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West Virginia Executive is published quarterly by Executive Ink, LLC, PO Box 6277, Charleston, West Virginia 25362. All rights reserved. All contents are copyrighted by Executive Ink, LLC; reproduction in whole or part without written permission from Executive Ink, LLC is expressly forbidden and punishable by law. West Virginia Executive is not responsible for unsolicited materials. All opinions expressed within West Virginia Executive belong to the feature’s author and are not necessarily the opinions of the publishers or Executive Ink, LLC employees. West Virginia Executive and Executive Ink, LLC reserve the right to refuse any idea, material or subject matter, especially those of racist, sexist, pornographic or religiously derogating intent. Throughout this issue, trademarked names are used. Rather than denoting a trademark symbol in every occurrence of a trademarked name, West Virginia Executive uses the names in an editorial fashion, with no infringement. All trademarked names are still fully protected and anyone who uses them without permission will be prosecuted. About the Cover Doug Skaff, Jr., a member of the Young Guns Class of 2013. RETRACTION In the Summer 2012 Education issue, the story entitled “The Montessori Experience” reported that Charleston Montessori opened in 2012. The school actually opened in 2011.
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Charleston | Parkersburg | www.suttlecpas.com
Congratulations Young Guns! 8
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The highlight of this issue for me was to be able to spend four days experiencing one of my favorite places in West Virginia with 10 of my new friends—this year’s class of Young Guns. Each year we take our newly selected Young Guns on location for a photo shoot, and this year’s location was Adventures on the Gorge in Fayetteville. There might not be any better way to get to know someone than to hang out 851 feet above the rushing New River’s rapids for an hour during a photo shoot, especially when the semi-trucks crossing the bridge make the catwalk you’re on feel more like a trampoline. For anyone who hasn’t tried BridgeWalk under the New River Gorge Bridge, I highly recommend it. I promise the trip and Benjy Simpson, who founded the tour, won’t disappoint. I’d like to give special thanks to Benjy for helping me check that item off my “West Virginia Bucket List.” This Young Guns photo shoot was also Samantha Ricketts’ initiation as the newest member of our Executive Ink team. She came on board in August and has been a wonderful asset to the magazine. This was her first photo shoot and we certainly didn’t waste time with the pleasantries as we carefully planned and executed 10 photo shoots. We are blessed and proud to have her on the team and I can only hope that she will love and enjoy this job as much as the rest of us do.
Tracy Toler climbs out on the New River Gorge Bridge’s catwalk during the photo shoot.
As we celebrate our fourth anniversary as Executive Ink, I reflect over the past few years. I know our small but mighty team is not a normal bunch—we might even be labeled as crazy—but I feel as though we are also extraordinary. I don’t know if you can find many companies, especially in print media, that have a story like ours. I started with the magazine in July 2005. A little over a year later, Jennifer Jett and Lisa Affolter joined the team, creating a crew that has been working together for more than six years. I feel like it is a blessing and also quite impressive when you consider that the average age of “the girls in the office,” as we are lovingly called by so many, is 28.5. I would be remiss if I didn’t also give applause to our two “Old Guns:” Mark Lamborn and my dad, Linwood Hamilton. The support and guidance these two have shared with us all is invaluable, not to mention the patience they have shown us as we, at times, have driven them totally crazy. I hope you enjoy this year’s class of Young Guns and will remember to nominate hardworking West Virginians in 2013 so we can have another great class next year.
Congratulations to our positively uniqu e Young Gun, Allison Ballard! Allison Ballard
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In
Letter from the Publishers
Mountaineers are unique. We’re not
afraid of a little dirt or sweat. We’re at home in the rugged mountains where overgrowth, copperheads and black bears all serve a purpose. Patriotism runs in our veins, loyalty lies as deep within us as the roots of the centuries’ old trees that surround us and we work hard for what we’ve got. When we need something, we make it. If it doesn’t exist, we invent it. West Virginia’s history of innovation goes all the way back to—well, to 1863 when we tired of paying Virginia taxes without reaping the benefits. We didn’t like the way things were going in the state we belonged to, so what did we do? We created a new one, of course. And there’s a reason West Virginia is the only state to secede and establish itself as an independent entity: it takes a mentality of certain survival and a deep-rooted desire to blaze a trail through the unknown in order to create one’s own path to prosperity. Mountaineers are always free because they make it so. And if you
say something’s impossible, your words are likely to be met with a grin because you’ve just challenged a Mountaineer to do what he or she does best. What we at West Virginia Executive do best is highlight the Mountain State’s successes, and there’s no better way to do that than to present the Young Guns Class of 2013 in conjunction with a special section on research and development (R&D) and technology in West Virginia. In addition to our 10 new Young Guns who stand out among their peers across the state, we’re proud to present West Virginia’s Greatest, four technology-based organizations in the Mountain State that answer the question “Why in West Virginia?” with an affirmative “Because we can.” Aurora Flight Sciences, which specializes in developing and manufacturing advanced unmanned systems and aerospace vehicles, has operations in Bridgeport; Reinforced Aggregates Company creates virtually indestructible roads with patented construction technology and used
auto tires; Touchstone Research Laboratory is an R&D, analysis and testing facility responsible for CFOAM®, a carbon foam made from coal, and the FBI’s Biometric Center of Excellence and Next Generation Identification programs are using biometric identification to reduce the number of terrorist and criminal activities. West Virginia Executive had the opportunity to sit down with Jim Estep, the president and CEO of the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation, and Phil Halstead, the president and CEO of the West Virginia Regional Technology Park, to learn about the exciting growth and innovative opportunities that exist at West Virginia’s two tech parks. Alpha Technologies recently purchased a data center at the West Virginia Regional Technology Park whose world-class capabilities will draw in new business from all over, while the GOES-R program at the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation is a welcome satellite addition to the NOAA supercomputer technology that will be used primarily for the detection and tracking of severe weather across the country. We hope you enjoy this issue and its look at the R&D and technology-based wonders taking place within our borders. We also want to extend our congratulations to the 10 West Virginia leaders recognized in the Young Guns Class of 2013. We wish you continued success as you push the Mountain State toward a brighter future.
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IN THIS issue Fall2012
The Next Great Adventure
This year’s Young Guns have excelled in their fields and in their communities. Now we’re excited to see where their next great adventure takes them.
25 West Virginia Virtual School 127 Struggle for Statehood
Weekend Rolodex
The Humidors of Honduras
Café Cimino’s chef shares his unbelievable trip to the cigar factories of Honduras.
By Tim Urbanic
West Virginia 150
As we celebrate our 150th birthday, the Division of Culture and History has collected artifacts from every decade for display. By Charles Morris
Struggle for Statehood
Before West Virginia was declared its own state, there was much turmoil as Congress struggled with what should be done. By Bryan Ward
Regional Focus
There are a variety of exciting events happening and organizations deserving recognition in the Mountain State. 12
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91 123 29 33 118 123 127 130
West Virginia 150
Notebook
International Exports
The international coal industry is learning about mine safety and rescue knowledge from two West Virginia education institutions. By Dennis Jarvis, II
No Boys Allowed!
West Virginia is home to a variety of organizations that promote professional networking and business development just for women. By Samantha Ricketts 118 The Humidors of Honduras
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63 Wild, 61 Wonderful, High-Tech Wired Assets West Virginia
Technology
Moving the Mountain State Forward West Virginia’s leaders share technology and research and development challenges in our state and their possible solutions. By Jennifer Jett
Government Contracting
Three business owners discuss the challenges of federal contracting and what businesses can do to find success. By Jennifer Jett
Additive Manufacturing
The Robert C. Byrd Institute is building 3-D objects in the same way one prints a piece of paper at home. By Charlotte Weber
West Virginia’s Greatest
Aurora Flight Sciences, the FBI, Reinforced Aggregates and Touchstone Research Laboratory are a few of the state’s leaders in technology.
High-Tech Assets
CEOs of West Virginia’s tech parks, Jim Estep and Phil Halstead, share their experiences in research and technology. By Kensie Hamilton
States Shaping the Economic Future West Virginia’s neighboring states are setting a good example in how to grow and prosper.
By Dan Berglund
38 42 46 51 71 61 75 67
51 West Virginia’s Greatest
71 Protecting Your Digital Footprint
38 Moving the Mountain State Forward
Protecting Your Digital Footprint
The Appalachian Institute of Digital Evidence provides training and research to protect data stored online. By Jill McIntyre
and John Sammons
The Next Generation of Weather Monitoring Fairmont is now home to the ground station command and control system for NOAA and NASA’s GOES-R satellites that track severe weather. By B.D. Calandrelli
EXECUTIVE BUSINESS 4 Masthead 6 Editor’s Journal 8 In ink 10 in this issue 14 Contributors 79 around the state 130 regional focus 135 marketplace 136 ad finder 14
west virginia executive
West Virginia’s Land. West Virginia’s People. West Virginia’s Workforce: Trained. Invested. Available. Everyone knows we builds roads, schools and power plants, but did you know we also build pipelines, processing facilities and compressor stations for the natural gas industry? Our workers have the knowledge, skills and experience it takes to do the job— and do it best! Given the chance, we excel.
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CONTRIBUTORSFall Lisa Affolter Lisa Affolter is a cum laude graduate from Marshall University who received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design in May 2006. In addition to designing magazines, Affolter works on a variety of projects including print advertising, business proposals and Web sites. She may be reached at (304) 941-0600, ext. 12, or via e-mail at lna@wvexecutive.com.
Kevin Balsan A native of San Jose, CA, Kevin Balsan was an aircraft crew chief for the Air Force. He earned degrees in aircraft technology, business and management from Hawaii Pacific University while serving his country. After an honorable discharge, he worked for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company and earned his MBA from Golden Gate University. Balsan has run three contract manufacturing companies dealing with medical devices, semi-conductor equipment and aerospace products. He joined Aurora Flight Sciences in January 2012 as the general manager for West Virginia.
Dan Berglund Dan Berglund is the president and CEO of SSTI, a nonprofit organization that leads, supports and strengthens efforts to improve state and regional economies through science, technology and innovation. Prior to joining SSTI, Berglund worked as a consultant and for the Ohio Department of Development in a variety of positions, including acting deputy director of the Division of Technological Innovation. Berglund holds bachelor’s degrees in economics, political science and history from Ohio University.
John Bobo Former head of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, John Bobo is an attorney who writes on a variety of legal and technology issues. His book, “The Best Story Wins: And Other Advice for New Prosecutors,” is an Amazon Kindle Best-Seller in litigation. He is particularly interested in spotlighting the smart ideas that, if adopted, can make a difference in the world.
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David Cuthbertson David Cuthbertson is the assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg. He oversees programs that provide essential services to the law enforcement and intelligence communities. Hired as an FBI special agent in September 1988, Cuthbertson has served in several leadership positions across the nation, including at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Just prior to his current appointment in July 2011, he served as the special agent in charge of the FBI’s El Paso Division.
Gerrill Griffith Gerrill Griffith is a professional communicator whose writing portfolio includes work in the news media, federal government, higher education, private industry and politics. A Wheeling native, Griffith has written for the WVU Research Corporation, West Virginia private industries, Wheeling Jesuit University and former Congressman Alan Mollohan. He began his career as a reporter for The Dominion Post. He is currently affiliated with DG Wordmasters, a writing service featuring more than 60 years of creative experience.
Kevin Highlander Kevin Highlander is a tax partner with Hayflich Grigoraci PLLC. Highlander has 11 years of experience consulting on complex tax matters for corporations and partnerships and serving as a trusted advisor to businesses around the state. He specializes in auto dealers, manufacturers and energyrelated concerns. Highlander also serves on the boards of the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network and the Bridgemont Community & Technical College Foundation. He lives in Charleston with his wife, Ann, and their six kids.
Jeff James Jeff James is the founder and CEO of Mythology, a global marketing management consulting firm, and is co-founder and chairman of Create WV. James spent 14 years at Microsoft Corporation in a variety of marketing management roles in which he worked with diverse partners such as United Airlines, Disney and Janet Jackson. A native of Glenville, WV, James returned to West Virginia in 2005 to develop his entrepreneurial initiatives. He lives in Charleston with his two very creative daughters.
Dennis Jarvis, II Dennis Jarvis, II, is the director of the Upper Kanawha Valley Economic Development Corporation and serves as an economic development specialist at the Center for Environmental, Geotechnical and Applied Sciences at Marshall University. Jarvis holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Bluefield State College and a master’s in political science from Marshall. He also served as the director of the Mine Safety Technology Consortium, an EDA investment project that assisted with the design and development of innovations for mine safety and related technologies.
Jill McIntyre Jill McIntyre, a lawyer with Jackson Kelly PLLC, has been following the development of electronic discovery law since 2006 and regularly advises clients and colleagues about related best practices, ethical duties and technologies. She recently worked to prepare for implementation of Colorado’s Civil Access Pilot Project. A native of Marshall County, WV, and a graduate of West Virginia University and the University of Richmond School of Law, McIntyre is a founding member of the Appalachian Institute of Digital Evidence.
CONTRIBUTORSFall Jorea Marple, Ph.D. Jorea Marple took over as West Virginia’s 27th state superintendent of schools in 2011. With more than 35 years of education experience, she was invited to participate in Columbia and Harvard universities’ superintendent academies and has worked with the U.S. Department of Education, Council of Chief State School Officers and the State Educational Technology Directors Association.
Charles Morris, III Charles Morris, III, is the director of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s Museums Section. Prior to his appointment, he served as director of collections and exhibits, collections management and registrar. Morris is a graduate of the University of Charleston with a bachelor’s degree in administration, management and marketing. Morris trained at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and at the Campbell Conservation Center in Mount Carroll, IL.
Blaine Mullins Blaine Mullins is the marketing and design director at Alpha Technologies. A 2000 graduate of Marshall University, Mullins carries more than a decade of experience in writing and design and has previously served as A1 page designer/graphic artist and headline writer at The Cincinnati Enquirer, design editor and copy desk chief at The Journal in Martinsburg and as a staff writer at The State Journal.
Samantha Redd Samantha Redd is a senior print journalism major at West Virginia University. Redd is a former intern for West Virginia Executive, as well as Atkins and Ogle Offices, LC. She is a 13-year member of the Putnam County 4-H, a camp counselor and a West Virginia 4-H All Star. She is also a resident assistant at Arnold Hall and a member of the Morgantown First Church of the Nazarene and National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
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Samantha Ricketts
Samantha Ricketts is the production assistant for Executive Ink, LLC, where she researches, organizes, writes and edits for West Virginia Executive and Executive Meeting Planner magazines. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Concord University with bachelor’s degrees in English writing and Spanish. Before graduating, Ricketts served as editor in chief of the student newspaper, The Concordian.
John Sammons John Sammons is an assistant professor at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. Sammons teaches digital forensics, electronic discovery, information security and technology in the Department of Integrated Science and Technology. He is the author of the book “The Basics of Digital Forensics: The Primer for Getting Started in Digital Forensics.” He is also the director of the Appalachian Institute of Digital Evidence.
Jonathan Spalter Jonathan Spalter, the chairman of Mobile Future, has been the founding CEO of leading technology, media and research companies that include Public Insight, Snocap and Atmedica Worldwide. He served in the Clinton Administration as the director of public affairs for the National Security Council, as well as a speech writer for Vice President Al Gore. He also co-founded Climate Cartoons, a nonprofit animation studio. Spalter graduated from Harvard College and Cambridge University.
Marta Tankersley Marta Tankersley is a communications major at West Virginia State University (WVSU) where she serves as editor in chief of the campus news magazine, The YellowJacket. A 2012 summer intern for West Virginia Executive, Tankersley is a member of the Public Relations Student Society of America and the West Virginia Filmmaker’s Guild. She was also recently named director of Tower Communications, WVSU’s public relations and marketing firm.
Tracy Toler Tracy Toler scaled Seneca Rocks at the age of 5 and has been reaching new heights ever since. Through his business, Tracy A. Toler Photography, he has become a leading pioneer, serving as creative director and feature photographer for many of the region’s largest magazines. Known among his peers as “Mr. McGyver,” he can fix anything with a bobby pin, rubber band or Swiss Army knife. This comes in handy at home with his wife and two children. Toler may be reached by e-mail at tracytoler@yahoo.com.
Tim Urbanic Chef Tim Urbanic specializes in Italian and Mediterranean Cuisines using organic herbs and vegetables grown on the Café Cimino Country Inn property, the family farm and neighboring farms. Besides his cigar trips, he’s made two culinary fact-finding trips to Italy’s farm country, visiting agricultural tourism sites to study and bring back even more traditional techniques, recipes and approaches to cooking and serving food.
Bryan Ward Bryan Ward is the assistant director of the West Virginia State Archives. Since the 90s, Ward has been actively promoting the state’s history as an educator, executive director, historian, grant writer, adjunct history professor, historic preservation consultant and all-around ambassador for the state. His work includes publications on Arthurdale and New Deal Communities, the Kennedy campaign of 1960 and West Virginia-focused topics. He is currently working on a book on West Virginia innovators.
Charlotte Weber Charlotte Weber is director and CEO of the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing and vice president for Federal Programs at Marshall University. She served nine years as executive assistant to the late U. S. Senator Robert C. Byrd in Washington, D.C., prior to joining Marshall.
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Each lap gets us closer to a world with less cancer and more birthdays! Help change HOPE to CURE by being a part of the 2013 Relay For Life of Kanawha County!
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Event date: June 14, 2013 Time: 6:00 pm Location: State Capitol Complex For more information please contact Jennifer Davis, ACS Staff Partner at 304-347-5862 or jennifer.davis@cancer.org.
R&D Tax Credits West Virginia is host to many companies actively engaged in research and development (R&D) activities. From large, multinational companies working on enhancing their global product lines to small businesses focusing on local issues and concerns, the Mountain State is home to many innovators. While these industrial spirits toil diligently to improve and develop their products, they may well be letting federal and state incentives slip through the cracks. To encourage R&D activities, Congress passed legislation in 1981 that created a credit for a percentage of certain qualifying research expenditures. While the original legislation did not make the credit permanent, it has been extended several times, most recently in 2010 for a period of two years. As it stands, the federal credit for R&D expenditures only covers amounts expended prior to January 1, 2012. It is important to note that although the R&D credit had not been extended as of September 2012, almost each time the credit has expired it has been extended retroactively to prevent a lapse in eligibility for ongoing R&D activity. The R&D credit is available to taxpayers across a myriad of industries that include automotive, biotechnology, chemical manufacturing, energy, medical manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. To qualify for the credit, expenditures must relate to research undertaken for the purpose of discovering information that is technological in nature and the application of which relates to the development of a new or improved business product or process. Some common examples of this include the development of new products or inventions, improving a manufacturing process and the creation of new software. Computation of the federal R&D credit is quite complex and requires careful analysis of each of the credit’s components. In considering amounts paid or incurred prior to January 1, 2012, the federal R&D credit is generally calculated with these three components: • 20 percent of certain qualified research expenses (QREs) incurred in the taxpayer’s business in excess of a calculated base amount, or, if electing the alternative simplified research credit, 14 percent of the excess of the QREs for the tax year over 50 percent of the average QREs for the three preceding tax years;
Federal and State Incentives Available to West Virginia Businesses
• 20 percent of the payments for basic research by a university or other tax-exempt research organization and • 20 percent of the payments made for energy research done by an energy research consortium. It is important to note that even if you engaged in R&D activities in prior years but did not claim the credit, there may be an opportunity to go back and claim them presently. In addition to the federal credit, there is also a West Virginia credit for strategic research and development (SRD) activities. Unlike its federal counterpart, the state credit is not set to expire at the end of 2011 and should still be considered for current year R&D activities by state companies. For purposes of the SRD credit, R&D includes, but is not limited to, the “design, refinement and testing of prototypes of new or improved products or design, refinement and testing of manufacturing processes before commercial sales relating thereto have begun.” The allowable SRD credit is the greater of 3 percent of the annual combined qualified R&D expenditure within West Virginia or 10 percent of the excess of the annual combined qualified R&D expenditure within West Virginia over a calculated base amount. As with the federal R&D credit, the computation is complex and all relevant facts and circumstances should be carefully analyzed. Once computed, the state SRD credit may be used to offset the business franchise tax, the corporate net income tax and, in the case of flow-through entities, the personal income tax. Any unused credit may be carried forward for 10 years. As illustrated by the above summary of federal and state R&D credits, calculating the credits can be quite complex, perhaps to the point of deterring taxpayers from claiming them. This complexity should not discourage West Virginia’s innovators from claiming these credits. Based on the West Virginia Tax Credit Review and Accountability Report issued on February 1, 2012, from 2003-2009 there were only 33 unique businesses claiming the credit in the Mountain State. There are well over 33 companies conducting some sort of R&D activity in West Virginia that should be eligible for this tax credit, and these types of businesses need to be aware of the credits available to them. When tax season nears, those of you who own R&D businesses in West Virginia need to talk with your accountant and advisor about how you can take advantage of these credits and incentives—you’ve certainly earned them. By Kevin Highlander
www.wvexecutive.com
fall 2012
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Mobile Connectivity Fueling our Innovation Nation From the person ambling down the street staring into a small screen to the pat down many do each morning as they head out the door to ensure their trusted device is close at hand, our daily routines plainly demonstrate just how much mobile innovation has changed the way we work, do business and stay connected to people and innovations that expand our economy and improve our lives. Nowhere is the promise of the mobile Internet—and the nextgeneration networks that make it possible —more apparent than in rural communities. Mobile connectivity gives any business virtually anywhere the opportunity to compete and succeed. Largely for this reason, no technology has come so far so fast as the wireless Web. Today, there are more mobile subscriptions than people in our country, and, by 2015, Cisco forecasts that there will be six networked devices for every man, woman and child. That includes smartphones. More than half of Americans use them today, and a third of us have also added a mobile tablet to our repertoire of gadgetry. The pace of change is dizzying. It was stunning to read recently that Apple sold more mobile devices in 2011 than it has sold Mac computers in its storied 28-year history. This rapid pace of progress is unquestionably positive for our economy, but it does bring its own challenges. Remember that old flip phone you once thought was so cutting-edge? Today’s smartphones on average generate 35 times more mobile data traffic than basic feature phones. That tablet in your hand? It burns through 121 times more wireless capacity than your smartphone. Simply put, if mobile data traffic were illustrated as a freeway, we’d need to be adding a whole lot more lanes—and fast. Already, U.S. mobile networks operate at 80 percent of capacity compared to a global average of just 65 percent. With Cisco predicting two billion networked mobile devices in the U.S. by 2015, it’s no surprise that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is now warning that demand for mobile Internet may overwhelm existing capacity as early as next year. Dropped calls. Longer loading times. Everything we’ve come to loathe in a wireless, ondemand world could rapidly become more prevalent. The wireless sector is doing its part to keep pace. Over the past 10 years, they have invested more than $23 billion annually to build, expand and upgrade state-of-the-art mobile networks. That’s more private capital investment than has been seen in any other sector of our economy. In West Virginia, AT&T invested $23 million in
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the first half of 2012 alone in its mobile and broadband networks. Verizon, too, is investing heavily to bring 4G mobile service to more West Virginians. Upgrades include activating new cell towers to improve network coverage, deploying faster 4G connections and adding spectrum capacity to support rising data traffic. The government has an essential role to play, too. Why? Today only 16 percent of all mobile spectrum capacity is dedicated to serving more than 330 million U.S. wireless subscriptions. It’s a recklessly dated construct given the centrality of mobile connectivity to our modern economy and lives. Much of the remaining 84 percent of wireless capacity is controlled by federal agencies and television broadcasters. Many were granted this precious resource for free decades ago, and often this capacity goes underutilized. Important ideas are now developing to make sure this capacity is repurposed to its most critical modern use: expanding the mobile Internet. The FCC is advancing plans for voluntary incentive auctions that allow broadcasters to put their spectrum assets up for auction and share in the proceeds with the U.S. Treasury. Leaders on Capitol Hill are looking at how more efficient spectrum use by government agencies can unlock greater expansion of the mobile Internet for the broad benefit of all Americans and the economy. West Virginia would benefit in a variety of ways. More capacity would be available to expand wireless connectivity, and this would create waves of opportunity. For example, nearly two-thirds of small business owners say they couldn’t survive without wireless technologies. Given that two out of every three new U.S. jobs are created by small businesses, mobile connection is critical to the 7.4 percent of West Virginians who are looking for work. Distance health care and learning opportunities, which are key to rural life, are also increasingly conducted via connected mobile devices. As Americans embrace and increasingly rely upon nextgeneration networks and technologies, maintaining policies that encourage continued investment in advanced networks and allocating more spectrum to expand the mobile Internet must be among the nation’s highest technologic and economic priorities. Yes, many consumers check for our wireless devices as we head out the door. Today, we have the luxury of taking for granted the many opportunities they place at our fingertips. It’s time our nation’s leaders answered the call for sound policy and timely action to keep the mobile future on a positive growth trajectory for us all. By Jonathan Spalter
s ' t a h W @ @ neW A new addition to the weirton campus houses classrooms and labs for Mechatronics and the health Sciences while construction is under way for two new buildings on the wheeling campus. new Martinsville campus has led the way for high demand gas and oil industry job training.
