We are so excited that The Hub Communities of Achievement Program’s (HubCAP V) fifth iteration is in full swing and our community teams are ready to put in the work. Each team has successfully hosted kick-off events to educate their community about The Hub and the work that is about to start. They have also successfully completed their first in-person group session hosted at the West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon.The group session was an opportunity for the communities to come together to learn from each other and guest facilitators. Each of these incredible community teams is set to embark on a journey that will transform their communities. Here is what some of the community team members have to say:
The recent National Park Designation is a major motivator for Oak Hill. The new attention paid to the area is a motivating factor for the community to focus more on expanding their recreational economy.
“Oak Hill is already focused on some park clean up and trail development projects around the community, we are trying to focus on building our recreation economy but in a way that is authentic to Oak Hill,” says Oak Hill City Manager Damita Johnson. “We really want to grow our downtown and focus on bringing new businesses to Oak Hill.”
The potential influx of visitors is exciting for local business owners. Oak Hill citizens feel supported by one another and know the importance of working together to achieve their dreams.
Oak Hill has a long history of people showing up and being involved,” says Alison Ibarra, owner of Pinheads Bowling Alley. “There is an energy in Oak Hill right now, it seems like everyone is focused on making change and improvement, it’s an exciting time.
The town of Montgomery has been recovering from the loss of WVU Tech in 2017. The town relied on the economy that the student and faculty population created in Montgomery and the departure has left the town figure out its new identity.
“Over the past few years Montgomery has focused on many projects, the new fishing pier and mural are two big visible ones. We are still recovering from losing WVU Tech, we have to find our identity again and determine what our future looks like,” says Montgomery Mayor Greg Ingram We want to hear from the people, what do they want and want to see for their community.”
As Montgomery has navigated their revitalization, the community has been actively involved in the work. The HubCAP V opportunity has given the community at large a more focused opportunity to push forward with their projects.
“We have seen people show up before, we know that people care about their communities here,” says community team member Sonja Mitchell. “ We have such passionate and caring folks, we saw some of the same people at Smithers and Montgomery because they care and want to see their community grow.”
The HubCAP V kick-off event for the New Martinsville team was an encouraging moment for the community team. Citizens of New Martinsville turned out to show their support and learn more about the program while figuring out how they can be of any help to the team.
“We have volunteers lined up to work with the new Historic Landmark Commission that will be forming, and we also have volunteers for our beautification projects, including the new Gold Star Memorial Park,” says New Martinsville Mayor Sandy Hunt. “Those projects grouped under the banner of beautification are very important to work on continually. We had one great suggestion to enhance our downtown and I am particularly excited to get working on that.”
Seeing the people showing up to learn as much as they could and offer their support was a special moment for the New Martinsville HubCAP team.
It was very refreshing and encouraging to have such a great turnout for the kickoff event,” says Mayor Hunt. “It was a beautiful evening, we had great participation, and few complaints so it’s a triple win for us!”
Smithers, Montgomery’s neighbor and ally, is already focused on so many potential projects around the community. There is a passion within the community to make things better and keep push Smithers forward.
“At the Kickoff we heard about several ideas and things people want to see,” says community team member Beach Vickers. “I hope people will take this opportunity to move forward what they want to see. Show up and let your voice be heard, let us know what you think we should do.”
The community coming together is not a new concept for Smithers. Last summer, the community was devastated with flooding and it spurred the community at large to come together to clean up and rebuild.
“We saw everyone show up and try to help out and we know we will continue to see that,” says Smithers Mayor Anne Cavalier. “People are so dedicated and caring, look at the Kickoff, we had kids, young people and adults there ready to take part. City Hall can’t do it alone, we are so excited to see folks want to step up and help.”
Weston saw so many people from the community show up for their kick-off event and they all came ready with ideas and projects they want to see happen in their community. While seeing people come with so many ideas is great, the real excitement for the team was seeing everyone working together seamlessly to make everything work.
