would be converted into a national monument.

Conservation groups backing the designation estimate it would bring 50,000 more visitors and more than $5 million a year to the area…

Read the full story at www.publicnewsservice.org

Learn more about the proposal to create a Birthplace of Rivers National Monument at www.birthplaceofrivers.org

WV MetroNews: Planned ATV Trail an Economic Opportunity for Central West Virginia

11.17.15

Photo by Hatfield McCoy Trails.

By Alex Wiederspiel/WV MetroNews

RICHWOOD – The Rahall Transportation Institute is nearing the end of a yearlong feasibility study on the creation of an ATV trail in central West Virginia that could go through parts of Nicholas, Webster, and Lewis counties.

At a presentation Thursday night, RHI Trails Program Manager Amanda Lynch explained to stakeholders and the public what the feasibility study had accomplished thus far.

“Where are the large tracks of parcel?” she asked. “Where are the amenities? Where is the lodging? Where are the restaurants? Where is the possibility of a contiguous trail system? Is it possible for a sustainable trail system in this area?”

“West Virginia has taken it on the chin. We’ve got to find new ways to diversify our economy, be able to draw people from outside the state.”

Several county commissioners and state Senator Greg Boso (R-Nicholas, 11) attended the meeting to get a full update on the RHI feasibility study. Boso, a lifelong Nicholas County resident, said the massive coal losses need to be offset–and this is as good a place as any to begin.

“West Virginia has taken it on the chin,” he said. “And we’ve got to find new ways to diversify our economy, be able to draw people from outside the state into the state, and do it in a fairly economical fashion so we can begin growing West Virginia–essentially central West Virginia.”

The Nicholas County Commission paid for a feasibility study that directly studies it’s economic impact in the county. Senator Boso believes that study will help set the groundwork for other counties where the trail could potentially go…

The feasibility study ends in December. Findings could be presented during the next legislative session.

Read the full story at www.wvmetronews.com