Coming soon to wheeling
Mechatronics at weirton
wheeLing
304-233-5900
weirton
304-723-2210
www.wvncc.edu
new MArtinSViLLe
304-455-4684
Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex
801 Jefferson Ave. Moundsville
(304) 843-4128
www.wvculture.org Research center and one of the largest surviving Adena mounds
West Virginia Independence Hall
1528 Market St. Wheeling
(304) 238-1300
www.wvculture.org
Civil War Battle Flag Exhibit
WEST VIRGINIA DIVISION OF CULTURE AND HISTORY EEO/AA Employer
Create Buckhannon How Creative Citizens are Building Their Future in West Virginia
The story of declining communities has almost become a cliché throughout the hills of West Virginia where shifting economic forces have emptied many of the state’s small towns and counties. Leaders all over the Mountain State believe the hope of a brighter future lies within the possibility of small communities recreating themselves into vibrant meccas of talent and entrepreneurial activity in the global innovation economy. The city of Buckhannon in Upshur County agrees, and, steered by a band of visionary leaders and citizens, they believe they can pull it off. From the list of their achievements over the past two years, it looks like they just might. After a less-than-successful vision and planning exercise in 2007 called Buckhannon 2015, a small group of determined leaders attended a creative community economic development conference in 2008 called Create WV. Create WV was formed to “build creative communities for the innovation economy” and has, over the last six years, trained dozens of local communities and hundreds of individuals. The 2008 conference that the Buckhannon team attended brought together hundreds of likeminded entrepreneurs, business executives, artists, educators and nonprofit and government leaders with the goal of answering the question “How do West Virginia communities and businesses grow in a global, Internet-based economy that demands a new kind of innovation-minded human capital?” The organizers of Create WV shared a simple formula with attendees that held the answer: creative, entrepreneurial individuals are attracted to creative communities. When a community attracts creative individuals, great things begin to happen. The team from Buckhannon came to the 2008 conference with open minds, and they were amazed and excited about what they experienced. As Steve Foster, the director for the Upshur County Development Authority and a member of Buckhannon’s visionary team, explains, “Attending Create WV was pivotal in inspiring us to build Create Buckhannon. The networking and creative learning opportunities were phenomenal.” Armed with motivation and some basic community development strategy skills, the group returned home to form their local version of the creative communities movement. An initial workshop with Create WV brought together the Buckhannon 2015 planning committee, the Buckhannon/Upshur Chamber of Commerce and faculty and staff of West Virginia Wesleyan College, and ideas immediately began to flow. As is common with initiatives meant to spark change, many of the ideas met resistance. Some public officials, many of whom had been in office for decades, found plenty of reasons why the ideas couldn’t be executed. A skeptical public burned by prior efforts of change were at times uneager to get on board. The group persisted. “We overcame many of these objectives by choosing some quick wins early on that gained us credibility and by including as
One of Create Buckhannon’s successes has been the new street signage on College Avenue.
many people as we could in researching actions and decisions,” says Buckhannon entrepreneur and team member CJ Rylands. “An example is the street signs placed on College Avenue, which have received great feedback.” The open and inclusive nature of the planning meetings, combined with confidence built by those early wins, allowed the Create Buckhannon movement to catch fire. The team decided to seek additional support from the West Virginia Community Development Hub and HubCAP, the hub’s Communities of Achievement Program. What ensued has been nothing short of extraordinary. At last count, the group has been responsible for more than 30 community projects, including: • Securing a $250,000 grant for the development of Jawbone Park and a farmers market; • Designing street signage for Buckhannon, including those along College Avenue; • Holding an entrepreneur’s café to raise seed capital for new and expanding businesses; • Placing LED lighting on Main Street to promote events year-round; • Founding Festival Fridays, a gathering of locals and guests around live music, crafters, farm produce and food to eat and • Launching the Buckhannon-Upshur Citizens Leadership Institute of Government Affairs to teach community members about local government and to encourage participation. Create Buckhannon meets every Thursday at noon and has involved 80-100 different people at various times. Younger people get more involved every day, including younger owners of businesses. Several staff, faculty and students from West Virginia Wesleyan College have been involved as well, participating in design, creative ideas and support. For their efforts, the Create Buckhannon team won the Governor’s Award for Community Service by a Volunteer Group in 2011. For more information about Create Buckhannon and other creative communities or to start your own, visit www.createwv.com. By Jeff James Photography by Melodie Stemple
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Justin Seibert Class of 1995 on being selected as a 2013 West Virginia Young Gun
Linsly Congratulates Alum
Never, Never, Never Quit. FROM A FAMILY’S FIRST CAMPUS VISIT to Graduation Day, these words echo throughout the Linsly Experience. To persevere through adversity. To show grace in victory and defeat. To respect the opposition. These values serve students well while they are at Linsly and through their college and professional lives.
Please Join Linsly for one of our 2012-2013 Campus Visit Days November 3 February 23
December 8 April 6
January 26 May 11
Please call us at 304-233-1436 or register online at www.linsly.org/admissions. F o rw a r d an d n o retreat
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©2012, THE LINSLY SCHOOL, 60 KNOX LANE, WHEELING, WV 26003. THE LINSLY SCHOOL IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY SCHOOL.
West Virginia Virtual School West Virginia native and Cisco CEO John Chambers has said, “There are two fundamental equalizers in life: the Internet and education.” In West Virginia, where our topography, equity issues and teacher shortages in some communities and subject areas can hamper education, the Internet and online learning are equalizing education and opening up a whole new world to our students. Children today take technology for granted—in what they read, how they listen to music and how they shop. Inside the classroom, they yearn for the same type of stimulating environment and customization that allows them to take charge of their own learning. One way the West Virginia Department of Education is meeting the learning needs of students is through the West Virginia Virtual School. Established by the West Virginia Legislature in 2000, the virtual school helps students bridge the barriers of time, distance and inequities. The virtual school provides highquality courses delivered via technology and promotes efficacy and equity in course offerings. During the last school year, the West Virginia Virtual School enrolled nearly 3,000 students in nearly 3,400 courses, serving all 55 counties. Some students opt to enroll in virtual classes because of scheduling conflicts or to explore courses not offered at their school. Many schools also use virtual courses when they can’t find highly qualified teachers to teach the courses students need. Through the virtual school’s blended Spanish courses, West Virginia virtual teachers provide Spanish instruction to schools that are unable to find a highly qualified world language teacher. In McDowell and Lincoln counties, the only foreign language instruction available at both the middle school and high school levels comes from the West Virginia Virtual School. The story is similar in many small counties. Students at Braxton County Middle School as well as Geary, Spencer and Walton middle schools would not have a foreign language class at all if it were not for the West Virginia Virtual School. Even in Kanawha County, highly qualified foreign language teachers can be hard to find. Students at Cedar Grove, DuPont
Meeting Our Students’ 21st Century Needs
and East Bank middle schools receive Spanish instruction through the West Virginia Virtual School. Across the state, 1,024 students at nearly 40 schools in 18 counties now take Spanish through the virtual school that otherwise would not be able to take a world language. The West Virginia Virtual School is also helping by offering advanced placement (AP) courses and core courses to students at schools where the curriculum is limited. Students can enroll in approximately 30 advanced placement courses not offered at their local schools. This year, West Virginia students are taking 23 different AP courses across the state. Kanawha County leads the state with 141 students enrolled in AP courses through the virtual school, followed by Wirt County at 125. In Clay County, 18 students are enrolled in the virtual school—all in AP courses that otherwise would not be available to them. A blended virtual approach is also being used to provide Cisco instruction to students and give them an online opportunity to gain certification. In addition, the West Virginia Virtual School provides credit recovery courses through the OnTargetWV program to help students at risk of dropping out of school complete their educations and earn a diploma. The classes, piloted in 2010-2011 and in 2011-2012, give high school students the opportunity to recover lost credit through flexible scheduling and online coursework. During the pilot, student enrollment in the West Virginia Virtual School increased from 1,980 to 2,083. While the West Virginia Virtual School has been well-received by students, parents and local school districts, it is but one of the many tools the West Virginia Department of Education has to address the personal learning needs of students. For example, Learn21, an online learning resource, can supplement both virtual and traditional learning with engaging educational activities that can be easily accessed via Internet-ready devices regardless of where a student is located. Embracing the anytime-anywhere personalized learning concept is what 21st century education in West Virginia must be about for the benefit of all students. By Jorea Marple, Ed.D.
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Two redundant 1.5 million-watt substations.
Creating a Cybercommute Data Center Provides Storage and Disaster Recovery for West Virginia Businesses and Beyond
The buzzword “cloud” has many businesses and organizations curious about storing their data securely off-site and using the processing power of a supercomputer rather than being constrained to the limitations of their own in-house equipment and infrastructure. Nationally, data centers are ranked by the Uptime Institute on a scale of Tier 1-4, with Tier 1 carrying the least demanding data loads and Tier 4 the heaviest. West Virginia happens to have an 80,000-square-foot data center that will soon meet the criteria for all four tiers—and it’s the only facility to do so within the state and the surrounding region. Alpha Technologies, an information technology solutions firm based in Hurricane, WV, recently purchased this fully redundant facility. Currently going through an upgrade to Tier 4 standards, Alpha aims to welcome traffic both in and outside of the state via a cybercommute for data storage and disaster recovery. While there are many elements required to make an endeavor like this a success, the data center is already equipped with the necessary means to bring this goal to fruition. Advantages are many with the facility that once served as Union Carbide’s global data center. Alpha’s new flagship for data storage boasts 99.999 percent uptime and is supplied by 3 megawatts of power using redundant substations fed by four diverse sources. This means that in the unlikely event of an electrical outage, battery backup would keep business or government systems up and running for the four and a half seconds it takes the two 1,500-horsepower diesel engines to take over. These units power 1-megawatt generators that are fueled by an 8,000-gallon diesel tank on-site. One generator at 40 percent power will run the facility; the second generator is on standby. In addition to backup support capabilities for electrical outages, multiple voice and data carriers with diverse underground paths into this facility allow customers to connect to the Internet
Two 1-megawatt diesel generators.
and business offices throughout the world. With this line of defense and diverse data feed, a derecho like the one that hit Charleston earlier this summer seems much less of a threat to keeping business and government systems online. Another incentive for drawing in out-of-state data customers is the safe geographic location of the center in West Virginia. The data center is located at the West Virginia Regional Technology Park in South Charleston, and a derecho is one of only a few natural disasters that could strike the facility at this location. The extensive range of unique features doesn’t stop at power and carrier backup. Three industrial chillers supply a constant, cool temperature to the 61,000 square feet of existing raised floor space. One chiller alone can cool the building, but two are kept in constant use with a third on standby. With the data center heralding extensive capacity with virtually guaranteed backup safety, it yields the capacity to bring business to the state via managed services, disaster recovery and data backup. The building currently supports more than 115 high-tech jobs and is expected to create 50 additional jobs within the next three years. This fully redundant hub provides modern components of voice and data solutions and will keep the end user permanently on the cutting-edge of technology right here in the Mountain State. By Blaine Mullins Photography by Blaine Mullins
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International Exports
West Virginia’s Mine Safety and Rescue Expertise
By Dennis Jarvis, II
When you hear the term “outsourcing,” it is usually
associated with corporations and organizations seeking cost-effective employment needs in markets outside of their region or outside the United States. The definition of this trend, however, has begun to change as the international coal industry has turned to the Mountain State for its mine safety and rescue knowledge and expertise. Two of West Virginia’s higher education institutions now share the state’s rich knowledge in these fields with the international coal industry. West Virginia University (WVU) and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College (SWVCTC) have become recognized in the Mid-Atlantic and Appalachian regions as centers of excellence for the type of training now being sought by international groups looking for information on training
programs. In some cases, they are also engaging in training at these schools. The similarities between the programs at WVU and SWVCTC go beyond the training and shared resources, such as the 5DT simulated continuous miner and truck loader. The two schools also share a bond and a mission on the mandate for training in the region of the Appalachian coal fields. Jim Dean, the director of the WVU Mining Extension Service Program, and Carl Baisden, the director of the Academy for Mine Training and Energy Technology at SWVCTC, meet on a regular basis to discuss innovations and training needs in the mining industry to ensure the mine safety training the two schools offer to both students and visiting delegations are in line with the current trends of the mining industry.
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Carl Baisden, the director of the Academy for Mine Training and Energy Technology at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, guides a visiting Chinese delegation through the academy’s facility in Logan.
“Mining is a brotherhood, a fraternity,” Baisden says. “When we talk about mining techniques and aspects of the industry, we all speak the same language.”
West Virginia University In 2009, WVU opened the Academy for Mine Training and Energy Technologies, which runs a simulated underground coal mine for the academy’s training programs. In line with the academy’s motto of “So others may live,” the WVU Mining Extension Service has worked tirelessly to train mining professionals in a variety of programs, from apprentice miner classes for surface and underground mining to advanced classes like mine foreman continuing education, diesel training and mine electrical training. Since 2009, the academy has trained more than 15,000 miners in an 80-100 mile radius of Morgantown through both the training facility and a mobile SCR (self-contained breathing respirator) training facility. While WVU doesn’t promote their mine safety training facility in Dolly Run, located in Monongalia County, the reputation of the academy has spread quickly and far beyond the state’s borders through word of mouth. The facility has hosted mining delegations from 10 states as well as a delegation from Australia and four from China. According to statistics, the Chinese mining industry is one of the deadliest in the international mining community. With an increased demand for energy and coal, Chinese mining officials have developed a new acumen for enhanced safety and mine safety rescue teams. A Chinese delegation recently toured the Dolly Run facility to study mine safety practices developed and implemented by the federal mining agencies. The ultimate goal of this fact-finding mission was to gather the best practices of the western mining industry to improve health and safety conditions in the Chinese mining industry.
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According to reports, Chinese officials were pleased with the visit. “We came here to see western technology in mine safety,” says Ma Heping, the deputy bureau chief of the Party Leadership Group. “We want to learn the technology to improve mine safety in our country.” The ultimate outcome of the sessions with the various international delegations has been two-fold: replication of the training facilities at Dolly Run in countries like Australia, as well as a new dialogue and options for improving mining technology. “The interest from the various delegations that have visited is a testimony to our program,” says Dean. “WVU is being recognized as an international leader in mine safety training.”
Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College The Academy for Mine Training and Energy Technology at SWVCTC, located in Logan, WV, offers classes for apprentice miners as well as refresher training and other federal and state required training needs for other members of the mining industry. The academy also operates as a training facility for mine safety rescue teams. The academy’s facility occupies a three-story former cold storage warehouse in downtown Logan, and each floor has been converted into training and classroom space with underground mine equipment simulation labs, a mine rescue ready room, a simulated mining environment of high and low coal seams and a mine rescue chamber.
The recent mining accidents at Sago, Aracoma and Upper Big Branch have provided the concept for the design and the implementation of the focus of training mine safety rescue teams at the academy. “After Sago and Aracoma, mine safety rescue was transformed with new equipment, new techniques and a new focus on training,” says Baisden. “We saw the need for an advanced training center for mine safety rescue, and we worked with the State of West Virginia and private companies to incorporate new training programs that would bring advanced training into areas like life support underground, the ability to extricate miners from equipment and rescue chambers.” The academy at SWVCTC has trained more than 22,000 students since coming online in 2006 and is utilized by mine safety rescue teams for training industry leaders, including CONSOL Energy and Alpha Natural Resources, as well as state and federal mine rescue teams. In the fall of 2011, officials from SWVCTC and its academy joined a delegation of mining officials and industry leaders for a tour of the mining operations in several provinces of China. The purpose of the trade mission was to promote safety equipment innovations and introduce coal mining vendors from West Virginia to China. Under the direction of Joanne Tomblin, the First Lady of West Virginia and the president of SWVCTC, an agreement was reached to provide training for Chinese mine safety rescue teams at the Logan-based facility. A different team or delegation is trained every five to six weeks. The programs focus on specific aspects of enhanced mine safety training, including real-time emergency situations in
several mining environments and hands-on learning with new and enhanced mine safety technologies and equipment, including communication and tracking systems and escape chambers. The program also helps the visiting delegations develop an understanding of emergency response and emergency management techniques, and it assists them in understanding western mine safety regulations while providing the template for development of new safety regulations for China. The academy at SWVCTC hosted one team in early September from the Shanxi Province. The delegation, consisting of mining executives, mining engineers and coal operations and safety management officials, represented a highly structured mining operation that consists of 2,000 mining operations and nearly 22,000 employees. The clear advantage of this partnership with the People’s Republic of China and SWVCTC’s academy is the ability for the staff and trainers at the academy to understand and communicate with the delegations. “Mining is a brotherhood, a fraternity,” Baisden says. “When we talk about mining techniques and aspects of the industry, we all speak the same language.” Our adopted state song, “Country Roads,” contains the lyric, “Country Roads, take me home.” These roads now bring international recognition to the dedication of our educators, our training facilities and our mine safety professionals. This is, indeed, an honor for the entire Mountain State. Photography by Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College
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No Boys Allowed! Women Networking in West Virginia
By Samantha Ricketts
In 2010, there were more than 10 million women-
owned businesses in America, according to the National Association of Women Business Owners. As that number continues to climb, it is more important than ever to support professional women not only in our country, but also in our own state. In response, a number of chambers and other groups around West Virginia have created various opportunities for networking and continuing education for women in business.
Association for Women in Science West Virginia Chapter For 21 years, the West Virginia Chapter of the Association for Women in Science has been providing mentoring and support services for women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Because there are so few women in STEM fields, the approximately 20-member group strives to bring them together and provide advice, networking and career development opportunities. The group holds bimonthly networking lunches, career development workshops and an annual outreach event for girls in middle school. Their events give members the chance to discuss issues relevant to their careers, their own research successes or challenges and help others with their challenges as well.
Elevations Professional Women’s Network In 2009, the Charleston Area Alliance and DOW’s Women Innovation Network launched Elevations Professional Women’s Network in order to connect women with the information and contacts to help them and their businesses succeed. The group holds bimonthly luncheons with speakers who update members on issues that affect their businesses and careers. They also host an annual Elevations Academy, a professional networking and development program for the state’s women, as well as various candidate forums and social events. The group boasts 100-300 members at events.
Four Seasons Women’s Conference Twelve years ago, the Four Seasons Women’s Committee was formed by the Special Projects Division of the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce to develop and plan a one-day conference each year for professional women to get together and gain knowledge from speakers in areas such as health, finances, legal matters, customer service, education, fashion, entrepreneurship, organization, safety and leadership. In addition to speakers, the conference includes interactive booths with demonstrations, health screenings and financial and educational opportunities for attendees. The forum is intended to enhance the lives and careers of local businesswomen. Each year, the conference attracts approximately 200 women with their goal of education, motivation and inspiration.
Marion County Chamber of Commerce Women’s Network Although only a year old, the Marion County Chamber of Commerce Women’s Network has goals to recognize and support the growing number of women leaders in business. The group hosts quarterly meetings and a women’s expo each June with a variety of sessions, a vendor fair and keynote speakers. The network aims to inspire younger women in the community to get more involved, stay educated about important issues and become great leaders themselves. The goal of the group is to educate, engage and empower women by providing a networking opportunity that was previously lacking in Marion County. They now have more than 100 members ranging in age from 20-70.
