Weston
community case study

in weston, leaning into their system of support helped to build an activated team.

The county seat of Lewis, County, Weston is situated just north of of the Stonewall Resort State Park. Home to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, the city has leaned into tourism as a way to bring new energy and revenue to the community and the businesses that fill downtown. By creating plans for tourism around the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, Weston has embraced the spooky and creepy identity. Halloween has become the holiday that Weston citizens and elected officials have coalesced around as the most beloved holiday.

Getting Weston to where it is in its community development journey didn’t happen overnight. It also didn’t happen because of one person’s tireless work. Core community members who have been working to improve the City of Weston came together and started to rely on support from one another to do the work they and their neighbors wanted to see for Weston.

Like many communities in Appalachia, Weston has experienced a decline. So, as a collective, members of the Weston and Lewis County communities banded together and got to work to make things better.  The community members who came together also used their networks and communications to bring more people into the fold to create a strong vision for where Weston is going.

Rural Community Building Best Practices

West Virginia communities of all sizes are engaging in innovative work. Many of these communities exemplify our Rural Community Building Best Practices, guideposts identified through evidence-based research processes. By looking to these communities as models, we can work together to replicate small wins and major successes.

The community of Weston exemplify:

  • Maintaining and growing volunteerism & civic engagement
  • Building a common vision and executing a plan
  • Leveraging financial opportunities

Maintaining and growing volunteerism & civic engagement

Volunteerism and civic engagement are crucial pillars of community development. Bringing more voices to the collective creates a broad, comprehensive, and encompassing community development plan and strategy. This is something that the Weston community team members understood and incorporated into their community development plan from the beginning.

Before applying to be part of the fifth iteration of the Hub Communities of Achievement Program (HubCAP V), Weston started to bring people together to form a team of dedicated people to get to work. They focused on making sure that both the city and county governments were included to bring both a localized and bird’s eye view to Weston’s community development.

“We all knew we needed to work together so we formed a team that represented the County Commission, the City of Weston, the Town of Jane Lew, the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Schools, and the Chamber of Commerce,” said Agnes Queen, a Lewis County Commissioner. “We got everybody that we could who were key players and decision-makers all in the same team. That has never really been done.”

Everyone in the room is really good at listening to other peoples' ideas. Not once has there been an argument over 'my way is the right way.'

Mayor Kim Harrison-Edwards

The Weston community team members credit their work with HubCAP V with creating a framework for ongoing community engagement. These meetings, according to community team members, have helped to expand their reach and build their capacity to get the work done. What started as monthly meetings have morphed into an annual meeting for the City of Weston to show residents the budget and what volunteer opportunities are available for interested community members.

People who have been involved in the community development work for Weston and Lewis County have seen an increase in participation from residents. The key was not just having open public meetings but showing the results of the work already underway.

“When the public sees that you have investment not only from having city officials and volunteers involved but also people from the county and even people from the region attending meetings and discussing and helping, that makes a difference,” said Ray Smith, the executive director for the Lewis County Economic Development Authority. “It inspires people to join when they see people coming together and they see progress being made. […] There’s been a lot of talk through the years but now they are presenting a uniform plan and have met goals.”

Another focus has been bringing younger people to the table to help with planning and coming up with ideas. Like many communities throughout West Virginia, Weston wants to focus on keeping their youths and offering them opportunities and reasons to stay in their hometown. Part of this work has happened because of the AmeriCorps VISTA program that is geared toward younger people.

“They had 400 middle school and high school students participate in a survey asking what they wanted to see in the community. That gave the basis of the focus on Weston. I think that was a wonderful thing,” said Ray. “Some of the stuff they came up with was surprising. Some of it is more like recreation centers and an exercise center. A dog park was high on their list of wants. Some things that you just don’t anticipate with kids or students but it was a learning experience for us old people.”

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Building a common vision and executing a plan

Weston’s community development work has coalesced around the importance of tourism for the local economy and the sustainability of downtown businesses. Leaning into the idea of revitalizing the downtown area, the community team has focused on identifying their assets around the city and planning ways to boost these assets for the overall goal of uplifting Weston.

The way Weston has exemplified the ideal of Building a Common Vision and Executing a Plan has been a multifaceted approach. Instead of hyper-focusing on one thing, the Weston community team gives individuals the power to find what they do best and bring it to the overall plan. As Weston has worked to become a destination for West Virginians and other tourists, volunteers have stepped up and found their own ways to contribute to the larger end goal.

“You play ball with the team that shows up,” said Nate Stansberry, the City Manger for the City of Weston. “I think that’s the biggest thing. Just finding people who can come along and be a part of it and who want to be involved in some form or capacity and trying to plug them in where they see they may fit.”

A growing team has allowed for a larger plan with different partners and community members working in their lanes to benefit the larger goal. Different ideas have helped to create new partnerships to develop key parts of Weston’s revitalization.

“we’ve seen that from the start of HubCAP and developing these goals, especially the riverfront park,” Smith said. “The riverfront park is part of the trail system. We’ve seen that blossom into seeing people wanting to help concentrate on Weston and the park trails that run through it. It has also inspired Sam England from West Virginia Trails. he has been there to look at more regional development with Lewis County.”

Keep people informed and keep showing progress.

Executive Director Ray Smith
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Leveraging financial opportunities

As a HubCAP V team, Weston found themselves empowered to identify and start going after funding opportunities with confidence. With tourism as the biggest focus, the Weston community team is focused on what can be done to build up their infrastructure and make transformative changes that residents can see. Whether is it using their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to buy a street sweeper to clean the streets or training a local crew to pour a couple thousand feet of sidewalks or seeking federal earmarks, Weston has used the financial opportunities available to them to make the work happen.

According to City Manager Stanberry and Mayor Harrison-Edwards, the federal earmark for $750,000 is one of those transformational funding opportunities that will change Weston for the better.

The funding will be used to keep the infrastructure and the revitalization work happening. Specifically, Weston’s Riverfront Park and Cultural Center projects have been identified as two key projects for the overall goal of strengthening Weston’s tourism draw.

You lay the groundwork by making it better every day.

City Manager Nate Stansberry

Weston community team members credit their confidence in seeking larger and more encompassing funding to the work they did during HubCAP V. Weston has been through more than one coaching program with The Hub starting with becoming a Blueprint Community® before Covid. This continued engagement with The Hub, according to Agnes Queen.

“I think that the support at The Hub offers has helped us with different studies and the paperwork in the background. The information has helped us even gain grants. That’s been huge,” said Queen. “The grants that we’ve been able to apply for and utilize just because of having the support and help we need to accomplish those things has been overwhelming. We couldn’t have done it without the help from The Hub.”

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Weekly Newsletter

Partner Feature:

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.

Community Feature:

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.

DEI Journey:

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.

Grafton

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.

Huntington

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.

Charleston

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.

White Sulphur Springs

Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.

Petersburg

Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.

Marlinton

Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.

Franklin

Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.

Elkins

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.

Cowen

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.

Parsons

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.

New Martinsville

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.

Monticello Neighborhood of Clarksburg

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Watch their community documentary.

Meadow River Valley Region

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.

Lewis County

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.

Kingwood

Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.

Smithers

Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.

Montgomery

Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.

Message from our Executive Leadership Team

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,

– WV Community Development Hub
Executive Leadership Team

Stephanie Tyree

Executive Director

Amanda Workman Scott

Director of Community Engagement

Katie Loudin

Director of Strategic Development