Wood County Economic Development held its annual meeting on Oct. 14 at Discovery World's Ember Theater in Parkersburg, where Executive Director Lindsey Piersol said roughly 100 people attended, representing banks, hospitals, construction, trades, education and retail.
Piersol described the October gathering, which is open to the public, as a review of the year's successes and difficulties presented transparently to the board. Topics included site readiness, the new Community Bank headquarters, the Camden Clark North Tower expansion and a preview of a new organization website expected to launch that week.
Much of the discussion centered on West Virginia's Yes West Virginia site readiness program. According to Piersol, Wood County accounted for six of 36 awards statewide, each worth $75,000 for engineering work such as Phase Ones, geotechnical, wetland and utility studies. She said some sites have finished the work while others are beginning.
Piersol argued that such preparation matters when competing with neighboring states, noting that every state bordering West Virginia has a certification program and that West Virginia had none before.
Going forward, she said the county will market prepared sites to prospects and site selectors and advance pipeline projects, including manufacturing prospects and international companies, some of which have been in discussion for 18 months.
Christine Davies, deputy secretary of Commerce for West Virginia, was the guest speaker and addressed workforce shortages, apprenticeships and retaining young residents. Piersol also identified childcare as an area needing improvement and said expansion could help labor participation. She was leading her 11th annual meeting.