Putnam Chamber NOW Since 2004, the Putnam Chamber Network of Women (NOW) has been a place for professional women to grow their networks, socialize and learn. NOW has more than 60 members, and that number is constantly growing. Women working for Putnam County Chamber member businesses are invited to attend the
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Women’s Networks Across the State Association for Women in Science West Virginia Chapter Amy Keesee, Ph.D. amy.keesee@mail.wvu.edu www.hsc.wvu.edu/awis Elevations Professional Women’s Network JoEllen Zacks JZacks@charlestonareaalliance.org www.charlestonareaalliance.org
monthly meetings, as well as events for professional and personal development such as blood drives, seminars, workshops and an annual Empowering Women Conference. At these events and in the group, women are able to network with new people in similar fields, develop relationships, promote their businesses and get more involved in their communities.
West Virginia Women’s Commission Tara Martinez Tara.N.Martinez@wv.gov www.wvwomenscommission.org Women in Business Carol A. Carter, Ph.D. carterc@dewv.edu www.dewv.edu/center-entrepreneurship
Network of West Virginia Women in Higher Education
Four Seasons Women’s Conference Debbie Maynard debbie@bluefieldchamber.com www.bluefieldchamber.com
Women’s Energy Network Appalachian Chapter Erin Magee emagee@jacksonkelly.com www.womensenergynetwork.org
Marion County Chamber of Commerce Women’s Network Tina M. Shaw tms@marionchamber.com www.marionchamber.com
Women’s Network - Berkeley and Jefferson Counties Heather McIntyre heather@jeffersoncountywvchamber.org www.jeffersoncountywvchamber.org
Putnam Chamber NOW Ashley Alford a.alford@putnamchamber.org www.putnamchamber.org
Young Professional Women in Energy Amanda Marks-Cunningham amarks1@wm.com www.YPWE.org
A subset of the Office of Women in Higher Education, which is part of the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C., the Network of West Virginia Women in Higher Education was developed approximately five years ago. About 40 members benefit from the mentoring, information and support offered by the group. The network holds sessions for guidance and participates in various conferences, such as the West Virginia Community College Association/West Virginia Association of Developmental Education annual conference and the Generation West Virginia conference. Also, because the group is spread throughout the state, members meet annually by teleconference.
Network of West Virginia Women in Higher Education Elizabeth M. Belcher ebelcher@newriver.edu www.ace.edu
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West Virginia Women’s Commission Created by the West Virginia Legislature in 1977, the West Virginia Women’s Commission advocates for women and educates on women’s issues. The group consists of 18 commissioners and representatives, but its quarterly meetings are open to the public. The commission celebrates a variety of events, such as Women’s Equality Day, HI-Y Youth in Government Day and Women’s Day at the Legislature, where attendees can network, attend workshops and learn about the legislative process. The group works with businesses, government agencies and nonprofits to improve the social, economic, educational and political status of West Virginia women.
Women in Business Part of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Davis and Elkins College, Women in Business is a brand new group for any woman who would like to start a business or expand her existing business. The group offers workshops providing information and tools attendees would need in these endeavors, and they are also beginning to host monthly lunch networking events with guest speakers on entrepreneurial topics. The goal of the group is to bring women together, help them through challenges and educate and encourage them. The Women in Business organization wants to help more women develop new businesses in the future.
Women’s Energy Network - Appalachian Chapter Women are a minority in the energy industry, and the Appalachian Chapter of the Women’s Energy Network aims to
provide support, education and networking that they wouldn’t otherwise have. Although the Women’s Energy Network has been in place since 1994, the Appalachian Chapter formed just last year. With 200 members already, the group hosts luncheons with guest speakers, networking receptions and a variety of social events. They aim to provide a place to help support and promote women in their careers.
Women’s Network - Berkeley and Jefferson Counties The chambers of commerce for Berkeley and Jefferson counties have developed the Women’s Network for member businesses and their employees. Since 2010, the group has been encouraging women to participate in the community and to grow personally and professionally. Their 250 members enjoy quarterly workshops on a variety of topics and an annual conference with speakers to promote networking. Attendees have the opportunity to meet other women that they would not otherwise know and develop friendships and business contacts.
Young Professional Women in Energy West Virginia Chapter The West Virginia Chapter of Young Professional Women in Energy provides education, mentoring and networking to women in the energy industry. They aim to support and empower these women through monthly networking opportunities and educational conferences throughout the year. The West Virginia group, when combined with the Pennsylvania crowd, has more than 500 members, and it only recently formed in January 2012.
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High-Tech
ASSETS Revolutionizing the Industry West Virginia’s Greatest Protecting Your Digital Footprint
Moving the Mountain State Forward
Technology and Research and Development
By Jennifer Jett
It’s not uncommon to hear outsiders say “Why
West Virginia?” when they learn that a national or international company is relocating to or expanding into the Mountain State. Nor is it uncommon for a Mountaineer’s response to be “Why not West Virginia?” West Virginia is a state of great potential riding on the strengths and determination of a mass of ExEdge intellectual, creative and entrepreneurial individuals. West Virginia NASA’s IV&V division resides here. The FBI’s was the first National Crime Information Center calls Clarksburg state to launch an Industries home. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, of the Future Toyota Motors and even Amazon have all discovered program in the benefits of conducting business in West Virginia. 1997, and now The business community is constantly changing, virtually all states have one. though, and for West Virginia to continue to compete and find success in the global market, the Source: http:// technology and research and development sectors iofwv.nrcce. wvu.edu/ must remain strong. For this issue, we have reached publications/ out to readers across the state to share with us the presentations/ challenges they see in these two industries and to 3DCreese offer some insight into how these challenges can MetalPstn.PDF become opportunities.
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Steve Agnoli President, HGO Technology Wheeling, WV Challenge: Encouraging West Virginia companies to focus on ensuring their information technology (IT) processes and capabilities are strategically positioned to promote successful corporate growth and development of marketable products and services. Solution: Progressive companies look at IT as an asset instead of a utility, and they take a long-term view on investing in it and using it strategically, as well as utilizing it for more than just running company computers and networks. West Virginia firms should strive to utilize IT to improve how they approach client markets, how client services are performed, how product and service innovation is facilitated and how internal business processes are refined. A strategic approach to IT results in a solid, functional, integrated and scalable business that grows efficiently and profitably and is differentiated from its competitors by its attention to client needs and an ability to proactively address market changes. The smart use of IT and related business processes in regional companies will allow them to compete and succeed in the overall marketplace and distinguish West Virginia as a place where tech-savvy companies do business.
Dr. Orlando McMeans
John Sammons
Vice President for Research and Public Service; Dean and Director of the Douglass Land-Grant Institute, West Virginia State University Charleston, WV
President, Appalachian Institute of Digital Evidence; Assistant Professor, Marshall University Huntington, WV
Challenge: Raising the graduation rate of West Virginia students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to adequately meet the work force demands of the state’s increasingly technology-driven economy. Solution: West Virginia must increase its investment in K-12 and baccalaureate STEM education programs. These efforts, both inside and outside of the classroom, place emphasis on improving youths’ skills sets and increasing their understanding of and interest in career opportunities connected to STEM. Initiatives should include innovative classroom teaching, after-school and special-interest topic sessions and immersion in programs such as camps, workshops and other experiential learning opportunities during the summer months. Additionally, West Virginia must invest in undergraduate internship programs that promote increased student-faculty interaction. Specifically, these efforts should include undergraduate research experiences in which students work in laboratories under skilled researchers and professors throughout the year. K-12 youths and undergraduate students who participate in these opportunities have already demonstrated an increased interest for and participation in STEM careers.
Deana Keener President, I-79 Development Council Fairmont, WV Challenge: Connecting the corridors of education to the technology industry. Solution: Among many leaders and institutions, there still remains a mindset of hiring practices and work force development from the past century. A more proactive and engaged collaboration and less apathetic approach will close the gap and align our institutions with the work force they need to dominate. A report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce shows that West Virginia has a grade of F in the four-year degree category of meeting labor market demand and a grade of D in the twoyear category. Getting our training providers and educational institutions properly aligned and engaged with industry needs is crucial. This will provide stability and strength to our economy and make us attractive for economic development.
Challenge: Meeting the 21st century needs for the effective administration of justice. Solution: West Virginia’s citizens, businesses and organizations are awash in digital information. A staggering amount of what we do and say leaves a digital footprint of some kind. These tracks can provide invaluable evidence in both criminal and civil litigation. To ensure that justice is done, this evidence must make its way into the legal system in a validated and reliable state. All the practitioners who deal with digital evidence (lawyers, judges, law enforcement, business owners and information technology professionals) must be educated on the fundamentals. The blinding speed for technological change demands regular updated training in this area. The West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure must also be updated to address this new, critical form of evidence.
Amy Flynn Operations Manager of Bioanalytical Services, Protea Biosciences Group, Inc. Morgantown, WV Challenge: Expanding West Virginia’s technology sector into tangible, citizen-oriented areas that will immediately benefit the state economically, culturally and educationally, ultimately bringing new business to our state. Solution: We need to make research and technology fun, emphasize creativity and define technological applications that utilize current, proven techniques while encouraging innovation. Current research and technology efforts statewide should be evaluated to determine three to five main sectors of growth, and those identified should be built on strategically. We need to work with industry leaders to determine best practices for management, ways to spur improvement and methods to build effective leadership into organizations. Fully funded pay-it-forward programs that provide necessary educational opportunities and job training to current and future employees would further encourage employee development and retention across technology sectors while eliminating the gap between education and employment. We should also incorporate economic milestones into technology projects and efforts such that the impact is felt immediately by revenue to the organization, region or state.
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Dr. Fred King
Bill Gardner
Interim Vice President for Research, West Virginia University Morgantown, WV
Director of Information Technology, Flaherty Sensabaugh Bonasso PLLC Charleston, WV
Challenge: Assisting hightech startups who struggle to get from idea to product because late-stage investors demand to see concepts of viable projects, not just ideas. Solution: The creation of innovation garages in strategic locations around the state, financed by a specific West Virginia fund and derived from Marcellus Shale revenues or similar sources, would provide unique facilities in which eligible hightech companies could develop prototypes from vetted concepts. This would also allow the startups to forge connections with late-stage venture capital groups who would then invest in the production process. A key condition of participation by innovating companies would be that any resulting production facilities be established within West Virginia, thus creating jobs that retain the high-tech work force our universities continue to provide.
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Challenge: Meeting the information security and privacy challenges of living and working in a more connected and high-tech world. Solution: All West Virginians now live in a highly connected and highly technical world where we are all increasingly using technology in our daily personal and work lives. West Virginia needs to create an information security and privacy curriculum from middle school through college to teach students about the dangers of cybercrime and online bullying and the privacy issues related to today’s technology. Students should also be taught the basics of staying safe online, securing their personal data and the existing regulations and laws in place to protect their data.
John Dahlia
Lindsay Emery
Director of Corporate Communications, Global Science & Technology, Inc. Fairmont, WV
Business Development Manager, West Virginia University Morgantown, WV
Challenge: Finding sufficient public and private investment in the research and development of new and emerging technologies. Solution: A New and Emerging Technology R&D Task Force, made up of private, nonprofit technology leaders, angel investor experts and representatives from the state’s House and Senate Joint Committee on Technology, could create an action plan on how the public and private sector can unite to encourage further hightech R&D. As a result, a list of potential angel investors would be created. The West Virginia Development Office could hold quarterly events to bring investors to the state, showcasing various new and emerging R&D projects. Resulting legislation could give incentives to anyone who invests in R&D, creates an R&D loan and grant opportunity, offers a tax credit to public and nonprofit technology entities doing business here and creates high technology zones—a concentration of high-tech entities in a given area.
Challenge: Advancing statewide economic development by strengthening the research, innovation and commercialization partnerships between the higher education and private sectors. Solution: Research-based universities and private sector companies should pursue long-term investments in each other to spur statewide economic development. Long-term relationships will allow West Virginia partnerships in areas like energy, aerospace, chemicals and manufacturing to succeed when opportunities arise. Connecting a university’s research capabilities with the research and technology needs of industry maximizes collaborations that answer the statewide call for translational research, new funding, economic growth, post-graduation employment retention and other desired outcomes. In the current economy with decreasing federal funding opportunities, West Virginia’s universities and businesses need to actively communicate and collaborate to survive and prosper.
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The Winning Bid Government Contracting By Jennifer Jett
We all have a preconceived notion that the
presence of a needle translates into an omen for some form of pain to come. It’s for this reason we avoid flu shots, let our tetanus shots expire and shy away from the opportunity to give blood. Needles are scary. The same can be said for federal contracting, especially if you’re a business that has no experience in dealing with the federal government outside of paying your taxes. Winning a government contract means playing on a much grander scale with stricter rules and answering to a higher authority. Like needles, which prevent illness, treat disease and save lives, government contracting doesn’t have to be feared. In fact, it can be just the opportunity you’ve been looking for to grow your business. With the many needs for federal contracting— from research and development, manufacturing and technology to construction, landscaping and even dog grooming—the government relies on businesses of all sizes to provide the goods and services needed to keep this country running smoothly. According to the Regional Contracting Assistance Center (RCAC), a nonprofit organization established to assist West Virginia businesses with the government bidding process, the number of contracts awarded to existing West Virginia businesses since 1986 is 7,402 for a total in excess of $2.24 billion. The number of jobs created or retained by these contracts is 52,798. For Fiscal Year 2009-2011 alone, 121 contracts were awarded for a total of $339 million, leading to 7,984 created or retained jobs. The numbers are more than promising—they’re downright staggering. They also prove there is a profit to be made with federal contract work. The question is, how do you get from wanting to find your own success in the contracting world to actually getting there?
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Step One – The Research The key to starting any project that you have no experience with is to find someone with experience and ask lots of questions. For businesses in West Virginia who are looking to break into federal contracting, the RCAC is a choice partner. The nonprofit was developed in 1987 to improve the economy of the state by assisting West Virginia companies in marketing their goods and services to the federal government. Their main goal? To create and retain jobs in the Mountain State. “The RCAC can provide assistance in all aspects of government contracting, with the exception of the protest process, international bidding and pricing,” says Jessica Hudson, RCAC’s president. “Once a company has been awarded a government contract, we will then assist in the performance of the contract, including payment issues, performance audit assistance, registration in various databases and contract close out.” The RCAC, which focuses on helping businesses ensure they are eligible for government contract work, identifying appropriate contracts and assisting with bid paperwork, is part of a large assistance network for West Virginia businesses. Other partners in the network include
the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the West Virginia Small Business Development Center (WVSBDC), the Service Corps of Retired Executives, the Robert C. Byrd Institute and various chambers of commerce. These partners address issues such as accounting practices, marketing, networking and manufacturing. “The RCAC has helped us with finding contracts on which to bid, providing data integrity in the government’s System for Awards Management (SAM) database and providing an advertising/ communication tool to the business world,” says John Coe, senior engineer for Spencer-based Heeter Construction, Inc. “I view them as a crutch on which I can fall back if there are problems with filling out government forms, bringing our SAM records up to date and providing explanations on government requirements.” Arria Whiston, the president and CEO of Allegheny Science and Technology, says her woman-owned management and technology solutions company received help from the SBA in getting their start with Department
of Defense (DoD) contracts. “We also found experienced DoD contracting companies— Information Research Corporation and Keylogic Systems—to mentor us and partner with us.” Allegheny isn’t the only company that has utilized partnerships and mentoring to develop successful contract business. Azimuth, Inc., an electronic and software engineering and manufacturing company, scored its first DoD contract in 1990, and Azimuth’s president, Craig Hartzell, says he has frequently drawn on the help of mentors over the years to learn the ropes. “Our first mentor, ManTech International, continues to be very supportive,” says Hartzell. “The SBA, RCAC, the WVSBDC— all of these organizations helped me, and I always had the encouragement and support from every state governor, as well as Senator Robert C. Byrd, Senator John D. Rockefeller, Congressman David McKinley and Congressman Alan Mollohan. That encouragement to keep going means a heck of a lot when you are a small business fighting battles with big businesses.”
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Step Two – The Prep Work
Step Three – The Bid
A business interested in competing for—and fulfilling— government contracts must first evaluate its capabilities, financial stability and willingness to be persistent. “It’s important to realize that a government contract will not save a struggling company,” says Hudson. “A business considering government contracting needs to be both operationally and financially stable. The company should incorporate government contracting as a part of a sound business plan.” Whiston, whose company, Allegheny, has won seven contracts, says there is a high level of effort required to get organized and prepared to be eligible to bid on a contract. “Company qualifications and proposal preparation are probably the two biggest barriers to winning DoD contracts,” she says. “We overcame these hurdles by partnering with companies with DoD experience and calling out the individual DoD experiences of employees at Allegheny.” Hartzell, whose company has been named the fourth largest defense contractor in the state and the largest West Virginiabased defense contractor in the state by The State Journal for the last two years, says there are many hurdles to jump over with government and DoD contracting, like security clearances and accounting. “Our initial DoD contract was sensitive and required clearances. Accounting systems also needed to be established that would allow the government the ability to perform a thorough audit of the company.”
Once your business is incorporated, certified and prepared to operate in compliance with the federal government, it’s time to find a contract. This is where the RCAC is especially helpful. Businesses seeking government contracts must be registered in various databases that are centrally located in the government’s SAM database. The RCAC assists businesses with registration in the system and sends notifications of relevant opportunities associated with a business’s field of expertise. Once a business finds a contract it would like to bid on, the RCAC can help them determine if it is a good fit for the company. If it’s a good match, the RCAC will then assist the company with all the requirements listed in the solicitation. When it comes to completing a request for proposal, Coe says this task can be quite demanding. A request for proposal, or RFP, details how the project will be performed and the pertinent experience the bidder has, as well as the price for doing each item of work. “When developing such a presentation, it is advisable to use as much as is practical the words found in the solicitation. Be very cognizant of what is being asked and where it is being asked. If this requires repeating information, do so. Follow the direction exactly.”
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west virginia executive
Reaping the Rewards
From the Experts
When Hartzell founded Azimuth in 1990, his first contract was enough to keep the lights on and hire two people. Today, the company has 75 employees and facilities in Morgantown and Fairmont, as well as a presence in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. He says that being a federal contractor means playing by a whole different set of rules, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. “You are forced to manage programs properly because there are very rigid standards for accounting and controls,” he explains. If you’re going to survive, your quality of work must be at a very high level. Working for the government forces you to do things by the book every time and ultimately that forces you to become a better business.” When it comes to the benefits of winning federal contracts, Whiston says it allows you to control your own destiny as a business owner. “Each new DoD award has added to our company’s qualifications and ultimately opened the door to new opportunities. We have tried to grow our business by either marketing our current capabilities to new customers or marketing new capabilities to existing customers.
If you are interested in exploring the potential of government contracts, it’s important to learn from those who have been through the process and found success, like Hartzell, Coe and Whiston. One thing that Coe says newcomers to the government contracting arena need to be aware of is company cash flow while waiting for payment. “Before pursuing an RFP, you should be cognizant that this can be an expensive proposition. You need to consider the delay in payment for goods and services and prepare for the effect this will have on the company’s cash flow.” Whiston suggests getting to know local SBA representatives. “They are there to help you and can provide guidance on topics from business licenses to potential teaming partners.” She also suggests finding an experienced contractor as a mentor because they can provide guidance as well as partnering opportunities. Finally, she says you must stay aggressive in your pursuit of new opportunities and new competitive discriminators for your business. “Continuous process improvement and pursuit of new qualifications are key elements in winning government contracts.” Breaking into government contracting can certainly be challenging, but the opportunities available as a result, like revenue and business growth, are good for every West Virginia business. And what’s good for business is good for the entire state.
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Additive Manufacturing Revolutionizing the Industry 48
west virginia executive
Director of Manufacturing Arley Carpenter (left) and Production Engineer Chris Figgatt examine an object produced by one of RCBI’s 3-D printers, the Fortus 900mc 3-D production system.
A 3-D printer such as this Z Corp. 450 3-D Color Model produces a prototype in a matter of hours rather than the days required by traditional manufacturing technology.
By Charlotte Weber
Envision, if you will, a
computer-linked device that can print not a sheet of paper but instead a solid object. It may sound like science fiction, but it’s not. It’s science fact, and it’s happening every day at the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing (RCBI). Manufacturers and entrepreneurs are using 3-D printers at RCBI in conjunction
with the facility’s design software and precision measurement equipment to turn their innovative ideas into reality. In doing so, they’re utilizing a new technology called additive manufacturing that’s triggering a revolution in the way things are made. Additive manufacturing, or AM, is the addition of layer upon layer of material to build a 3-D object, whether the material is plastic, metal or some other substance. This method is radically different from traditional machining techniques that mostly rely on the removal of material by drilling or cutting or by the use of presses to bend or shape material into a desired form. While it sounds difficult, AM is still as simple as printing a report—a manufacturer or entrepreneur pulls the 3-D blueprint of the object of their choice up on their computer, adjusts the size and shape to their preference and clicks “print” to send the project to the printer. The system’s software takes cross sections through the blueprint of the object to be created and calculates how each layer needs to be constructed. The “ink” in a 3-D printer is a material that is deposited in successive thin layers until a solid object forms. Different machines take different approaches to produce the desired object. Some fashion it from metal or plastic powders. The Fortus 900mc 3-D production system at RCBI uses a filament of thermoplastic material. The machine slowly unwinds the plastic from a spool and feeds it through a moving extrusion nozzle, heating the material to melt it. It deposits the melted material in a micro-thin layer in the desired pattern, repeating the process over and over again as the object takes shape. As subsequent layers are added, the melted plastic fuses to the layers
below. In areas such as overhangs, physical supports can be added and removed later or water-soluble materials can be added and later washed away. Three-dimensional printers are far slower than inkjet printers that produce flat images on paper, but they’re faster and cheaper than machining from metal or having a prototype made by hand. Using traditional ExEdge machining techniques to build a prototype of a new Touted as the world’s first product can take days or even feature-length weeks. Using AM technology, 3-D movie, a 3-D printer can typically “Bwana Devil” produce the same prototype was released in 1952 in the U.S., in a matter of hours. heralding a boom At RCBI’s Design Works in 3-D movie labs in Huntington and production. Charleston, the computer Source: work stations supplied with http://www. SolidWorks 3-D design mediacollege. software are reserved for the com/3d/history use of clients who need to design products they envision. In addition, RCBI also offers the use of its precision measurement technology, such as FARO ScanArm, which can be used to reverse engineer a part or product. A number of clients have used the AM equipment at RCBI since it went online, finding it to be very beneficial. Zim’s Bagging in Kenova, WV, a company that produces flexible packaging, has utilized both the Fortus 900mc and the smaller Dimension 1200es to produce various components for an automated packaging system they designed. “We have been able to get many small parts that would have been either very expensive or near impossible with more conventional fabrication methods,” says Vernon McIntyre, an engineer at Zim’s.