“In hearing the feedback from the community, my big dream would be to develop a community center. A center that could accommodate/meet several needs including recreation for youth (and adults), daycare, meeting facilities, offer classes, family engagement, and, as always, transportation,” says Director of the Family Support Center – Lewis County Family Resource Network. “Is it possible, sure, if I win the lottery. Smaller scale – it seems that “community” weighs on everyone’s heart. The belonging…on all levels. I feel we need to foster, encourage and enhance the small town sentiment.”
The amount of people that showed up at the Weston HubCAP V Kick-Off was overwhelming and so exciting for the community team.
As a lifelong resident, it seems like the past few years; we have seen so much positivity from everyone working together. The county, cities, towns, businesses, communities, and individuals collaborate to advance everyone for the betterment of all,”says Ray Smith, Executive Director – Lewis County Economic Development Authority. “A few years ago, The Blueprint® Community put together a diverse group of members of our community, which seemed to foster the start of this movement. Now we see, with Weston’s HubCAP designation, the continuation of others witnessing our progress and wanting to help our collaborations.”
If you want to learn more about HubCAP, visit our website. If you have questions about HubCAP, reach out to Olivia McConnell at o.mcconnell@wvhub.org and Stacy Thomas at s.thomas@wvhub.org.
The West Virginia Community Development Hub (The Hub) is proud to announce that Executive Director Stephanie Tyree is a steering committee member for the newly launched Green Bank for Appalachia, Energy Communities, and Underserved Rural America (Green Bank for Rural America).
Cultivate WV focuses on helping communities build sustainable models of engagement through workshops, project-planning, and more.
The Hub is excited to announce Cohort 2 of the Building Resilient Economies in Coal Communities (BRECC) Action Challenge.
Our work is made possible thanks to incredible partnerships with other community development organizations across the state. From local economic development authorities (EDAs) to state level nonprofits working to uplift communities, all of our partners are crucial in making West Virginia the best it can possibly be by working together.One partner that made our work truly profound this year is Coalfield Development. For years, Coalfield Development has worked to rebuild Appalachian communities by inspiring the courage to grow, activating the creativity to innovate, and cultivating communities of opportunity in central Appalachia.We are proud to be part of Coalfield Development’s ACT Now Coalition, a broad network of organizations working hand-in-hand to uplift communities throughout Southern West Virginia. The ACT Now Coalition is infusing more than $63 million into programs to help communities using business development, building revitalization, and so much more.The Hub is leading the Community and Business Resilience Initiative as part of the larger ACT Now Coalition to bring other partners with us to build up community and business resilience in the Coalition’s footprint.“For decades, we’ve known the economy of southern West Virginia needs diversification. Some progress has been made on this goal, but not nearly enough,” Brandon Dennison, CEO of Coalfield Development, said about the ACT Now Coalition. “ACT Now constitutes a tangible opportunity to take a major leap forward in this generational challenge to become a vibrant, growing, diversified economy. In the wake of continued coal-job losses, nothing could be more important for our region.”Our partnership with Coalfield Development is giving us a chance to take our work to new communities and to build upon our years of experience. Working alongside Coalfield Development in this large undertaking to bring $63.8 million to communities in Southern West Virginia is validation that the work happening to uplift West Virginia communities continues to grow.
The Hub works alongside communities across West Virginia coaching community teams as they come together to make transformative changes in their towns. In 2022, one town stands out for its continued work and unwavering commitment to making its community a place where people want to live, work, play, and visit.Petersburg, located in Grant County at the northernmost point of the Mon Forest, is filled with community members who want to make their town a destination. Not only have businesses opened, and stayed open, the town has transformed the way they present to the world through rebranding and outdoor recreational development.As part of the HubCAP IV program, Petersburg utilized its technical assistance to push forward with projects to bring transformative change to its community. Part of the work Petersburg worked towards was creating plans to pave a hike and bike trail that runs along the Petersburg dike. The proposed trail will run approximately three miles along the Petersburg dike and will include multiple entrances for walkers and bikers. The group secured a $25,000 grant from Senator Hamilton, which was matched locally by the City of Petersburg, the County Commission, and the Board of Education, each adding an equal share to bring the total to $50,000.This year, Petersburg witnessed a major upgrade to one of the town’s most iconic and historic structures: The Hermitage Inn. The hotel, which dates back to 1841, has been renovated and once again welcomes guests to stay the night and have a nice dinner in the restaurant.The Hermitage Inn is the first project initiated and completed as part of the Downtown Appalachia: Revitalizing Recreational Economies (DARRE) program. Seeing the old hotel returned to its majesty has been an incredible development for Petersburg adding another jewel to the downtown area.Seeing Hub communities come together to create transformative change thrills us. Community members are the subject matter experts on what their towns need. Our commitment to accompaniment and walking alongside communities as they do the hard work guides us in our work. Celebrating their victories with them gives us a moment to uplift those making the work happen.