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The Design Works labs at RCBI also offer the use of a FARO ScanArm measurement system that is used to reverse engineer a component part or product.
“From product guiding, handling and fixturing to specialized mounting of parts, the range of materials and ability to get complex shapes easily has been very beneficial.” Extreme Archery Products, based in Ashland, KY, is a frequent user of RCBI’s 3-D printing equipment. “We assist Mark Whitt, the president of Extreme Archery, with new product design and development,” says RCBI Production Engineer Chris Figgatt. “During the design process, we will often design a product one day, print a prototype overnight, assess it and then make any necessary design changes the next day.” Walhonde Tools, Inc. in South Charleston, WV, manufactures and markets patented tube and pipe alignment tools used in heavy industrial construction projects. The company recently redesigned one of its pipefitting tools and “utilized additive manufacturing to produce several prototypes that will allow us to test the form, fit and function of the final design,” reports Walhonde Production Engineer Matthew McClure.
Raleigh County Memorial Airport Beckley, West Virginia
Tri-State Coating & Machine Co., Inc. of Salt Rock, WV, has contracted RCBI to reverse engineer a variety of items that are obsolete or difficult to purchase from the original equipment manufacturer; NGK Spark Plug Manufacturing USA, Inc. in Sissonville has utilized RCBI’s 3-D printing capabilities to produce a variety of fixtures and tooling used in its automated assembly process of oxygen sensors and their components and Allevard Sogefi USA, Inc., located in Prichard, WV, used the 3-D printers at RCBI to produce prototype automotive fuel filter housings and their components. With 3-D printers having more than proven themselves in the production of prototypes, the next obvious step is to use them to turn out parts for real-world use, which is an already growing market. For instance, 3-D printers now produce the outer shells of many hearing aids that must be customized to fit each individual customer’s ear. In the future, 3-D printers could be used to output spare parts for all manner of products, meaning it would no longer be necessary to keep huge inventories of such parts. Instead, manufacturers would simply call up an image of the appropriate part on a computer screen and print out the number of products needed. The U.S. Army is even experimenting with a truckmounted 3-D printer capable of producing spare tank parts and other vehicle components under battlefield conditions, and the sky is clearly no limit for 3-D printing as NASA has already tested a 3-D printer on the International Space Station. Photography by Robert C. Byrd Institute
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West Virginia’s Greatest By Jennifer Jett
West Virginia is a small, unassuming
state, recognized around the world for its coal and natural gas and acknowledged by outdoor adventurers as one of the best locations for natural beauty and adrenaline spikes. To an outsider, these two industries pretty much sum up the State of West Virginia. What many don’t realize is the amount of groundbreaking research and development (R&D) that takes place in our Appalachian hills—the type of work used to deter acts of terrorism and support the U.S. military’s many missions. It’s true that our work force is unmatched in pride and perseverance—if they want something, they do it; if they don’t know something, they learn it. Perhaps the FBI and the U.S. military—as well as other global R&D and technology corporations who need the intelligence and manpower to make science fiction reality—see in this small, unassuming state what its own people can see so clearly: the potential. As the previous home of the Chemical Valley, we have existing infrastructure at our fingertips to assist in the research, development and testing of new products for all industries. The variables of our terrain provide the basis for a testing pad for vehicles and weapons used in the Middle East by our military. Low rates of electricity, thanks to our coal, as well as an abundance of water and forest that provide the supply of natural resources necessary for raw materials for manufacturing, are just added bonuses. Businesses and organizations from across the country and around the world have seen firsthand the potential that lies in West Virginia’s R&D and technology sectors. In honor of their presence and accomplishments since coming to the Mountain State, we wanted to recognize four R&D and technology companies that are making great strides across the industries of civilians, law enforcement and military members alike.
Aurora Flight Sciences, with a production plant located in Bridgeport, WV, specializes in the development of advanced unmanned air systems and aerospace vehicles. Known as Aurora Flight Sciences of West Virginia, the manufacturing facility produces primary subassemblies that are used by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. The FBI’s Biometric Center of Excellence and Next Generation Identification are two of the FBI’s major programs to support the growth of biometric technologies, and they are both located in Clarksburg. Twenty years after its arrival in West Virginia, the division continues to explore the use of biometric modalities— like facial recognition, rapid DNA processing and handwriting—to combat crime and terrorism. Reinforced Aggregates Company is a West Virginia business that resulted from one man’s tireless efforts to eliminate scrap tire piles as a public health problem. Sam Bonasso’s environmentally sustainable invention, Mechanical Concrete®, uses scrap tires and gravel to create nearly indestructible roads, an important asset in the mining and heavy energy industry of West Virginia. Touchstone Research Laboratory, located in Triadelphia, WV, another West Virginia-made business, is the result of Brian Joseph’s journey to apply science and creative thinking to help companies make better products. Touchstone’s most exciting product is CFOAM®, a strong, stiff, fireproof and electrically conductive material used to hurricane- and tornadoproof buildings, fireproof walls for ships, act as an energy absorber to protect structures against explosions and provide thermal protection for rockets and rocket nozzles.
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Aurora Flight Sciences is a design partner for the main rotor pylon of the Sikorsky CH-53K heavy lift helicopter.
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west virginia executive
West Virginia’s Greatest
Aurora Flight Sciences By Kevin Balsan
Aurora Flight Sciences is a leader in the
development and manufacturing of advanced Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) and aerospace vehicles. Headquartered in Manassas, VA, Aurora operates production plants in Bridgeport, WV, and Columbus, MS, and a research and development center in Cambridge, MA. Aurora found a home in West Virginia beginning in September 1994. The Aurora Flight Sciences of West Virginia (AWV) manufacturing facilities are comprised of almost 100,000 square feet of shop area designed specifically for the manufacture of precision composite (non-metallic and metallic) sheet metal components and major subassemblies. From its location at the North Central West Virginia Airport, AWV provides leading technological contributions to the Mountain State and the country. The Bridgeport facility includes a 42,000-square-foot composites building designed as a showplace for lean aerospace manufacturing featuring a 10,000-square-foot clean room, autoclaves and extensive nondestructive and 3-D inspection capabilities. “The technology Aurora brings to the aerospace industry is amazing,” says Stephanie Ross, Aurora employee and West Virginia native, “and the fact that we can make such a significant contribution from right here in North Central West Virginia is a very well-kept secret.” AWV manufactures primary subassemblies for Northrop Grumman Corporation and Sikorsky Aircraft Company, which are used by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. In addition, AWV provides fabrication on Sikorsky’s S-97 RAIDER™ next generation helicopter, as well as Aurora’s own Orion UAS. Aurora’s Northrop Grumman work share on the Global Hawk UAS began with the program in 2005 and entails all of the aircraft’s composite components—including the aft fuselage, forward nacelle, mid nacelle, aft nacelle and V-tail assemblies— except for the wing and radomes. In 2008 Aurora also became a supplier on the Northrop Grumman RQ-4N aircraft for the U.S. Navy’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS) program. The BAMS UAS program provides persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data collection and dissemination capabilities to the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force. Manufacturing these products encompasses the full spectrum of metal to composite materials and bonding technologies. Through engineering and tooling capabilities, AWV proves capable of meeting stringent tolerance requirements that enable products to be linereplaceable units, which is essential for the end user. On Sikorsky’s CH-53K heavy lift helicopter, Aurora is a design partner for the main rotor pylon, where Aurora’s responsibilities include CAD modeling, engineering analysis, tooling and tear down article fabrication. This complex structure was designed and built to withstand high temperature and vibration requirements. AWV also provides production tooling and fabrication of the external engine nacelles for Sikorsky’s CH-53K.
“Aurora is a key member of the CH-53K program team,” says Al Altieri, Sikorsky’s vice president for Supply Management. “With the delivery of the first CH-53K engine nacelles, Aurora continues to demonstrate excellence in producing and delivering high-quality composite assemblies.” Aurora’s business relationship with Sikorsky continues to grow, bringing skilled jobs to Bridgeport, WV, while providing high-quality components to our customer. Aurora is a proud member of the Sikorsky S-97 RAIDER team that is building a next-generation light tactical helicopter for evaluation by the U.S. military. As an S-97 team member, Aurora is responsible for the structural design engineering and fabrication for the aircraft’s airframes. “We are pleased to join Sikorsky’s team to develop the S-97 RAIDER prototype,” says John Langford, Aurora’s chairman and CEO. “Our demonstrated success in rapid prototyping and our experience in transitioning prototype programs into production were key factors in Sikorsky’s decision to select Aurora for this high-priority development program.” As an X2 aircraft design, the S-97 RAIDER helicopter will feature coaxial counter-rotating main rotors and a pusher propeller to provide dramatic improvements in maneuverability, hover efficiency, high/ hot climate performance and speed. In addition to flying at nearly twice the speed of a conventional helicopter, the S-97 RAIDER prototype aircraft will incorporate other key performance parameters critical to combat operations: increased maneuverability, greater endurance, reduced acoustic noise signature and the ability to operate at high altitudes. Orion is Aurora’s long-endurance UAS capable of providing extreme persistence for military application, with the ability to fly for five days with a 1,000-pound payload at 20,000 feet in altitude. Orion was competitively selected by the U.S. Air Force for the Medium Altitude Global ISR and Communication Joint Capability Technology Demonstration. The Orion fuselage is a composite bonded assembly with provisions for an integral fuel tank and landing gear attachments. With an open-architecture payload and ground station interface, the Orion UAS will provide the U.S. Air Force with flexibility to accommodate the myriad payloads suited to the Orion’s design. Aurora works closely with customers to ensure that all products achieve the desired performance requirements while providing a repeatable process. Reliability is crucial within the aerospace industry. Lives depend on the products manufactured in Harrison County every day. The work ethic and sense of pride common within the State of West Virginia is reflected by the personal commitment of AWV’s specialized engineers, programmers, technicians, operations personnel and managers, offering peace of mind through quality to all customers. Photography by Sikorsky Aircraft Company
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West Virginia’s Greatest
Federal Bureau of Investigation By David Cuthbertson
The Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) has long understood the value of using biometrics, like fingerprints and DNA, to combat crime and terrorism. As technology has advanced in recent years, the FBI has actively explored the use of additional biometric modalities, such as facial recognition, rapid DNA processing, scars, marks, tattoos, scent and handwriting. Two of the FBI’s major programs that support the growth of biometric technologies are the Next Generation Identification (NGI) program and the Biometric Center of Excellence (BCOE). Both of these are located in Clarksburg at the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division. When the CJIS Division first arrived in West Virginia more than 20 years ago, one of the staff’s main tasks was converting paper fingerprint and criminal history information into an electronic format. This was the first step to achieve the FBI’s vision for the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Established in 1999, the IAFIS is the nation’s largest electronic repository of fingerprint and criminal history records. Records in the system come from law enforcement agencies across the nation and around the globe, and are used by these same communities for identification, investigation and verification. The success of the IAFIS and the growing demand for its services paved the way for the FBI to implement the Next Generation Identification program to expand and update the FBI’s biometric services. In 2007, the FBI’s Science and technology branch established the Biometric Center of Excellence to define biometric priorities and advance new and enhanced biometric capabilities for integration into FBI operations. The BCOE actively collaborates with partners in the federal government, law enforcement, academia and industry from across the globe, and draws upon the experiences of researchers and developers who are also engaged in developing standards for reliable biometric technology. This collaborative effort identifies and bridges
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capability gaps to expand the useful application of biometrics for fighting crime and terrorism while also ensuring privacy protections. The BCOE’s recent successes with facial recognition services provide a comprehensive example of some of the steps that must be navigated to bring the advantages of new biometric technology to the front lines. Facial recognition is the automated searching of a facial image in a biometric database, resulting in a computergenerated group of facial images ranked by similarity. Images are matched by analyzing features of the face, such as the eyes, nose, mouth, skin texture and hair. The FBI’s facial recognition technology matches images by analyzing features of the face.
A few years ago, as the FBI’s facial recognition technology was being developed, the FBI expanded its training to include facial recognition, ensuring familiarity with the technology and its proper use. Last year, the Next Generation Identfication program launched a successful facial recognition pilot program, starting with a small group of agencies. Because of its success, the pilot will be replaced by the NGI’s Interstate Photo System, making facial recognition available to the nation’s entire law enforcement community in 2014. This year, the FBI began using the pilot technology to provide facial recognition services to FBI field offices nationwide. With
The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division is located on nearly 1,000 acres in Clarksburg.
this service, images of subjects who are the focus of active FBI investigations are compared against a database of facial images. The FBI’s policy is that resulting comparisons are not used for positive identification of an individual, but rather as investigative leads to point FBI agents and analysts toward information, evidence and connections that may help solve crimes. Like many new technologies, facial recognition capabilities have outpaced the development of laws and policies governing their use. In response to this challenge, the BCOE sponsored the U.S. Government Facial Recognition Legal Series and continues to champion an effort with the National Science and Technology Council to develop facial recognition guidelines. These guidelines will help law enforcement agencies establish policies to ensure a consistent level of protection for the privacy of citizens. The BCOE also plans to coordinate meetings between federal government agencies using facial recognition and privacy and civil liberties groups who are concerned about possible abuses of the technology. Facial recognition is just one of the modalities the FBI is carefully developing for widespread use. As an agency of the federal government, the FBI seeks to fully access the resources and collaborative partners who are also interested in developing tools and policies for biometric technologies in a responsible and systematic manner. The result the FBI is seeking is the same result that occurred when the CJIS Division moved to West Virginia and developed the IAFIS—reliable, timely and useful tools that can support the FBI and its partners working in the law enforcement and intelligence communities to keep our nation safe. Photography by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
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West Virginia’s Greatest
Reinforced Aggregates Company By John Bobo
“Scrap tire piles are a public
health problem. We need to eliminate them,” decreed the West Virginia Legislature in 1998. This problem was handed down to the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOT) and Sam Bonasso, who was then serving as the secretary of transportation. “Why can’t we just put these tires in the base of roads?” Bonasso had asked. In 1998 the answer he received was that it’s not technically possible because tires retain water and cause soft spots in road beds. Bonasso left the WVDOT in 2000, but the problem continued to nag him for years. So much so, in fact, that it eventually led Bonasso, a professional civil engineer, to create a new green technology for the construction industry. More than 300 million scrap tires
are generated annually in the U.S. and almost 1.4 billion globally. Bonasso knew there had to be an answer, and he was determined to find it. The answer came to him in 2004 hidden within the tire itself. “Cutting the side walls off a tire leaves a tire-tread cylinder,” he explains. “When you fill that cylinder with crushed stone, it instantly hardens and can support at least 50,000 pounds— more than two and a half times the weight of a coal truck wheel load. It’s perfect for a road base, which is why I called it Mechanical Concrete®.” Each stone-filled tire cylinder becomes a building block that can be combined with others. This U.S. patent-protected construction technology has been compared to the U.S. Army-developed geocell, which is used worldwide. A U.S. Customs Border Patrol mountain road in east San Diego County, CA, with a Mechanical Concrete base.
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Bonasso started Reinforced Aggregates Company in Morgantown, WV, to develop and sell Mechanical Concrete tire-derived geo-cylinders. Today Mechanical Concrete is used for road bases, foundations and retaining walls, as well as for stabilizing building sites and controlling erosion from storm water. To date, it’s been used as the base for several public and industrial roads from California and Arizona to Ohio and West Virginia. In 2006, the WVDOH District 4 in Bridgeport had a problem with a section of Morgan Run Road in Doddridge County, which floods three to four times per year. Searching for a solution to a true maintenance challenge, the WVDOH decided to test Mechanical Concrete. The road’s maintenance costs dropped by 75 percent, and it is still performing six years later. Other road owners have found similar savings and great performance. Near Morgantown, the MEPCO River Dock coal haul road, which has a Mechanical Concrete base, carries 300 coal trucks every day. “It’s amazing,” says Jerry Swartz, MEPCO’s Fuels and Logistics manager. “We usually add a couple of truckloads of stone a month to our road due to surface wear and deterioration. Now it’s a couple of loads every four or five months.” In the last two years, more than 700,000 coal trucks have traveled over Monongalia County roads with Mechanical Concrete bases. These roads have concrete, asphalt and stone surfaces. The roads are in excellent condition with just light surface wear. Mechanical Concrete has also been used as a road base in West Virginia’s Marcellus Shale play along the Ohio River with the same positive results. “Mechanical Concrete is environmentally sustainable, making it a natural for roads in the Marcellus play and for controlling erosion on road shoulders,” Bonasso says. “It’s truly rare to find a green product that’s also economical and rugged like Mechanical Concrete and works well on roads in the mining and heavy energy industry.” Like most new technology, Mechanical Concrete has had its share of surprises.
This Mechanical Concrete retaining wall at Triad Engineering in Morgantown eliminates interior water pressure.
“We learned Mechanical Concrete is virtually pothole-proof,” he shares. Potholes form when water gets into the stone base of a normal road and causes it to become squishy like a mud pie. When a truck runs across this squishy mud pie, the mud squishes sideways, and the asphalt or concrete surface eventually falls down. Bonasso discovered that Mechanical Concrete tire cylinders confine the stone base and won’t allow it to squish sideways—even when it’s soaked with water. The result? No potholes or ruts. Both state and federal environmental agencies are interested in promoting civil engineering uses of scrap tire-derived materials, particularly when they are buried. “The use of tire-derived geo-cylinders in Mechanical Concrete is consistent with West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations,” says Bonasso. Because of its simplicity, Mechanical Concrete is also being promoted for disaster recovery and for building infrastructure in developing countries. It creates a reliable all-weather road that’s very easy to maintain by hand or with simple equipment. “For years, the irony that I was reinventing the wheel wasn’t lost on me,” Bonasso says, “and finding the right business solution was frustrating at times. But to be able to solve realworld construction problems selling tire-derived geo-cylinders made with scrap tires today is very gratifying. I can’t wait to see the creative new ways people find to use Mechanical Concrete.” Photography by Reinforced Aggregates Company
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West Virginia’s Greatest
Touchstone Research Laboratory By Gerrill Griffith
When a little boy named
Brian Joseph began to tinker in the furnace room of his childhood home, which he referred to as his laboratory, it was the beginning of a scientific infatuation that would ultimately lead to the creation of one of West Virginia’s leading research facilities and a bold new product made from the state’s most famous natural resource: coal. Joseph had a dream of building his own innovative research facility in his hometown of Wheeling, a dream that finally came to fruition in 1981 when, with help from his mother, he created Touchstone Research Laboratory in the basement of a 100-year-old building. The aged townhouse in a rough neighborhood was an unlikely birthplace for a high-tech research facility, but the challenge stoked Joseph’s creative fire. Touchstone began its keystone focus of applying science and creative thinking to unravel perplexing industrial problems and help companies make better products, save established jobs and create new ones. “Industrial problems can be paint not sticking on a car body, a break in a huge roll used by a paper company or the failure of a rocket,” Joseph explains. “Finding the answers to problems requires patience, flexibility, experience and a commitment to results.” Joseph’s aggressive leadership led to a prestigious challenge—improving the quality and reliability of many materials used in America’s space shuttle. Among hundreds of other industrial problem-solving jobs, Touchstone took over research operations of Shenango, a Pittsburgh-based foundry operation, and helped major American corporation 3M develop new metal matrix composite materials and fibers. The laboratory eventually acquired the research and development facilities of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel and installed an experimental foundry and hot and cold rolling mills to develop new aluminum alloys. The dream had grown into an entity that was twice listed by Inc. magazine as
one of the 500 fastest-growing companies in the United States. It was time for a new chapter in the book of Touchstone, though—one that meant accepting the challenge of creating its own technologies and products. Joseph and his team of researchers came up with a series of new products for America. Touchstone products have been recognized three times by R&D Magazine with its famous R&D 100 award, the “Oscar of innovation,” which recognizes America’s most technologically-significant new products. The products include MetPreg®, a fiberreinforced aluminum material; NxSEM™, a system for testing very small devices or materials inside a scanning electron microscope and CFOAM®, a new material Aaron Stimmell checks the precision of a CFOAM aerospace composite mold with an instrument sensitive to one thousandths of an inch.
made from a natural resource that has long personified West Virginia itself. Joseph says uses for strong, stiff, fireproof and electrically-conductive CFOAM include hurricane- and tornadoproof buildings; fireproof walls for ships; energy-absorbing structures to protect against explosions; thermal protection for rockets and rocket nozzles. “We are finishing the expansion of the world’s first plant for the production of carbon foams,” Joseph says. “We have an acre of manufacturing capacity under roof where we can produce up to 35,000 cubic feet of foam per year.” Joseph says the leading application for CFOAM carbon foam is for the molds used in the production of carbon fiber
Chris Cox programs a five-axis computer-controlled router capable of machining parts up to the size of an automobile.
composite parts in the aerospace industry. Touchstone ships molds to most of the major aerospace companies in the world. “It is amazing that next-generation airplanes are built with molds made from West Virginia coal,” Joseph says. “Our coalbased products have been to Iraq, flown on the fastest vehicles in existence, been used as rocket nozzles and insulation and made parts for the largest sailboat race in the world. It’s amazing what coal can do.” Joseph created an aggressive vision for the company, including a plan to spin out new companies in the Mountain State that will manufacture the products in Touchstone’s innovation pipeline. The first will be a composite mold enterprise that Joseph calls Touchstone Advanced Composites. A second business on the Touchstone launching pad is its CFOAM business. “West Virginia exports coal at 25 cents per pound,” Joseph says. “In three manufacturing steps, we can convert our coal into high-tech aerospace products that make a difference not only in the success and profitability of hundreds of large and small companies but in people’s lives as well.” The innovation pool of Touchstone Research Laboratory is deep. Over the past 10 years, Touchstone has averaged about one new patent application per month in a wide array of disciplines. “The future challenge for Touchstone,” says Joseph, “is to convert all these innovations into businesses that bolster the economy of West Virginia while continuing to invent the future.” Photography by Aaron Stimmell and Ron Snow
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HighT ech Assets West Virginia Industry Leaders By Kensie Hamilton
When people think of West Virginia,
the high technology industry and the advances in research and development may not be the first things that come to mind. It is the impact these industries are having on our state, though, that are propelling West Virginia into the next generation and a global market. West Virginia is blessed to have not one but two technology parks—the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation (WVHTCF) and the West Virginia Regional Technology Park (WVRTP)—and both are making great strides to better not only our state but the world.
For this issue of West Virginia Executive, we sat down with James Estep, the president and CEO of the WVHTCF, and J. Phillip Halstead, Ph.D., the executive director and CEO of the WVRTP. Estep walked us through the development and strategic planning that has taken place over the last 12 years to help make the I-79 Technology Park one of the best in the nation. Halstead showed us how he has made great strides in growing Charleston’s new technology park since taking over a little more than a year ago. These two men have used their respective tech parks to show what can be accomplished when the public and private sectors work together.
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“The I-79 Technology Park represents one of the most important resources for North Central West Virginia’s economy and future competitiveness. So much value has been built— especially in the last few years. It is imperative that the momentum be maintained and investments be made.” —James Estep, West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation
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James Estep President and CEO, West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation
WVE: When did the I-79 Technology Park open and what was the main drive or purpose for its opening? JE: The I-79 Technology Park was first conceptualized in mid-2001 after an extensive strategic planning process. These efforts concluded that a wellplanned and manageable infrastructure development effort was critical to building a technology-based economy in North Central West Virginia. Focusing these development efforts in a specific location such as a technology park provided the best framework for achieving this objective. The West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation began both master planning and property acquisition over the next few years, ultimately resulting in the tech park we have today. The tech park is critical to the successful diversification of the existing regional economy with a technology sector because it demonstrates quality and capability through the existing infrastructure and facilities, as well as capacity and scalability through the 400+ acres and the master plan. Phase I of the four phases is nearly complete, and it provides definitive proof that even the most advanced technology programs can be supported at worldclass levels. WVE: When did you become president and how would you describe the state of the tech park then as compared to now? JE: I became the president and CEO of the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation in 2000. At that time, the organization only owned approximately 26 acres that served as the location of their headquarters, the Alan B. Mollohan Innovation Center. The innovation center provided office space to various technology companies and housed the organization’s small business incubator.
WVE: What has been the most interesting achievement you have seen since you took over as president? JE: Recruitment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the park in 2010 marked a critical milestone for the tech park. It was very important because it brought with it significant infrastructure upgrades and international notoriety. As of the end of 2012, NOAA will have spent more than $50 million in establishing an incredibly advanced telecommunications and electrical infrastructure at the I-79 Technology Park. While the infrastructure was put in place to support NOAA-specific programs, it has the added benefit of creating this capability for the entire 400-acre park. The NOAA programs include a supercomputing center and one of the most advanced satellite ground stations in the world. The supercomputing center, called the Environmental Security Computing Center (ESCC), was designed and built to support multiple supercomputers. This infrastructure also happens to make the I-79 Technology Park one of the most attractive locations for data centers in the world. The satellite programs, namely the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series program, also known as GOES-R, and the Joint Polar Satellite System are two of the world’s most important satellite efforts for providing timely and accurate climate and weather data to North America. Again, the infrastructure was designed and built to support multiple ground station efforts, making the park an ideal location for several potential future satellite programs. WVE: Describe for us the economic impact the tech park has on both the region and the state. JE: A few years ago, the Anderson Economic Group conducted a study of the impact of North Central West Virginia’s technology sector. The study noted that in the I-79 Technology Corridor approximately 11 percent of all employees work in what can be described as the technology industry. The report noted that these employees accounted for 19 percent of the region’s total payroll and that “on an annual basis, normal operating expenditures by the technology
industry in North Central West Virginia have a $5.2 billion economic impact on West Virginia.” The current economic impact is significant, but the potential impact represented in the tech park is many times more. It is important to point out the impact is not just with the technology companies themselves. There has been several hundred million dollars invested in the facilities and infrastructure just in Phase I of the park. There are three phases still to come that will easily represent more than a billion dollars for the construction industry. WVE: What is your strategic plan for growing the tech park? JE: The strategic plan for the tech park is centered on the continued retention and recruitment of anchor tenants, which are similar to existing tenants such as NASA, NOAA and Mon Power. We consider these tenants anchors because they not only employ many people but they also conduct a significant amount of contracting. This contracting opportunity attracts businesses who want to bid on this work. These
businesses need space and resources that drive the growth of the rest of the park. Currently, there is only one building pad left to develop in Phase I of the park. Phase II is mostly ready to go with just a few infrastructure enhancements needed. However, fully realizing the potential of the other three phases of the park will require significant investment by the State of West Virginia. The I-79 Technology Park has been very fortunate to have been supported by the late Senator Robert C. Byrd and former Congressman Alan B. Mollohan. The park has also been fortunate to have attracted NOAA, which made significant infrastructure investments, but the park has reached a stage of evolution in which West Virginia must invest if the growth is to continue. Therefore, our strategic plan includes an extensive effort to convince the State of West Virginia to make these investments. The strategic plan calls for program enhancements to support the business sector in the park. For example, expansion of
the INNOVA Commercialization support program is a high priority. Providing structured resources to bring innovation to the market is another critical element of successful economic diversification. All of the states surrounding West Virginia are making huge investments in this area. It is mandatory for West Virginia to invest as well if it hopes to compete in the future. WVE: What is the one thing you want the business community to know about the tech park? JE: The I-79 Technology Park represents one of the most important resources for North Central West Virginia’s economy and future competitiveness. So much value has been built—especially in the last few years. It is imperative that the momentum be maintained and investments be made. We now have an incredible leverage position for the recruitment of high-impact businesses and federal operations. Both government and business must come together with a sense of urgency to fully maximize this opportunity before it evaporates.
AN EDUCATED WORKFORCE.
A STRONGER ECONOMY. It’s a simple fact — West Virginia needs more college graduates. Economic projections indicate that by 2018 more than 49 percent of jobs in this state will require education or training beyond high school. But only 26 percent of West Virginians have completed an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. To grow our economy, we must work together to ensure that all West Virginians have the opportunity to get the education and training they need to be successful, productive citizens. That’s why West Virginia’s colleges and universities are offering programs to help adults return to school to earn a degree while balancing life and work responsibilities. To learn more, visit the state’s free college- and career-planning website at www.cfwv.com.
College Foundation of West Virginia Pictured: Amy from Fairmont, WV
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“It is a truism that ‘economic development’ is a team sport. For the tech park to continue to succeed, we need broad-based support from all sectors of the community.” —J. Phillip Halstead, Ph.D., West Virginia Regional Technology Park
J. Phillip Halstead, Ph.D. Executive Director and CEO, West Virginia Regional Technology Park
WVE: When did the West Virginia Regional Technology Park open and what was the main drive or purpose for its opening? PH: The tech park started in 1949 when Union Carbide Corporation, a chemical products company, located its worldwide research operations on the hills overlooking its South Charleston plant. The tech park ultimately became the home to some 3,000 research scientists, engineers and technicians who developed thousands of chemical innovations and patents, many of which have been translated into the products we use today. The Dow Chemical Company bought out Union Carbide in 2001, and the property became the West Virginia Regional Technology Park on December 15, 2010, when the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (WVHEPC) accepted the site and its remaining laboratories and office buildings from Dow on behalf of the State of West Virginia. Today, the driving purpose of the tech park is to create good paying jobs and prosperity for the Kanawha Valley and West Virginia. WVE: When did you become president and how would you describe the state of the tech park then as compared to now? PH: When I started as executive director and CEO on September 1,
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2011, the tech park had momentum that had been developed by then-Governor and now Senator Joe Manchin, former WVHEPC Chancellor Brian Noland, current Chancellor Paul Hill, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and a host of other leaders. This momentum was characterized by $59.5 million in investment being committed to the tech park, primarily for the refurbishment of key buildings and the laying of plans that have already resulted in numerous achievements. WVE: Describe for us the economic impact the tech park has on both the region and the state. PH: From day one, the tech park started paying dividends for economic development in our state. The state’s actions preserved 550 high-paying, highquality jobs in West Virginia that pay an average of $81,900 in salaries and wages. The economic multiplier of this retention, as detailed in a report by Battelle and CH2M Hill, includes contributing an additional 1,096 jobs and generating a total of more than $15 million in tax revenue annually for our state. Still, it is the long-term potential for creating an innovation and technology development driver for West Virginia that stands to offer the highest economic development payoffs for our state. In the past, the Dow South Charleston Technology Center and its predecessor, the Union Carbide Technical Center, were key sites in which industry research and development (R&D) took place that fostered the rise of West Virginia’s leading industry clusters in chemicals, energy and materials, but the world has changed and the days of the large corporate laboratories have passed. To grow our economy, we need
a new, diversified engine that promotes a broader culture of R&D collaborations across industries, universities and federal laboratories and a focused program to promote the commercialization of new products and the startup of new companies. Otherwise, the global competitiveness of our state’s chemical, energy and materials industries in the years ahead is at risk. Today, the broad chemical, energy and materials industry complex in West Virginia, together with related engineering, commercial R&D and testing, comprises more than 49,000 jobs or 8.6 percent of private employment in our state. These jobs pay an average salary of $69,481 compared to $35,189 for all private sector jobs in West Virginia. WVE: What is your strategic plan for growing the tech park? PH: The tech park is guided by a 20page Strategic Vision and New Business Development Plan that I wrote after talking with scores of community leaders. In a nutshell, the strategy is to position the tech park and its unique chemical innovation and pilot plant facilities as “the world’s friendly front door to chemical, energy and materials innovations.” The vision is to go “back to the future” and use the tech park’s acreage and its 800,000 square feet of offices, laboratories and pilot plants to recreate an innovation factory modeled on the former Union Carbide Technical Center. Turning this vision into reality is the job of staff, allies and a nine-member board of directors who are stewards of the tech park. This visionary team is working to mobilize a diversified multi-tenant research, development and commercialization park that will comprise a community of innovation.
Already existing in the tech park are 240 chemical workstations with vented fume hoods and four large-scale pilot plants for scaling up production to industrial quantities. These assets are the tech park’s unique selling proposition. Virtually every chemical company and university in the world is a potential user of the tech park’s research and pilot plant scale-up facilities. As a collaborative alliance, the tech park staff is working with a team of allies to achieve this vision: West Virginia Development Office, Charleston Area
Alliance, West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, Mid-Atlantic Technology Research and Innovation Center, Chemical Alliance Zone, TechConnect West Virginia, The Real West Virginia Foundation, Polymer Alliance Zone, area commercial real estate brokers and several trade and professional associations. WVE: What addition to the tech park has had the biggest impact on the park’s growth? PH: The biggest employment boost to the park has been the opening of Kanawha
Valley Community & Technical College with its 105 faculty and staff members and 1,700 students who started classes in August 2012. WVE: What is the one thing you want the business community to know about the tech park? PH: It is a truism that “economic development is a team sport.” For the tech park to continue to succeed, we need broad-based support from all sectors of the community. Photography by Tracy Toler
Educational Facility Design for Academic Excellence Huntington, WV | www.etarch.com
Campbell Elementary School | Raceland, Kentucky
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States Shaping the Economic Future Innovation Works is the single largest investor in seed-stage companies in this region and one of the most active in the country.
By Dan Berglund
With all of the uncertainty surrounding
our global and national economy, now is an opportune time for states to reevaluate their efforts and better position their approach for long-term growth and prosperity. Amid the economic disruption, state leaders and practitioners are afforded a rare opportunity to step back and take a bigger picture view: to reconsider where they are headed, determine if they are on the right path and, if not, figure out how best to get there. Activity to foster tech-based economic development is robust across the nation, and many states continue to see impressive returns from strategic, long-term investments in science, technology and innovation and from initiatives to encourage entrepreneurship and job growth. States that have yet to take a comprehensive approach in supporting emerging technology sectors risk being left behind, as their counterparts are building the capacity to harvest and encourage innovation through meaningful partnerships with universities, industry and other stakeholders. Successful models and creative approaches to growing regional economies are happening right in West Virginia’s backyard. Neighboring states Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland have put into place statewide programs designed to build world-class research capacity, support early stage capital formation and develop an entrepreneurial culture that is shaping the economy and generating jobs and wealth. Ohio’s approach to supporting entrepreneurs in six regional networks throughout the state has helped create a climate that fosters and attracts technology companies and outside investment. Through the Third Frontier initiative, which provides funding to organizations and public-private partnerships for matching research and development (R&D) grants, technology commercialization and entrepreneurial support, regional economic development groups such as JumpStart, CincyTech and TechColumbus are helping grow high-impact companies with great success while also establishing their regions as knowledge hubs. The six programs under the Third Frontier’s Entrepreneurial Signature Program have created more than 3,700 high-wage jobs and leveraged $1.2 billion from a state investment of $115 million.
Ohio gained support for the initiative by going straight to the voters, who have twice approved bond measures to fund the Third Frontier initiative in recognition of its ability to diversify the state’s economy and create jobs. Most recently, voters approved a $700 million bond issued in 2010 to extend funding through 2015. These investments are responsible for creating more than 88,000 high-wage jobs across the state. Additionally, the initiative has created, attracted or capitalized more than 800 companies. Pennsylvania also has a long history of supporting tech-focused companies through its statewide Ben Franklin Technology Partners program. As one of the nation’s longest-running technology-based economic development programs, Ben Franklin makes investments to support startups, entrepreneurs and established manufacturers with a 3.5-to-1 return for every state dollar invested. More importantly, the organization has helped transform a state previously reliant on heavy industry into a diversified economy. Its established statewide network brings together the best talent, ideas and ExEdge technologies to create an environment Ohio Third where companies can create high- Frontier is an wage jobs and develop new, innovative internationally recognized $2.3 products and processes. One of the Ben Franklin centers, billion initiative that supports the regional public-private partnership technologyInnovation Works (IW), has received based economic national recognition for its role in development. improving southwestern Pennsylvania’s Source: http:// economy. IW has developed a team of development. seasoned technology industry veterans ohio.gov and early stage capital experts to work with companies and help researchers commercialize technologies. IW invests capital, business expertise and other resources into high-potential companies with the greatest likelihood for regional economic impact. Those companies have been a magnet for creating thousands of new jobs and attracting followon capital to the region—more than $1 billion since the seed fund began in 1999. IW is the single largest investor in seed-stage companies in this region and one of the most active in the country.
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State-supported programs in Maryland also provide good examples of successful approaches in leveraging assets to commercialize technologies that lead to job creation. The Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program (MIPS) uses a well-established and successful model for university-industry collaborations by providing funding, matched by participating companies, for university-based research projects that help companies develop new products. MIPS-supported products have generated more than $21.6 billion in sales, added jobs to the region and infused state-of-the-art technology into the global marketplace. Maryland also heavily invests in programs that support product development in early stage companies. Under the Maryland Technology Transfer and Commercialization Fund, companies can receive up to $75,000 to defray direct costs of developing technology in collaboration with a federal laboratory or university. The program leverages $43 for every $1 invested and helps make companies attractive for follow-on funding. States and regions that have been successful in encouraging economic growth through science, technology and innovation share several common characteristics. First, their approaches have been customized to the unique assets, strengths and culture of the region; second, committed leadership from state government, the private sector and higher education is essential and third, all stakeholders recognize that this approach requires a long-term investment. This is a pivotal time for states to take a new direction, and with the right approach they can capitalize effectively on new opportunities and lay the foundation for future growth. ď Ž
Protecting Your Digital Footprint Wittingly or unwittingly, we document almost everything, and those charged with keeping us safe and seeing that justice is done can no longer ignore this reality.
By Jill McIntyre and John Sammons
During the 1980s, with
the sudden accessibility of microprocessing, computer use—once reserved for government and industrial applications—exploded into the mainstream. Individuals purchased computers for research, programming, gaming and word processing. In the 1990s, as technologies advanced and the Internet grew, computers became less a novelty and more a necessity. Individuals began to rely on them as a source of up-to-the-minute information, such as stock prices, maps and news, and as a platform for consumeroriented software like Quickbooks™, which is used for managing small businesses and household affairs. As the century turned, more and more Americans were carrying their computers around. Desktops gave way to lighter and skinnier laptops. For those who had a computer at home and in the office, it became convenient to replace laptops with smartphones, which were later improved greatly by tablets. Yes, private enterprise has been on the road to computerization for decades. What has crept up on us as a society—what has beguiled and captivated us almost without our knowing—is the computerization of our nonbusiness existence. With a powerful processor, plenty of hard drive space and a good connection, we are suddenly able to do without the things we once considered necessities: radio, television, newspapers, phone books, maps, letters, dating, shopping, literature and photographs. All of these we make our own today through individual interaction with a computerized device, and many of us have one device at home, one at work and at least one that is mobile. These changes have come upon us so subtly, it is no wonder we do not recognize that nearly everything we do leaves a digital footprint that is trackable and traceable in ways never before imagined. Wittingly or unwittingly, we document almost everything, and those charged with keeping us safe and seeing that justice is done can no longer ignore this reality.
According to the annual cybercrime report by Norton, an anti-virus software producer, 71 million people in the United States were victims of cybercrime in 2011. In the same year, it is estimated that 1.8 zettabytes of data were created or replicated, enough to fill 57.5 billion 32GB iPads, which would stack into a mountain 25 times higher than Mount Fuji. The sheer volume of electronically stored information and the blinding speed of these changes are staggering. The Appalachian Institute of Digital Evidence (AIDE) is an educational institute formed in West Virginia to provide training and research to practitioners and stakeholders who deal with digital evidence on a regular basis. AIDE’s target audience includes lawyers, judges, ExEdge digital forensics and information security professionals and corporate information The term “digital footprint” technology personnel. Founded in describes the 2009 by representatives from Marshall trail you leave University, Jackson Kelly PLLC and in cyberspace Flaherty Sensabaugh Bonasso PLLC, and on any form of digital AIDE proposes that digital evidence communication proficiency is a necessary prerequisite through e-mail, to the effective administration of justice, texting, blogging public safety, homeland security and the and social networking. security and well-being of our companies, Source: agencies and organizations. AIDE has three working groups— http://www. netlingo.com/ Digital Forensics, Information Security word/digitaland Electronic Delivery—and encourages footprint.php collaboration across the disciplines, serving as a support network and resource for professionals in their effort to keep pace with technology. The institute held its first annual conference in July 2010, and the event has grown each year in size and stature. In addition, AIDE has put on a number of ancillary educational programs and has an active social media presence, including Facebook and Twitter, and a strong student group at Marshall University.
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Engineering Surface mine applications, NPDES permitting, 401/404 permitting, geologic modeling, reserve analysis, environmental liability.
Monitoring Benthic assessments, fisheries assessments, habitat assessments, water quality monitoring, water quality treatment.
Mitigation Site evaluations, mitigation proposals, mitigation banking assistance, natural channel design, wetland delineation, wetland design.
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GIS analysis and development, database design, native iPhone and iPad application development, web development.
Digital Forensics Digital forensics has a wide variety of applications. Many people immediately associate it with child pornography and identity theft. In reality, it is so much more. Any criminal case, regardless of the charge, could contain digital evidence. Beyond criminal litigation, digital forensics is used in civil cases, the military and intelligence communities and administrative actions. Digital evidence in one form or another is in the news daily. Seal Team 6 not only eliminated Osama Bin Laden, but they also collected bags of valuable intelligence from his house, including hard drives, thumb drives and CDs.
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Information Security While there are many hacker conferences, AIDE is the only conference that bridges the gap between the front-line information security professional and the academic community. The information security working group of AIDE is composed of professionals in the public and private sectors, and their goal is to bring together top researchers to share knowledge and to promote the field of information security with conferences and interactions with professionals in overlapping fields such as digital forensics and electronic discovery. The group also seeks to educate the general public on information security topics.
Electronic Discovery Keepers of the judicial system—lawyers and judges alike—are completely enamored with the technology that improves our daily lives such as the Internet, computers and mobile devices like cell phones and tablets. All too often they do not understand the basics of digital evidence in a controversy or courtroom. Left unresolved, what some might see as a minor issue to be left to experts can become a serious obstacle to the administration of justice. From the simple to the complex, AIDE offers e-discovery education and resources for lawyers and judges and the clerks and legal assistants who work alongside them. From abstract legal concepts to the nuts and bolts of whom to interview, what to ask, how to avoid spoliation, how to think strategically and why one might handle digital evidence one way as opposed to another, AIDE champions the appropriate consideration and use of digital evidence in court.
Making the Cyberworld Safer Over the years, AIDE has brought quality local continuing education to hundreds of professionals who do not have the budget or the time to go to other conferences. The institute has been able to attract nationally recognized industry “rock stars” to inspire and share knowledge, making AIDE an excellent investment for students and professionals alike. The successes, however, go beyond academic exercise. Through connections made at AIDE events, federal and local law enforcement have successfully collaborated on a child pornography case. AIDE has provided cybersafety education to Richwood High School, held a digital forensics camp for Mingo County 4-H members and administered digital forensics training for West Virginia prosecuting attorneys and the National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators. AIDE representatives traveled to the Commonwealth of Virginia to teach basic digital evidence principles to substitute judges in the district as well as the juvenile and domestic court systems. The institute truly exists to make a difference in the lives of individuals, litigants, professionals working in law and industry and the public at large.
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GOES-R The Next Generation of Weather Monitoring
The GOES-R satellites will provide continuous imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s Western Hemisphere.