Since 2018, The Hub has been working diligently to bring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into our work. For years, the organization has been working internally to expand on one of our core values: “We believe diversity creates strength.”We believe that now is a time when we must work from the ground up to commit to long-term efforts to build power through leadership development, programmatic strategies, and partnerships that commit to building power and advancing racial equity.Looking back at our organizational history, we acknowledge that our work in rural communities with populations of less than 15,000 has not reached a diverse cross-section of people in West Virginia. Because of this, we began to ask, “Who isn’t here?” when examining our involvement in communities. The social unrest in 2020 led us to examine our role in white supremacy, ableism, classism, and gender discrimination, and the ways we have perpetuated unjust systems in our communities and across West Virginia.Since 2020, our equity journey has included a staff racial equity learning series, making internal commitments to increasing our hiring and retainment of diverse staff including creating full-time Racial Equity Fellowship and VISTA positions, committing to increased coaching for rural communities of color across the state, and tackling the inherent challenges of advancing equity across the community development field within a highly rural, majority white state where Black and brown leadership has been historically marginalized and under-invested.Our belief in the power of local people to see the value and the potential of their place, and of each other, is at the core of our belief in the potential we have to build power in West Virginia to advance racial equity, inclusion, and accessibility while disrupting systems that have historically excluded some communities.We are committed to engaging in conversations to uplift communities and leaders of color to move from talk to action on why race matters in West Virginia as we work to disrupt these systems. We will support investment in Black-led organizations and rural Black leadership. And we are committed to driving public and private investments into these spaces, both organizational and geographic.
A core team led by Unleash Tygart, Inc participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.
Core teams led by Thundercloud, Inc. and the City of Huntington participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support community development projects located in Opportunity Zones.
A core team led by Crawford Holdings, LLC participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
A core team led by Woodlands Development Group also participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Watch their community documentary.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.
It has been a year of abundant opportunities and partnerships across the state, and a year that has pushed all of us to work harder, faster, and smarter – together.At The Hub, we say that “the work works when you put in the work.” This means that our approach to community-based development, and individual leadership development, really does transform local communities, especially when we all work together for the same goal, and stay committed to working together for the long haul.In 2023, we continued to be amazed at the local leadership, drive and innovation we saw in communities throughout the state that are building locally-driven development from the ground up. Our network of community leaders, partners and opportunities keeps growing and shows no signs of slowing in 2024!
We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone for being part of the larger Hub community as we reflect on this year’s deep impact in West Virginia communities through our work. We are thrilled to have champions who believe in our mission that every community in West Virginia can achieve economic growth when they are supported with the tools and training they need to lead and spark positive change.
We believe strongly in the fact that putting in the work yourself to improve your neighborhood, your town, and our state is where true transformational change happens. With strategic partners and thought leaders like you in the work with us, we continue to be able to walk alongside community teams as they do the work to uplift their communities.Thank you to all of the community teams and leaders who are brave enough to keep showing up every day, and putting in thousands of hours of volunteer time to support your communities and the entire state. Your determination in the face of difficult work and far-off successes is something to applaud yourself for – and to celebrate.Whether you’re volunteering on the ground in your community, sharing our stories of hope with your friends and neighbors, or attending a virtual event with The Hub, your participation in our work is what keeps it going. Thank you for all your work and support this past year, and we are excited to continue in the work with you in 2024!In Continued Accompaniment,