By B.D. Calandrelli
Construction is nearing completion
in Fairmont, WV, on a key component of the ground station command and control system for the next generation of weather monitoring. The effort is called the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) program, and it is the next generation of geostationary weather satellites, scheduled to launch in 2015. The program is a collaborative development and acquisition effort between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The GOES-R satellites will provide continuous imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s Western Hemisphere and space weather monitoring. It will be the primary tool for the detection and tracking of hurricanes and severe weather and provide new and improved applications and products for fulfilling NOAA’s goals of water and weather, climate, commerce and ecosystem.
The GOES-R program is managed by NOAA with an integrated NOAA-NASA program office organization, staffed with personnel from NOAA and NASA and supported by industry contractors. The program is co-located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center with critical operations in Fairmont. GOES-R is composed of the GOES-R program office and two integrated NOAA-NASA project offices: the Flight Project and the Ground Segment (GS) Project. The GOES-R series will maintain the two-satellite system implemented by the current GOES series, and the GOES-R operational lifetime will extend through December 2027. NOAA is developing a state-of-the-art ground system that will receive data from the GOES-R spacecraft and generate real-time GOES-R data products. This is accomplished via a ExEdge core set of functional elements (mission The first management, product generation, product meteorological distribution and enterprise management/ satellite, TIROS infrastructure), an antenna system and a I, was launched by NASA on product access element. April 1, 1960. The GS will operate from two primary locations: the National Satellite Operations Source: http:// www.lib.noaa. Facility (NSOF) in Suitland, MD, and gov/collections/ the Wallops Command Data Acquisition TIROS/tiros.html Center (WCDAS) at Wallops, VA. A third operations facility in Fairmont will serve as the Remote Backup (RBU) in case of a systems or communications failure at either or both of NSOF and WCDAS.
The Robert H. Mollohan Research Center has three GOES-R antenna sites in the I-79 Technology Park. www.wvexecutive.com
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2012
Derecho By Samantha Ricketts According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a derecho is a widespread wind storm with fast-moving rain showers or thunderstorms that lasts a relatively long amount of time. It tends to only do damage in a straight path, but that damage is similar to a tornado’s. It includes at least 240 miles of destruction and winds over 58 mph.
In 12 hours, the storm traveled approximately 700 miles. It arose from elevated thunderstorms over Iowa and developed from there into the extreme weather West Virginia residents observed. In some areas, high temperature records were broken and gusts of more than 90 miles per hour were measured in accordance with the storm.
The term “derecho” is a Spanish word that means direct or straight. It was first used in this context by University of Iowa physics professor Dr. Gustavus Hinrichs in the American Meteorological Journal in 1888.
The last time a derecho of this magnitude hit the Mountain State was in April 1991, when it traveled all the way from Arkansas. Two people died, 86 were injured and 200,000 were without power in West Virginia during that event.
Derechos occur most often in warm weather, and their high winds appear so quickly that it is often difficult to plan before they arrive. They can cause fallen trees and power lines, structural damage to houses, overturned vehicles and rough, dangerous waters and flooding. The Ohio Valley/Mid-Atlantic derecho that occurred on June 29, 2012, caused widespread power, Internet and phone outages throughout our area from Cincinnati to Washington, D.C. It produced the highest recorded winds at several points, including Huntington, WV. A total of 5 million people, with 670,000 in West Virginia, lost power during the storm, several were injured and 22 were killed. It took more than a week for power to be restored to those affected.
Young Guns are accomplishing great things in West Virginia Wells Fargo Insurance is proud to support this year’s Young Guns who are making a difference in our businesses and communities. Wells Fargo Insurance Services of West Virginia, Inc. Beckley 304-252-6375 Martinsburg 304-262-9109 Bluefield 304-327-3421 Morgantown 304-598-5678 Charleston 304-346-0611 Wheeling 304-232-0600 Huntington 304-697-2900
Products and services are offered through Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc. and Wells Fargo Insurance Services of West Virginia, Inc., non-bank insurance agency affiliates of Wells Fargo & Company. Products and services are underwritten by unaffiliated insurance companies except crop and flood insurance, which may be underwritten by an affiliate, Rural Community Insurance Company. Some services require additional fees and may be offered directly through third-party providers. Banking and insurance decisions are made independently and do not influence each other. © 2012 Wells Fargo Insurance Services of West Virginia, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Located in Fairmont, the primary function of the RBU facility will be to support contingency operations and perform all of the critical functions of NSOF and WCDAS through the production and distribution of life and property products. The RBU will provide product generation for all key performance parameters. The RBU will also serve as a backup during system/equipment testing or maintenance. Three new 16.4-meter antennas will be constructed at the RBU and will be compatible with existing GOES satellites and operate continuously for the life of the GOES-R series. The GOES-R Ground Segment will receive the raw data from GOES-R series spacecraft and make it useable for further processing. The GS will also make these products available to users in a timely manner consistent with the GOES-R latency requirements. Level 1b data from each instrument and Level 2 data from the Geostationary Lightning Mapper will be distributed to the hemisphere by means of spacecraft relay as GOES-R Rebroadcast (GRB). Level 0 data will be provided to the Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System for archival storage, which is also partly under development in West Virginia. The Harris Corporation’s Government Communications Systems Division of Melbourne, FL, is developing the GOES-R GS. The 10year contract calls for Harris to design, develop, test and implement the core GS functional elements. Harris was also awarded a separate 10-year contract to supply the ground antenna system for GOES-R. The contract includes design, manufacturing and testing of six new antennas and upgrading four existing antennas at the three ground station facilities. Harris, under the core GS contract, will integrate the antenna system into the core GS. Solers, Inc. of Arlington, VA, is developing the Environmental Satellite Processing and Distribution System, which provides the GOES-R access subsystem functionality required for terrestrial, near-real time distribution of higher-order GOES-R products. Located in Suitland, MD, the NSOF will house the majority of GOES-R mission operations. The key functions of the Ground Segment will be performed here. The majority of operations and product staff will also be housed at NSOF. Four existing 9.1-meter antennas will be upgraded for compatibility with GOES-R. These antennas will maintain compatibility with existing GOES satellites and will operate continuously for the life of the GOES-R series. Located on Wallops Island, VA, the WCDAS will be the primary site for space-to-ground radio frequency communications. Level 1b data will be processed at WCDAS to produce GRB for satellite uplink. WCDAS will also provide uplink to the satellites to support the Unique Payload Services. Three new 16.4-meter antennas will be constructed at WCDAS and in Fairmont. They are designed to withstand sustained winds of 110 mph—the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane—and survive (in a stowed position) gusts of up to 150 mph, or a Category 4 hurricane. These antennas will be compatible with existing GOES satellites and will operate continuously for the life of the GOES-R series. Photography by West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation and National Weather Service
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Around the State Innovations Compiled by jennifer jett
TechConnect West Virginia Teams Up with Others for Innovation Adoption Program
SITE TECHNOLOGY Providing the Tools to Revolutionize Your Construction Workflow
With a renewed and growing focus on manufacturing in the state and nation, TechConnect West Virginia is teaming up with the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing (RCBI) at Marshall University on a new program in conjunction with Innovation Works of Pittsburgh designed to increase manufacturing jobs and productivity. The Innovation Adoption Program (IAP) will help eligible manufacturing companies in the state develop new products or processes in order to make them more competitive and accelerate business development and growth. “In southwestern Pennsylvania, where this program originated, a wide variety of firms have utilized the IAP to develop new products, improve sales and increase revenues,” says Anne Barth, executive director of TechConnect. “Manufacturers participating in the program have improved their bottom line and stayed competitive, and we expect to see similar results in West Virginia.” Each firm selected for the IAP will receive technical support from a center of excellence, such as RCBI. IAP funds and technical assistance will enable these companies to have access to rapid prototyping, design, testing and analytical capabilities. Project funding is capped at $25,000 and will require a match by the manufacturer.
INNOVA Commercialization Group Invests in Tech Park’s PolyPlexx
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INNOVA Commercialization Group, an initiative of the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation (WVHTCF), is proud to announce it has made an investment of $253,500 in the West Virginia Regional Technology Park’s PolyPlexx, LLC. PolyPlexx, LLC, is a spinoff of the Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research and Innovation Center (MATRIC) formed in July 2005 to develop, patent and commercialize high-performance, clear polyurethane technology. INNOVA has been working with PolyPlexx in order to validate its market and develop its business model. “We are so pleased with the success of PolyPlexx,” says INNOVA Director Guy Peduto. “The polymer technology they have been developing is second to none. They clearly fit within our mission as a business support service, seed and early-stage investment capital program dedicated to creating successful entrepreneurs and new ventures.” INNOVA has provided a host of technical and business-related expertise to PolyPlexx. Most notably, INNOVA has funded three independent market research studies for PolyPlexx since 2007. “We are so grateful for the assistance INNOVA has given us,” says PolyPlexx President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Pauley. “Thanks to their support we have been able to target our unique capabilities and products to potential customers around the world. We anticipate much success with our stateof-the-art ViziPlexx™ portfolio of products.” ViziPlexx is a series of three product lines that possess excellent clarity and impact resistance but display unique physical property differences.
The support for PolyPlexx is also a show of support for the West Virginia Regional Technology Park in South Charleston. “We are excited to see growth and success in the tech park,” Peduto says. “We welcome and gladly support innovative companies like PolyPlexx, LLC, and others who are doing business in the state.”
IntelligentSimulations Receives Research Grant to Develop Virtual Patient IntelligentSimulations has received support from the National Science Foundation to further develop a virtual patient known as “AI Patient” through a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant of $456,657. The simulation program is intended to help medical students refine listening and rapport-building skills by interacting oneon-one with the virtual patient. A student asks questions, and responses from the virtual patient depend on specific inquiries, along with how and when questions are asked in an interview. If the student asks wrong or inappropriate questions, the patient will respond accordingly. The technology can also be used to improve personal interactions in sectors including social work, human resources, law enforcement and the military. “Given that this platform will closely approximate a natural conversation experience, this technology will help users pay closer attention and communicate better,” says Vic Baker, co-founder of IntelligentSimulations. “We’re glad the National Science Foundation recognized its potential, given that only around 3 percent of SBIR projects receive second phase funding.” The Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research and Innovation Center and others will help in development of the virtual patient software.
Wheeling Jesuit University Challenger Learning Center Connects with India The global reach of the Challenger Learning Center at Wheeling Jesuit University recently extended to a new school in India. Through video conferencing, 30 teachers at Epistemo Global School (EG) in Hyderabad, India, took part in the Moon, Mars and Beyond e-Mission™. The teachers connected at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time with Kathleen Frank, assistant director of the Challenger Learning Center and head of the e-Mission™ program. In Moon, Mars and Beyond, students play the role of specialists at mission control helping NASA find and rescue a lost spaceship that is orbiting the outer planets. The students must use a variety of math skills to locate the ship. This mission prepared the teachers for future missions with their students and the Challenger Learning Center. Epistemo Global is the flagship venture of Samaikya Educations, a team of entrepreneurs, academicians and technocrats with a vision of providing world-class, holistic education. The school has about 200 students and 30 teachers. Its sister school, Vikas— The Concept School, is expected to connect with the Challenger Learning Center as well in the future. Frank says the teachers dressed in traditional Indian attire for the mission because they felt it was such a special occasion.
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They also decorated the room with Moon, Mars and Beyond materials. “This new school is energized to do great things,” Frank says. “All participants in the actual mission were very enthusiastic and gave rounds of applause at every reading. Their gratitude was genuine and heartfelt. They were all very excited to have this educational opportunity with us.” Halasyam Ravichandran, principal of Epistemo Global, offered high praise for the event in an e-mail to Frank after the meeting. “The teachers of Epistemo Global had an incredible experience working with Commander Frank, and probably this is the best training they have had ever since the inception of the school. We really enjoyed those rare space videos that made the project so close to reality. The teachers rediscovered their innate talents, and the teamwork no doubt improved their interpersonal skills in a tremendous way. EG salutes the dedication of the staff at Challenger, who took the pains to conduct the entire program flawlessly at the wee hours of the day.”
Teachers at the Epistemo Global School in Hyderabad, India, participate in the Moon, Mars and Beyond e-Mission.
India is one of 15 countries to which the Challenger Learning Center has expanded its e-Mission™. In these distance learning videoconference simulations, students connect with a flight director at the center and use their problem-solving, math and science abilities to work their way through a scenario fraught with crises. Each year more than 750 video connections are made to classrooms around the world.
The Challenger Learning Center is one of 48 centers worldwide established by the Challenger Center for Space Science in memory of the space shuttle Challenger. More than 30,000 students fly missions each year either at the Wheeling facility or through distance learning. The center has been honored for nine years at the annual national awards conference in three categories: Most Students Served, Most Missions Flown and Most Teachers Trained.
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Global Science & Technology Awarded National Mesonet Program Task Global Science & Technology, Inc. (GST) is proud to have been awarded a task order to continue and expand the National Mesonet Program for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS). The task order has a maximum value of $9.67 million over a one-year period of performance under the NOAA Scientific and Technical Support Services Next Generation Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (SciTech NG IDIQ) contract. The Sci-Tech NG IDIQ is NOAA’s largest scientific and technical support services contract designed to be used throughout the agency. The National Mesonet Program is a network of existing nonfederal surfacebased observation networks, called mesonets, located throughout the United States. These mesonets are both fixed as well as mobile. The provision of meteorological observations and associated metadata to NWS helps to improve forecasts and warnings for severe weather within local NWS field offices and achieve effective collaboration among disparate network operators to promote NOAA’s objective of a weather-ready nation. GST and its alliance of universities and weather companies have been performing work on the National Mesonet Program for three years. Under the new task order, GST will continue to leverage existing nonfederal environmental networks to supply observation data to improve the prediction of high-impact, local-scale weather events. The work on the National Mesonet Program will continue to be managed out of GST’s West Virginia division in Fairmont. “We are extremely pleased to have been selected by the National Weather Service to serve our nation with such an important mission as the National Mesonet Program,” says GST President Chieh-san Cheng. “There is heightened priority of obtaining observation data at the local scale that can help save lives, protect property and reduce economic impacts. GST recognizes the importance of the mission and is very proud that our alliance will be providing critical observation data to the government.”
The fixed mesonet platforms GST will be working with are located across the nation in the following states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia. “We’re also pleased that the NWS will continue to utilize our innovative Mobile Platform Environmental Data (MoPED) observation network,” says Cheng. MoPED is the collection of observation data acquired from commercial vehicles that operate on major highways and delivery routes between and around metropolitan areas in the U.S. While the vehicles are traveling, they are taking weather observations. The new task order also places emphasis on emerging technologies that detect temperature, wind and moisture in the lower atmosphere. Increased sampling of
the lower atmosphere will improve data sets that initialize predictive weather models.
West Virginia’s Bunseki Software Authority Provides Unique Litigation Services Software litigation teams are flooded with discovery materials containing evidence to support their legal cases. Bunseki Software Authority provides tools and services to process large volumes of data in order to reveal arguments that otherwise remain hidden. As a result, a client’s arguments are strengthened with irrefutable, empirical evidence. “Our approach at Bunseki addresses two primary goals,” explains Bunseki Software Authority President Martin Greenman. “First, our software tools attack the mountain of data to reveal important information otherwise missed by human review. Second, the legal team is given the strategic advantage of timely, relevant information.” With Bunseki, litigation strategy, settlement negotiations and scheduling of depositions can be fast tracked, providing a significant advantage over the opposition.
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The technology behind Bunseki is what makes the service different. “We have a proprietary software tools suite that pre-analyzes the case-related materials,” says Greenman. “These tools generate objective metrics from software, software artifacts and documents. The result is a prioritized report of relevant items to be reviewed by the legal team’s expert witness.” By focusing on identified items of relevance, the expert’s time is better spent. In addition to their software tools suite, Bunseki offers expert witness services to clients. Their experts have a diverse array of software technology experience. “Our experts are vetted based on their knowledge, integrity and past experience,” says Greenman. “They leverage objective metrics and independent analysis to strengthen their reports and testimony.” Bunseki, headquartered in Fairmont, WV, combines its proprietary software technology with experienced software experts to offer unique services to an industry in need of comprehensive, irrefutable results.
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The ribbon cutting to open the DHG SmartRoom was officiated by (l-r): Lance West, Marshall University Foundation; Bob Simpson, Norman Mosrie and Rick Slater of Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP; Matt Turner, Marshall University, and Dr. Deanna Mader, interim dean of the College of Business.
Marshall University Opens New DHG SmartRoom Marshall University recently hosted the grand opening of the Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP SmartRoom, the most technologically advanced room in the school’s College of Business. Marshall received a gift of $150,000 from the certified public accounting firm of Dixon Hughes Goodman (DHG), designated toward renovation of Room 106 of Corbly Hall on Marshall’s Huntington campus in May.
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Rick Slater, managing partner of DHG, says his firm’s continuing investment in Marshall University reflects its desire to ensure that the university is able to attract top talent in the fields of accounting and business. “As we’ve seen big changes in business and technology, our partners have become even more passionate about making an impact on campuses through our footprint,” Slater says. “This investment helps to ensure that the students of the College of Business at Marshall University are being trained the right way to go into the competitive, professional work force. We hope to make this room a model for even more SmartRooms in the business school.” “Our students today can expect the very latest in technology when they make the move to Marshall University from high school,” says Marshall President Dr. Stephen Kopp. “We are committed to advancing powerful learning experiences for our students both within and outside the classroom. We’re deeply thankful to Rick Slater, Dixon Hughes Goodman and our other loyal alumni who see the need for infrastructure investment on our campuses and help make these cuttingedge tools available to both students and faculty. Ultimately, our students are the greatest beneficiaries of these investments and the capabilities they provide.” The room, which will be known as the Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP SmartRoom, features a 24-inch, multi-touch Smart Podium Display from Smart Technologies; dual 80-inch LED flat-panel displays and high-density wireless services. In addition, the room is furnished with new seating and tables with capacity for 58 students, as well as updated lighting controllable by zones.
Davis & Elkins Names Director of Institutional Research Lindsey Graham, an instructor of sociology at Davis & Elkins College (D&E), has been appointed to serve as the college’s director of institutional research. “I’m delighted to serve as the director of institutional research at D&E and grateful for the opportunity to be able to do this important work at the college level,” Graham says. “I’ll also be teaching students, in some ways, about what I’m doing.” In her new role, Graham will collect, analyze, report and warehouse both quantitative and qualitative data specific to D&E. “It’s a broad category of work done at all colleges and universities,” Graham says. “The information is used for campus decision-making at all levels.” Graham explains that, overall, various parts of the information she gathers will be used in the current academic year “to see how we can improve and prepare for accreditation.” Graham also has plans for other projects throughout the school year. Among these is the formation of an institutional review board made up of faculty members, students and community members who will review research proposals in order to safeguard the rights of research subjects.
Comcast Launches Xfinity® Home Across West Virginia to Provide Remote Monitoring and Access Comcast recently announced the completion of its launch of Xfinity® Home across the company’s West Virginia service area. Xfinity Home offers traditional home security components, like
police and fire alarm protection backed by 24/7 professional monitoring, as well as the ability to remotely adjust digital thermostats, turn lights on or off and watch secure live streaming video from wireless cameras while away from home. The service also comes with the Xfinity Home app, which is available for free on Apple’s iTunes App Store and Google Play for Android. First available in July to West Virginia customers in the Bluefield, Huntington and Martinsburg areas, including Berkeley, Cabell, Jefferson, Mercer, Morgan, Putnam and Wayne counties, Xfinity Home is now also available in the Weirton, Wheeling, Morgantown and Fairmont areas, including Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Monongalia, Marion, Taylor, Preston and Mineral counties. “Xfinity Home brings digital home monitoring to a new level,” says Mitch Bowling, senior vice president and general manager of New Businesses for Comcast Cable. “It comes with a range of broadband-based technologies that empower customers to stay better connected to their home virtually anytime, anywhere.” Xfinity Home offers consumers the ability to create personalized settings that can do things like provide real-time e-mail or text alerts when doors open or close or when motion detectors report activity occurring inside or outside the home. In addition, the service comes with a tablet-like touch screen with a menu of widgets that allow access to the latest weather, news, traffic and sports scores. In addition to 24/7 professional monitoring, Xfinity Home provides customers with the ability to watch live streaming video of their home via wireless cameras; access security controls remotely
304.925.7050 3908 MacCorkle Avenue • Charleston, WV 25304 www.wvexecutive.com
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Members of West Virginia State University’s award-winning student chapter of the American Chemical Society.
via a Web portal or the Xfinity Security app for the iPhone or Android devices; manage home utilities like digital thermostats and lights and have more peace of mind since both battery and cellular backup helps ensure customers remain fully protected even in the event of a power outage.
West Virginia State University Student Chemistry Group Wins Outstanding Chapter Award West Virginia State University’s (WVSU) student chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) has received an Outstanding Chapter Award for its 20112012 activities. The group is also receiving Green Chemistry Chapter recognition for the third year in a row. The group was praised for their outreach efforts by award judges, with reviewers citing the impressive number of activities being conducted from a school the size of WVSU. Only a small number of chapters in the nation receive the Outstanding Chapter rating. The student chapter was re-established in 2009 by Dr. Micheal Fultz, assistant
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professor of chemistry, after more than 15 years of dormancy. After starting small with five to six students, recent meetings have had as many as 20 students interested in the outreach efforts of the group. “The ACS students are quite busy in their outreach work,” says Fultz. “We are taking the university into schools on a regular basis to enhance science education from kindergarten through 12th grade.” The group hosts educational programs for schools throughout Kanawha County that include lectures on topics like green chemistry, as well as hands-on activities. They have worked with such groups as
the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and they take part in National Chemistry Week, Earth Day and blood drives.
Wesleyan Student Involvement Sparks Creation of a Virtual Campus Tour Choosing a college can be a hard decision, especially when your college of interest is a day’s drive away. It is difficult to miss school, work, social events and life in general to drive eight hours for a one-hour tour of a college. This was the inspiration for senior Justin Frye’s idea to create a virtual campus tour of West Virginia Wesleyan College. “I had been on other schools’ Web sites and saw they had virtual tours, and I wondered why we didn’t have one,” says Frye. “With students coming from eight and nine hours away, it’s hard for them to want to visit a campus they have never even seen. The virtual tour will allow those students to get a first-time glimpse of our campus, and that may entice them to visit in person. Plus, I love Wesleyan, and I really wanted to show off our campus.” With the help of New Perspective of Pittsburgh, Wesleyan launched its first online tour of campus on the school’s Web site in October. This online view of Wesleyan is the perfect opportunity for prospective students who otherwise could not visit campus to do so from the privacy of their own homes. With audio and video prompts at locations such as the Wellness Center, the Virginia Thomas Law Center for the Performing Arts and the David E. Reemsnyder Research Center and information hubs for the many other stops on campus, this interactive look at Wesleyan is a vital tool not only for the recruitment of students, but also in maintaining alumni ties to the school. “Our alumni enjoy utilizing the latest technology and will find the virtual tour
informative, as they can see what is new on campus in addition to those places that were special to them when they were students,” says Kristi Wilkerson, director of Alumni Relations. “Alumni can show others the virtual tour as they assist with student recruitment, especially with legacy students.” The virtual tour, however, is more a testimony to the level of investment that Wesleyan students have in their school. Not only is Frye the catalyst for the virtual tour project, but he also assisted in gathering data, writing copy and appearing onscreen as a talent in the project, along with junior Kim Stephens. His active role proved very fundamental in getting the project off the ground. “When Justin came to us with the idea for a virtual tour, we were very excited,” says John Waltz, director of Admissions. “At Wesleyan, we always greet student ideas with enthusiasm. We had been looking for ways to cater to international students who can’t make a visit while also enhancing online content to entice more in-state and out-of-state campus visitors. This concept matched our goals perfectly. I’m proud to say that Justin has been involved from beginning to end in seeing this important project become a reality.” Frye is excited about having a hand in this project, as well. “Seeing my idea come to fruition was amazing. I never imagined this would turn out to be such an elaborate and impressive project.” He hopes the project will allow prospective students to see themselves at Wesleyan.
The grant is part of the Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUI)/Community and Technical Colleges (CTC) Incubator Grants Program, designed to foster stronger research and collaboration among PUIs and CTCs. The grants provide funding to PUI and/ or CTC faculty to enhance student training and experiences in nano- and bio-technology to build the work force in these developing fields. Awards are based on collaborative potential, outside funding potential, matching the granting organization’s technical or educational goals, the presence of a CTC partner and quality of the research/education plan. Each incubator grant is renewable for two years with a showing of adequate progress in year one, meaning that the total value of the grant could be $100,000. Dr. Michelle Easton, dean of the UC School of Pharmacy, says, “We are thrilled with Dr. Kaushal’s grant award. The research in which he is involved is a wonderful example of the many exciting things happening at the UC School of Pharmacy. As we continue to strive to become a school of national prominence,
National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day Odyssey Comes to Morgantown West Virginia University (WVU) students, staff and faculty were the first in the nation to experience the 2012 version of a popular introduction to alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles. The National Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AVF) Day Odyssey, an alternative fuel awareness event, was held on October 18 with a special event preview on display on October 12 at the Mountainlair.
From one Young Gun to another,
Congr atulations Class of 2013 Services
University of Charleston School of Pharmacy Receives Renewable Grant for Research University of Charleston’s (UC) School of Pharmacy has been awarded a $50,000 renewable grant from the Division of Science and Research of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. The grant is for Dr. Gagan Kaushal’s research related to development of a transdermal patch to treat lower back pain. The title of the project, in which Kaushal is the principal investigator, is “Transdermal patch development of capsaicin using genomic approach for treatment of chronic low back pain.”
professors like Dr. Kaushal are paving the way. The goals of the grant, to enhance student training in nano- and biotechnology, as well as to grow and sustain statewide research collaboration among institutions, align well with our school’s mission of advancing the profession of pharmacy through research. In addition to exposing our students to research, the project outcome, pain relief, will provide value and benefit to those we serve in the Appalachian community and beyond who suffer from chronic low back pain.”
Brokerage • Leasing Appraisal Services • Auctions Litigation Support
Todd Goldman VP, Goldman Associates Young Guns Class of 2012
1014 Bridge Road, Charleston, WV 25314
(304) 343-5695 Jay Goldman, Broker
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National AFV Day Odyssey events are showcases for alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles that allow attendees to learn more about these vehicles through exhibits, demonstrations, lectures and classes. At the Mountainlair, the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium, a WVU program, displayed its cutaway model of a Toyota Prius, the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Training Educator and a Chevy Volt, which is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The Monongalia County Technical Education Center (MTEC) provided its electric vehicle, “Sparky,” a 1993 Mazda MX3 converted to electric drive by students at MTEC. Chesapeake Energy featured a compressed natural gas Chevy Tahoe and spokesperson Phillip Pfister, winner of the 2006 Met-Rx World’s Strongest Man competition, was available to answer questions. The Blue Bird Corporation exhibited one of its propane-powered school buses. The event also featured information tables from the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC), the West Virginia Energy Club, WVU’s WECAN and Alternative Fuel Solutions of Pennsylvania. In addition to learning about alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles, those attending the Mountainlair preview had the opportunity to register to win an Apple iPad. Participants who completed a survey about the event were eligible to win, and the winner was announced on October 18. “Use of the Mountainlair gives us a great opportunity to connect with the student body,” says Al Ebron, NAFTC executive director. “It allows for a discussion of what we at the NAFTC
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are about and what we are doing with National AFV Day Odyssey. Through this event, we hope to help all of our attendees understand the importance of alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles and how they can help make a difference in reducing our nation’s dependence on petroleum.” The national event, established in 2002 and occurring every two years, is coordinated by NAFTC. It will be conducted in more than 160 locations across the country. In celebration of the event’s 10th anniversary, this year will be the largest nationwide event since Odyssey’s inception. It will also include international locations in Gothenburg, Sweden and Paris. NAFTC established the event to promote the use of, and provide education about, alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles. The October 12 preview was sponsored by the West Virginia Division of Energy, Chesapeake Energy and Alternative Fuel Solutions of Pennsylvania.
Lumos Networks to Build New Path from Atlanta to Ashburn Lumos Networks, a leading provider of fiber-based products across the Mid-Atlantic region, has announced plans to interconnect its network through a key provider with a significant presence in the Southeastern United States. Together, they will build redundancy to the heavily-traveled route between Atlanta and Ashburn. This key route will provide carriers and large bandwidth data center users with an alternative to the I-95 corridor, which has
experienced impairments and outages throughout its history, most recently earlier this year as a result of a number of weather-related events. This new route will provide those needing to connect to these markets with a more reliable, redundant and robust path. “We’re excited to provide more reliability to those seeking to reach Ashburn from Atlanta and points in between,” says Joe McCourt, executive vice president and chief revenue officer. “Interconnecting two major Internet cities takes our already robust network to a whole new level. Today, we can provide speeds to 10Gb wavelengths, and larger configurations are expected in the next few months. We expect to see benefits far beyond these markets as a result of this project.” With the building of this new route the two providers are essentially increasing the size of the highway, thus increasing traffic and reducing network contention. As a result, Lumos Networks anticipates significant wholesale, enterprise and higher educational opportunities. Project completion is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2012.
NASA IV&V Team Receives Agency’s Space Flight Awareness Award The NASA Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) program in Fairmont, WV, has been honored with NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Award for its contribution to mission critical safety of the final space shuttle flights. NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA), along with the IV&V program in Fairmont, played a critical role in achieving the strategic and critical goal of flying the space shuttle safely until its retirement. The space shuttle IV&V team provided invaluable support and assurance to ensure the success and safety of the crew and the national asset known as the space shuttle during its final year of operation. During 2011 alone, the shuttle’s IV&V team supported safety and mission success reviews for three missions—STS 133, 134 and 135—that ultimately provided vital data to agency decisionmakers regarding go/no-go for flight of this aging fleet. The shuttle IV&V team’s commitment to excellence on these final flights of the shuttle was representative of the team’s consistent track record over many years of support to the shuttle program. In addition, the shuttle IV&V team was tasked with generation of a closeout report to capture and record the results and lessons learned of the shuttle’s IV&V efforts spanning more than 20 years. This deliverable, which was provided to the OSMA as well, will have a profound impact from several perspectives, including future human spaceflight development and IV&V efforts, as well as serving as a federal archive of efforts on a national asset. The shuttle IV&V team delivered on all of their commitments and accomplished their efforts at 2.7 percent under planned costs. The shuttle team’s initial plans called for work on only two shuttle flights, but a third shuttle flight was added. Despite the fact that the shuttle IV&V team was ramping down from a personnel perspective, the team was able to respond accordingly and adjust their plans and associated efforts to successfully contribute to the safety and mission success of all three shuttle flights.
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Young Guns 2013 The Next Great Adventure BY Kensie Hamilton
THE YOUNG GUNS honors program began in 1999
and has highlighted some wonderful West Virginians in that time. One of my favorite things about how we profile these impressive leaders is getting to take them on location for their photo shoots, and this year’s location was certainly our most adventurous. What began as Class IV River Runners, Mountain River Tours, Rivermen and Songer Whitewater has become a world-class vacation resort at Adventures On the Gorge (AOTG). Adventures On the Gorge is located in Fayetteville, a small Southern West Virginia town that has been recognized by Budget Travel magazine as one of the “Top 10 Coolest Small Towns in America.” AOTG is the largest aerial adventure outfitter in the U.S. It is also a top-notch whitewater rafting company that tours America’s best whitewater, the New and Gauley rivers. With all of these natural resources in their backyard and more than 20 activities to choose from, it’s easy to see how AOTG has become a full-service, all-inclusive resort. During our four-day Young Guns photo shoot adventure, we were able to experience and shoot parts of AOTG in a way no one else ever has, and I must thank everyone at AOTG for their patience and assistance. Where else in West Virginia, or the United
States for that matter, would you have four aerial adventures at your fingertips? While we might have received some funny looks from the casually dressed vacationers and staff while we toured, shot and climbed the TreeTops Canopy Tour, BridgeWalk, the TimberTrek obstacle course and the Gravity Zip lines with Young Guns in suits, we definitely drew attention when our fearless photographer, Tracy Toler, climbed off the catwalk of the New River Gorge Bridge to be able to get that perfect shot. Much like AOTG is one of the highlights of the state’s tourism industry, the 2013 class of Young Guns is a bright spot in West Virginia’s business community. They are a shining example of what can be accomplished with a little West Virginia ingenuity. It is an eye-opening experience each year when we make the final selections, and I promise this is no easy task. We are proud to showcase leaders from across the Mountain State’s many industries. At West Virginia Executive we like to dream big and we like to encourage others to do the same. It is with great pleasure that we present the Young Guns Class of 2013 who aren’t afraid of a little adventure or to take a leap of faith along the way to their success. Photography by Adventures On the Gorge
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Allison Ballard at Canyon Falls Swimming Hole.
Allison Ballard Partner, Assurance Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP
“Non incautus future,” or “not unmindful of the future.” —The Washington and Lee University motto
What is your favorite…? Color Purple Food Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Cheetos Cheese Puffs Book “Charlotte’s Web” Movie “Steel Magnolias” Smell Cinnamon buns Sports team St. Louis Cardinals
By Samantha Ricketts
Allison Ballard loves a challenge.
She has proven this by working hard to become a partner at Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP, where she enjoys confronting and solving problems. “My profession has so much variety that I have challenges daily, some big and some small.” Charleston is lucky that this Illinois-native moved here when she was 10 and decided to return later in life to pursue a career in accounting. Ballard left the Mountain State to go to college at Washington and Lee University in Virginia and later lived for several years in Washington, D.C., but she couldn’t stay away from West Virginia. “I wanted to live in a place where it didn’t take me an hour to drive 10 miles to work,” she says. “Besides, both my husband and I grew up in the area, and living in Charleston also meant we could both be close to family.” Ballard praises Charleston as a place with culture, art and shopping like a big city, but without all the chaos. “West Virginia is a place where you feel a true sense of community and can really make a difference and get involved,” Ballard shares. She volunteers her time with several efforts to help children, including the Junior League of Charleston, Daymark, Inc. and the Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council. Ballard’s passion for helping children stems from being a former girl scout, a problem solver and a mother of three, and she sees her interest in helping today’s youth as just one more challenge to conquer. Ballard’s love of a challenge can also be seen in her hobbies. She once hiked through lava fields in Hawaii with her husband, and she enjoys running the many trails in West Virginia. In fact, her dream is to run a race in every state. “The original goal was to run a marathon in every state, but after training for one, I think I will leave that goal more general as it is not really something I’d like to do 50 times.”
Out of all these challenges, however, Ballard says the hardest is balancing her time among her family, her career, her hobbies and her volunteer work. “This is a challenge that I face every day, and while I wouldn’t say I’ve overcome it, I think I manage it OK,” Ballard says. She attributes her success in this area to her support system, which includes her husband and her parents. “I believe the key is to communicate my time constraints, prioritize what is important and have realistic expectations of myself for what I can reasonably get accomplished.” Ballard’s Dixon Hughes Goodman partners, Bob Simpson and Sandy Thomas, have also helped her in her life—by challenging her. “Bob always had a way of challenging me to figure out the answer for myself or would have a wonderful perspective on how to approach a difficult situation in a practical manner,” Ballard shares. “Sandy has mentored me in more ways than I could count, from advice on parenting and work-life balance to setting a wonderful example as a successful woman in a largely man-dominated field.” She explains that without them, she would not be where she is today. “I consider my greatest success thus far to be becoming a partner at an accounting firm the size of Dixon Hughes Goodman,” she says. “Not everyone accomplishes this goal in my profession, and I am honored that the other partners in the firm felt confidence in my skills and abilities to ask me to become an owner.” Besides the generosity and support of her partners, Ballard attributes her success to hard work, dedication and teamwork. “I believe you need all three together to be effective and successful. Hard work brings the effort to get things done, dedication brings the willingness to get things done and teamwork brings together your resources to accomplish a common goal.” Photography by Tracy Toler on location at Adventures On the Gorge
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Amy King Condaras on BridgeWalk.
Amy King Condaras Member, Spilman, Thomas & Battle, PLLC
“Success is a journey, not a destination.” —Arthur Ashe
What is your favorite…? Color Chartreuse Food Dark chocolatecovered almonds TV show “Law & Order” Movie “Love Actually” Smell Gardenia Sports team West Virginia University Mountaineers
By Samantha Redd
There’s always been something
professional about Amy Condaras. In preschool, she preferred the newspaper to children’s books and named her doll Miss Magillicutty instead of something more age-appropriate like Susie. While that sense of professionalism might have been bumped to the back burner on occasion when she took to the football field with the neighborhood kids or dressed in the coordinating Halloween costumes her mother made for her and her two siblings, it never really left her. In fact, it only seemed to grow with her. Why else would a junior high student claim she wanted to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company when she grew up? Condaras, a cum laude graduate of the University of Richmond and the Washington and Lee University School of Law, was the type of student who was driven to stand out among her peers. “I was always the student that didn’t just want to get an A on a social studies project,” she remembers. “I wanted to be selected to go to the social studies fair. My competitive nature always pushed me to take things one step further.” Her drive is evident in her career. Licensed to practice law in North Carolina and West Virginia, she is also a certified public accountant in West Virginia that maintains memberships in several professional organizations. Condaras, whose area of practice is corporate and finance law, quickly rose through the ranks to the top of her field. She was named a member at Spilman, Thomas & Battle, PLLC, early in her career. Condaras returned home to the Mountain State in October 2006 for its culture, quality of life, people and opportunities. Today she finds satisfaction in dedicating her time, personally and professionally, to projects that create opportunities, strengthen communities and impact as many people as possible in hopes of making the Mountain State a more vibrant place to live. She has actively worked with Create West Virginia,
the Charleston Area Medical Center Foundation and the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences, and she serves as a board member for the United Way of Central West Virginia and the Children’s Therapy Clinic. She is also involved with recruiting for her alma maters and often serves as a guest speaker to inspire young lawyers. In 2009, Condaras was named the spokesperson for the Come Home to West Virginia initiative, and through the volunteer position she participated in speaking engagements to discuss her decision to move home as well as how West Virginians could continue to promote the opportunities for others to return home as she had. “There is a misconception that our most successful children only have opportunities outside of the state,” she says. “I disagree, which is why this campaign is important to me. West Virginia is a state like no other and living here is a privilege. I want to help encourage others to see that.” Condaras says her biggest challenge has always been finding balance, something she sought when moving back to West Virginia and something she could never achieve without the support of her husband, Steve. While she hopes that several years from now she can say her children are her greatest success, her greatest success to date is making the decisions she made along the way to get where she is today. “Since joining Spilman, I have learned that establishing balance is about establishing your own boundaries,” she says. “There are a lot of things I need to do: spend time with my children, serve my clients and engage in the organizations for which I volunteer. There’s no exact science to it, but I try to stay ahead of what is on my plate and prioritize. Needless to say, the support of my husband is a critical part of that.” Photography by Tracy Toler on location at Adventures On the Gorge
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Coy Flowers getting ready for rafting fun.
Coy Flowers, MD Partner, Greenbrier Physicians, Inc.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
What is your favorite…? Ice cream Blackberry Bush Animal Lion Book “To Kill a Mockingbird” Midnight snack Bread and butter pickles Sports team Cincinnati Reds Car Corvette 427 Convertible
By Marta Tankersley
Growing up in West Virginia,
Coy Flowers was taught that he can accomplish anything by doing two things: constantly seeking to educate himself and out-working everyone else. It’s a lesson he’s implemented very well as is evidenced by his successes as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, a clinical professor at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, a champion of women’s access to affordable health care services in rural West Virginia and founder of Fairness West Virginia, an organization that works to secure the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) community. Flowers believes that a community’s collective achievement exponentially furthers the potential successes of its individual members. He works every day to ensure that the world his 7-year-old son inherits is much better than the one he was born into. “The minute my son was born, my commitment to issues and causes greater than myself became one of my main priorities in life.” While Flowers always thought he would grow up to become a teacher or lawyer, a medical emergency as a teenager sealed his fate as a doctor. His surgeon, Dr. Adams, inspired him to pursue medicine and, perhaps more importantly, work for women’s rights to equal pay for equal work. “Dr. Adams told me a story of how his wife, a radiologist, was paid only a fraction of what her male colleagues were making for the same work,” Flowers recalls. “Because of this, our community lost both of these fantastic physicians, and I vowed to see the day when women were equally valued for their work and expertise.” His activist work doesn’t stop there. Flowers credits LGBT mentor Stephen Skinner with motivating him to give his best to achieve great things for those who can’t fight for themselves. Although Flowers has never
faced an obstacle he couldn’t overcome, he continues to use his intelligence and hard work to secure marriage equality in West Virginia. “I want to have the freedom to marry my partner, Jonathan, in West Virginia,” he says. “Our family deserves to have our love and commitment equally recognized by our government.” Flowers is the president of the Greenbrier Valley Medical Society and a member of the West Virginia State Medical Association’s Legislative Affairs Committee, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services Maternal-Infant Advisory Committee and the Greenbrier Valley Theater’s board of trustees. He has also chaired West Virginia’s Maternity Care Shortage Committee for the state’s Perinatal Partnership and worked on its Telecommunications in Rural Health Medicine project, and he has served on the Department of Surgery, Medical Executive, Maternal-Infant Services Improvement, Peer Review and Graduate Education committees at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center. He has been co-chair for the Tutoring Center Foundation and is a founding member of Greenbrier Residents Outreach to the World. He also supports the Family Refuge Center in Lewisburg. In 2010, Flowers was elected to the Greenbrier County Democratic Executive Committee, and most recently, he was elected to serve as a delegate to this year’s Democratic National Convention. Flowers has made quite an impact both personally and within his community since his days selling vegetables from the family garden along Rural Route 10, but his work isn’t finished. Like the civil rights pioneer, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., before him, he knows “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” “In all that I do,” Flowers says, “I ask myself if I am doing all that I can to bend that arc even further.” Photography by Tracy Toler on location at Adventures On the Gorge
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There’s a lot more to your water bill than just water. When you turn on the tap, it’s easy to see what your water bill buys. What’s not as easy to see is what it takes to bring that water to your home. The miles of pipeline hidden below the ground. The facilities that draw water from the source. The plant where it’s treated and tested. The scientists, engineers, and maintenance crews working around the clock to make sure that water is always there when you need it. Your water payments are helping to build a better tomorrow by supporting needed improvements that will keep water flowing for all of us—today and well into the future. All for about a penny a gallon.
WE CARE ABOUT WATER. IT’S WHAT WE DO. FIND OUT WHY YOU SHOULD, TOO, at www.westvirginiaamwater.com. “West Virginia American Water” and the star logo are the registered trademarks of American Water Works Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
Amy Flynn at Class-VI’s Canyon Rim Campus.
Amy Flynn Operations Manager, Bioanalytical Services Protea Biosciences Group, Inc.
“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.” —Arthur O’Shaughnessy
What is your favorite…? Color Green Cartoon character Scrooge McDuck Ice cream Chocolate Malted Crunch Animal Great White Shark Smell Fresh-brewed coffee Pet My dog, Zoey
By Samantha Ricketts
Amy Flynn has never stopped learning,
a trend that began in childhood as she watched her mother graduate with multiple teaching credentials and a master’s degree. Her learning has paid off as she is now the operations manager of Bioanalytical Services for Protea Biosciences Group, Inc., and her life-long passion for academia continues as she seeks an MBA from West Virginia University. Her mother wasn’t the only influential figure in her life, though. In high school, one of Flynn’s teachers encouraged her to pursue the sciences. “My high school chemistry teacher, Joe Raymann, brought chemistry to life for me,” says Flynn. “I knew after his class ended I wanted to do something in the science field.” While working at Pfizer, Inc. from 2003 to 2005, Flynn’s supervisor became her voice of direction. “My supervisor and now friend, Natilie Hosea, Ph.D., encouraged me and provided the type of leadership I needed to advance my career and education. I think about her and thank her every day for her influence.” Flynn didn’t always have the most glamorous positions during the climb to operations manager. Her first job was at Chuck E. Cheese’s, where she got to wear the mouse costume. After she received her bachelor’s degree in microbiology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, her first science-related job was in a testing lab for a biotechnology company in San Diego, CA. Although originally from San Diego, Flynn caught the West Virginia fever as soon as she moved here. “State pride is contagious here in West Virginia,” she says. “I choose to live and work in West Virginia because this state has so much potential. There is a momentum here that cannot be ignored.” An advocate of education in her own life, Flynn also encourages the state’s youth to get involved in their education by serving as a biochemistry and
chemistry tutor at West Virginia University. “We should encourage students to explore technology, energy sciences and math,” Flynn says. “Today’s engaged children are tomorrow’s state leaders.” Flynn’s passion for her community is obvious in her efforts to give back. She serves on the boards of the Red Cross River Valley Chapter, Leadership Monongalia and Generation Morgantown. She also volunteers at local events to raise money for breast cancer and diabetes and to support advancing education for young leaders. “Most recently, my efforts are focused on building up people as engaged, excited citizens who recognize the importance of community and family,” she shares. This includes volunteering at the Canine Classic, the Arts Walk and the Wine and Jazz Festival in Morgantown. Flynn is also working to organize quarterly blood drives at Protea and other fundraisers to support the Red Cross. The desire to learn, as well as the love from her family, keeps Flynn motivated. “My greatest success is found in my family, friends and colleagues, who continue to challenge me with new ideas, fill my life with grace and embrace me for who I am.” In her spare time, Flynn enjoys hiking around the state at places like Coopers Rock State Forest, Valley Falls State Park and Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort. Before she moved here, though, she enjoyed sky sailing with her mother in California, a hobby that may be the origin of her desire to get her pilot’s license. Life isn’t always easy, but Flynn learns from problems and mistakes. “My biggest challenge personally and professionally will always be recognizing when I’ve made mistakes, taking responsibility for them and finding inspiration in the lesson learned.” Photography by Tracy Toler on location at Adventures On the Gorge
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John Hussell at AOTG’s River, Rock & Trail Outfitters store.
John Hussell, IV Managing Partner, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP
“I don’t care if I was a ditch-digger at a dollar a day, I’d want to do my job better than the fellow next to me. I’d want to be the best at whatever I do.” —Branch Rickey
What is your favorite…? Book “Wuthering Heights” Movie “The English Patient” Smell Heiner’s Bakery in Huntington Sports team Marshall University Pet My Border Collie, Emma Place Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland
By Samantha Ricketts
John Hussell strives to be the best
at anything he does. That’s how he got to be the managing partner of Dinsmore & Shohl’s Charleston office. “I am motivated by my desire to be the best trust and estate lawyer in West Virginia,” Hussell says. “I love what I do and I want to be the best at it.” Even though there weren’t many attorneys in Ceredo, WV, where Hussell grew up, he knew his talents were suited to it. “Once I outgrew the dream of being a professional ballplayer for whatever major sport was in season, I had a pretty good idea that I wanted to be an attorney.” Hussell’s love for sports continued into his adult life, as he now coaches youth soccer, basketball and baseball. “I am able to use specific skills or interests I have to make a positive impact on the community,” he says. His impact doesn’t stop at sports. He is also the chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of the State of West Virginia and a former member of the Vestry of Saint Matthews Episcopal Church. He serves on the board of directors of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Tennis Club and the foundation for Thomas Memorial and St. Francis hospitals. “I participate in these activities because I believe it is important to ensure the quality of life that we enjoy in West Virginia.” In his spare time, Hussell stays outdoors where he enjoys hiking, trail running, mountain biking, canoeing and kayaking. “I have run three marathons, biked across the State of West Virginia and climbed the tallest peak in the Rockies,” he shares. He also likes to relax with a good book, saying he can’t live without them. “I am more introverted than most would suspect,” he says. “Life would be virtually meaningless without the written word to communicate and convey that which makes us human.” On top of his career, volunteer work and hobbies,
Hussell is occupied with his family. “On a personal level, my greatest success is being a father in a loving relationship with two wonderful sons.” Being involved with so many things can be challenging, however. “The biggest challenge I have faced in my career is balancing the demands of my job with the demands of being a father and being active in the community,” Hussell says. “To overcome that obstacle, it is imperative to make family a priority, work diligently and surround yourself with good, motivated people.” He attributes his success to the support he received from his parents, teachers and two other important figures—Carl Ward, his high school football coach, and Milton Herndon, a leading estate planning attorney in West Virginia. “Coach Ward taught me that success is based as much on attitude as ability, and Milton Herndon taught me how to be a lawyer,” Hussell shares. “I got where I am today by standing on the shoulders of giants who supported me throughout my youth, education and formative years in the practice of law.” West Virginia is the only place for Hussell. “I have been able to make a decent living my entire adult life in the kind of place that people from other parts of the country save up money all year just so they can come and visit for a week or two,” he says. “The sense of family and community is stronger in West Virginia than anywhere else in the country. With a population of 1.8 million people, West Virginia is a place where you can make an impact and see the tangible results of the positive contribution you make to the state.” As managing partner, he is happy with his place in life at Dinsmore and Shohl. “I am honored to have a thriving estate planning practice and to be respected by my peers as accomplished in my chosen field.” Photography by Tracy Toler on location at Adventures On the Gorge
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Lisa Montgomery at Smokey’s On the Gorge.
Lisa Montgomery Delegated Program Manager, NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance Software Assurance Research Program
“We can reach the stars from West Virginia.” —Senator Robert C. Byrd
What is your favorite…? Cartoon character Bugs Bunny TV show “Diners, DriveIns and Dives” Movie “Brave” Smell Sawdust, hay, leather and horses Pet My first dog Place At home with my husband
By Jennifer JETT
While Lisa Montgomery has never been
a stranger to imagination, her childhood was not spent simply pretending. She was a doer. At the age of six, after reading a book about the exploration of King Tut’s tomb, she buried some of her mother’s jewelry in the backyard to excavate later. “I very quickly discovered that archaeology is a profession fraught with dangers more frightening than Egyptian curses—like angry mothers.” Warned off of archaeology, Montgomery is now one of nine delegated program managers for NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, and she is responsible for the agency-wide selection and programming of research conducted to assure software safety in NASA missions. “Even though I have a very exuberant imagination, I never ever dreamed that one day I could work for NASA. It was literally beyond my imagination.” Growing up, Montgomery spent her summers baling hay and riding horses competitively until she went to college, trading her equestrian companion in for a 1982 Toyota Celica. “I loved that car and drove it over every back road and dirt road between Charleston and Morgantown,” she remembers. “The glove box held maps of every state east of the Mississippi. My current car has a great GPS, but I’m sure I had more fun getting lost in that little car than I’ve had in every car since.” Montgomery earned a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in education before later returning to earn a degree in computer science from West Virginia University. Prior to joining NASA she taught at Fairmont State University, and she still engages with students as much as possible, having served as a judge for the West Virginia Business Plan Competition and a speaker for the Expanding Your Horizons in Science and Mathematics conferences. She looks for occasions to engage with
students and open their eyes to the opportunities that exist in West Virginia. “Even though smart people have laid out a strong road map for moving West Virginia toward a more diversified economic base, it’s equally important to help students understand how they connect to that vision.” Preparing the future generation to reach for the stars, though, is just one more challenge Montgomery embraces as she strives to give back to her community and her state. Montgomery is also actively involved in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), a program for federal giving analogous to the United Way. She works behind the scenes to ensure the kick-offs and other events go on without a hitch despite a shoestring budget. Last year, she helped organize Eyes Skyward, an event held at Fairmont State University that allowed local students and community members of all ages to meet face-to-face with astronauts. She is frequently the photographer for CFC activities and fundraisers, and her photos have raised money to support food pantries and other local organizations. Another federal initiative that she has vigorously supported is Feds Feed Families. “I know that I have an obligation to serve where I am and as I can to help improve lives in the Mountain State.” Dogged determination, self-knowledge and a big picture vision have been the characteristics most important in Montgomery’s success, and her motivation to continue despite challenges, obstructions and budget cuts comes from the teams she serves and the importance of the work they do. It doesn’t hurt that she gets to live in West Virginia and work for an agency that puts inspiring the next generation right up there with exploring the universe. Photography by Tracy Toler on location at Adventures On the Gorge
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Justin Seibert on AOTG’s newest adventure, TimberTrek.
Justin Seibert President, Direct Online Marketing
“You take a chance getting up in the morning, crossing the street, or sticking your face in a fan.” —Lt. Frank Drebin, “The Naked Gun”
What is your favorite…? Food Spaghetti Cartoon character Dynomutt Ice cream Mint Chocolate Chip Pet The world-famous SEODog, our company mascot Midnight snack Leftovers Movie “House Party”
By Samantha Redd
Justin Seibert has come a long way
since his youthful days of making tennis balls into fire balls with his friends. After growing up in Wheeling, WV, and graduating from Vanderbilt University, Seibert moved to Los Angeles where he met his wife. It was after the arrival of their first child that he and his wife decided to move to Wheeling to give their children the same type of childhood he had experienced. “Most of us strive to give our children a better childhood than we had growing up,” Seibert says. “I don’t think that’s possible in my case, with what my parents and the community provided. I’m fortunate that I can run my company from anywhere in the world, and I get to do it in West Virginia.” Seibert, whose family now includes two daughters and a son, is excited to be able to live in his childhood home, provide career opportunities for locals and improve the area. He considers convincing his wife to marry him his greatest success, with convincing her to move to West Virginia a close second. With the support of his family, the help of great mentors and hard work, Seibert started his company, Direct Online Marketing, an Internet marketing firm specializing in search engine and social media marketing and online reputation management, in 2006. The company handles online marketing campaigns for major public and private companies from around the world. Seibert’s success is made obvious by the prestigious awards and honors his company has earned over the past few years, such as being named a Google AdWords Certified Partner and Bing Ads Preferred Agency, the latter of which being a distinction only held by 17 companies worldwide. He attributes his business success to his talent for solving problems and his calculated practices that include hard work, staying on top of industry trends and heeding advice.
Moving back from the West Coast with a young family and starting his own business comes in second as the riskiest thing Seibert’s ever done, topped only by stand-up comedy, which he refers to as “always either exhilarating or, more often, soul-crushing.” He regularly speaks about paid search and search engine optimization at events and has been widely published. Being a leader to his peers is only a small side of his community service, though. He serves on the West Virginia Northern Community College Board Foundation, and he is a co-founder of OVConnect, a Wheeling area young professionals’ organization that serves the Ohio Valley region. Seibert says the inspiration for founding OVConnect came when he realized people in his community were always complaining that there was nothing to do when there is always something fun going on in Wheeling. “Wheeling always has some incredibly talented, fun and interesting people, but it can be tough to find them, particularly if you are new to the area,” Seibert says. “I would frequently witness young, talented folks coming into the area for work who would fail to create roots and then leave after a year or two. For a community like ours, being able to hold onto a small number of these people year after year can have a tremendous impact.” Seibert believes that everyone has a responsibility to contribute to their community to the best of their capabilities. “Contribution can come in a variety of forms, and for me as a business leader it comes from creating and sustaining jobs, donating, serving on boards and other volunteer efforts. I have been extremely fortunate to have been raised in my community and to be able to raise my own family here, so I owe it to Wheeling and West Virginia to do what I can to foster what makes it great.” Photography by Tracy Toler on location at Adventures On the Gorge
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Doug Skaff at Rivermen’s Mill Creek campus.
Doug Skaff, Jr. Managing Partner, Building & Remodeling Warehouse; Vice President, Skaff Development Company; Member, West Virginia House of Delegates
“Problems become opportunities when the right people come together.” —Robert South
What is your favorite…? Cartoon character Kermit the Frog Animal Camel Book “Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero” TV show “The Apprentice” Smell Pumpkin pie Car Jeep Wrangler
By Marta Tankersley
Bringing people together just might
be what Doug Skaff does best. It all started when he became student body president at South Charleston High School and was taken under the wing of N. David Stern, the student government advisor. Stern taught Skaff to gain respect with a firm handshake and eye contact and that it’s not a title that’s important but what’s accomplished as a result that will stand the test of time. While serving as student body president and studying marketing at West Virginia University (WVU), Skaff found wisdom under the guidance of General Kenneth Gray, vice president of Student Affairs. “He taught me how to stay calm in trying times,” Skaff says, “and how to bring people together to tackle complex issues.” It was Skaff’s father who set him on the career and service path he now enjoys, though. “He has always been my inspiration and drives me to succeed in all my endeavors,” Skaff says. “He taught me that my word is my bond and a handshake is just as binding as any contract.” A fork in the road to Skaff’s career came when he was asked to choose between his professional ambitions and his political service. As a result, he left his job and started Building & Remodeling Warehouse in Nitro with his father and two other partners. This business endeavor allows Skaff to continue his political career serving the people of West Virginia. “The bottom line is I won’t stop working to serve our great people here because I want West Virginia to be a success story for the rest of the world to talk about,” he says. “I want to know that I am doing everything in my power to make this a great place for people to do business, work, play and—most importantly—raise a family.” As a delegate for the State of West Virginia, Skaff currently serves as chairman of the Economic Development
& Small Business Committee, Finance Committee and Roads & Transportation Committee. He is chair of the Legislative Oversight Commission on Workforce Investment for Economic Development, and he co-chairs a Bi-Partisan Generation Legislature Caucus that he created for all state legislators between the ages of 25 and 45. Skaff’s service as a delegate is only a small piece of a greater community service picture, though. He serves as a member of the WVU Alumni Association’s Board of Governors and WVU’s Student Affairs Visiting and Foundation Committees, and he participates with the Charleston Area Alliance, the Home Builders Association and Generation Charleston. He is the revenue chairman for the March of Dimes Walk for Babies and co–chairman for Guys’ Night Out, an event that supports the YWCA Women’s Shelter, and he sits on the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences Board of Directors. He enjoys supporting organizations like the Ronald McDonald House, American Cancer Society, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Children’s Therapy Clinic and Make-A-Wish Foundation, and he is a proud member of Charleston Moose Lodge and St. George Orthodox Cathedral. The founder of WVU’s Mountaineer Maniacs, which currently boasts more than 20,000 members, finds his motivation in others telling him he can’t do something. “They told me I couldn’t be successful at running a building material distribution store while doing politics. I started my own company. They told me it’s hard to work in a family business. We continue to work together and our family gets stronger as our business grows. They told me I can’t make compromises and bring both sides of the aisle together. I have continued to find ways to bring Republicans and Democrats together to pass a bill and move West Virginia forward.” Photography by Tracy Toler on location at Adventures On the Gorge
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www.wvmeetingplanner.com
2012
WHERE MEETINGS MEET OUTDOORS
The Making of a Visionary Ben Statler’s Story
SPEED NETWORKING Reconnecting
McDowell County
21st Century Education
Did you hear the news?! This year, we’re combining Executive Meeting Planner into West Virginia Executive magazine to give our readers a great two-for-one opportunity. Executive Meeting Planner will go out to our 27,000-member West Virginia Executive readership for additional exposure as well as our readership outside of the state with the February 2013 issue.
Don’t forget the MAPP Grant! Be sure to get your application in by December 1, 2012 to receive MAPP funding to cover up to 50 percent of the cost of advertising in the 2013 issue of Executive Meeting Planner. Applications must be approved 45 days prior to the publication.
For more information on this exciting issue, contact Kensie Hamilton, editor in chief, at (304) 941-0600 or by e-mail at kmh@wvexecutive.com.
HONORING 40 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE IN MEDICAL EDUCATION Our graduates and their patients celebrate with us TO COMMEMORATE 40 YEARS OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL EDUCATION, WVSOM HAS BEEN TRAVELING THROUGHOUT WEST VIRGINIA TO RECOGNIZE OUR GRADUATES WHO PRACTICE IN THE STATE.
GERARD O’LOUGHLIN, D.O., CLASS OF 1988
JAMES BLUME, D.O., CLASS OF 1986
UPSHUR COUNTY, WV FAMILY PRACTICE
SUMMERS COUNTY, WV FAMILY MEDICINE & EMERGENCY MEDICINE NATIONAL COUNTRY DOCTOR OF THE YEAR, 2002
“My patients are my family. I want to connect to them the same way I would connect to anyone I care about. I try to be on time. I don’t want my patients to wait. When my younger patients require a specialist, I assure them I would never send one of my patients to a doctor I wouldn’t trust with my own kids.”
PATIENT’S PERSPECTIVE: “Dr. O’Loughlin has been my family doc for 15 years. He totally gets the practice of family medicine. He understands that you have to look at people, talk to them and touch them to understand their total health. Everything in your body is interconnected and Dr. O’Loughlin brings that philosophy to the care he gives his patients.” Susan E. Long, M.D.
“I always wanted to be a country doctor, a family doctor. At WVSOM, they never treated me like a number. I felt like I was part of something. There was a personal approach that appealed to me.”
PATIENT’S PERSPECTIVE: “Dr. Blume will tend to whatever ails you. He treats all the normal things like a cold or the flu, but if you lose a thumb, he’ll sew it back on good as new; he’s the first person on the scene when there’s a wreck and he still makes house calls.” Sandy G.
DID YOU KNOW...
* 1981-2006 WV Graduates ± 1981-2008 U.S. Graduates ** Academic Medicine, 2010
WVSOM alumni represent
WVSOM alumni represent the
WVSOM is #1 in the nation
40% of W.Va. primary care
highest number of practicing
graduating primary care
doctors educated in
physicians (all specialties) in over
physicians who practice
West Virginia.*
half of West Virginia’s counties.±
in rural areas.**
WWW.W VSOM.EDU
Ryan Taylor at AOTG’s New River Gorge overlook.
Ryan Taylor President, Pickering Associates
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure.” —Colin Powell
What is your favorite…? Color Red Cartoon character Iron Man Book “Call of the Wild” Midnight Snack Popcorn TV show “Castle” Car The 1965 Mustang Convertible I restored
By jennifer jett
Some might say Ryan Taylor’s project
management career came naturally because construction runs in the family. Others might suggest the Legos he played with as a child introduced him to an empowering world of imagination where he could use his hands to create. Either way, Taylor has built his own road to success as the president of Pickering Associates in Parkersburg. “I would show my creations off to everyone that would listen to me about my contraptions,” he remembers fondly of building with Legos. “To this day, my 9-yearold son does the same to me that I did to my parents. The best part about it is that I am usually right there with him, helping him dream up his inventions.” Taylor grew up surrounded by aspects of the construction trade. His father and brother both took that same career route, and even as Taylor’s father warned him not to follow in his footsteps as a sheet metal worker, it seemed that the stars—or Legos—had already aligned for a bright future in the construction industry. The path to Pickering has been accented with mentors who provided the guidance Taylor needed to get to where he is today, like his mother and father and his fifth grade teacher, Mr. Simonton. When Taylor received his master’s degree from West Virginia Universtiy (WVU), he went to work at Pickering, where he met Chip Pickering, a leader who took Taylor under his wing and made a memorable impression. “For the last 15 years I have had the privilege of working for Chip and watching him skillfully navigate through good and bad times while always keeping a positive outlook. He has taken so much time nurturing my strengths and helping me identify my weaknesses, and I cannot thank him enough for what he has done for my career and my family.” At Pickering, Taylor has been fortunate to be surrounded by mentors like Chip and a knowledgeable, reliable staff. “As a project manager, you are only as good
as the team that supports you,” he says. “I am surrounded by such competent and hardworking engineers, architects and support staff in the business. They consistently amaze me with their creativity, talent and work ethic.” That support staff was especially important when Taylor worked on the project he identifies as his biggest challenge to date: managing the design and construction of a $48 million manufacturing plant. “I started working on the project in 2009, and now the plant is in full production and progressing to meet its goals. To think I had the opportunity to be involved in such a huge undertaking during a decade when most plant construction is demolition is amazing.” While Taylor claims to lack a gift for rhythm, he certainly doesn’t lack a gift for giving back to his community. This shy, reserved individual claims more success with taking his cub scouts camping, hiking and fishing than with ballroom dancing lessons with his wife. A den leader and the treasurer of Pack 12 in Parkersburg, Taylor also participates in the local school improvement council at Madison Elementary School, coaches baseball and T-ball for the Vienna Recreation League, serves on the boards of the YMCA, Polymer Alliance Zone and Ohio Valley University and is active in his church. When it comes to living and working in West Virginia, it is pride that keeps Taylor rooted in Parkersburg. “I am so proud of this little state. We have the friendliest, hardest working people in the nation. I believe I got the best public education from Wood County Schools and it prepared me for college at West Virginia University. After college, I interviewed in different states, but I just could not leave this state because of family. I knew I would eventually want to raise a family and I knew it had to be in West Virginia.” Photography by Tracy Toler on location at Adventures On the Gorge
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Christopher Vaught on AOTG’s TreeTops Canopy Tour.
Christopher Vaught President & CEO, Vaught, Inc.
“As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote.” —Herman Melville, “Moby Dick”
What is your favorite…? Color Blue Food Sushi Animal Sharks Movie “The Godfather” SportS team Pittsburgh Pirates Place Anywhere I’m with my family
By Samantha Redd
Christopher Vaught, though not
likely to jump out of an airplane anytime soon, is a calculated risk taker. His most daring risk? Leaving a great job to embrace entrepreneurialism. In 2008, Vaught left his job at Summers County ARH Hospital, driven by his desire for the next big idea, and turned a consulting and project management venture into his very own business. Today, he is the owner, president and CEO of an establishment that has evolved over the past four years into a health care consulting and business development company. Born and raised in Beckley, Vaught’s most treasured memories are of playing baseball as a kid. His parents were educators who raised him in a home that valued hard work and celebrated success, and they considered school to be Vaught’s only job. Innovation, however, was obvious even at a young age. Along with mowing grass and doing yard work, Vaught also ran lemonade stands, organized neighborhood talent shows and taught basic computer programming to educators. Now that he is older, Vaught realizes he learned a lot about management style and leadership from his parents as well. Today, Vaught is trying to create memories of a similar childhood experience for his sons. “It is very important to my wife and me that we help create great memories for our boys,” Vaught says, “and we have a lot of fun doing it. Our sons are involved in church, play team and individual sports and love the lake. We also love sports, and one of our favorite things to do is attend West Virginia Power baseball games.” Inspired by his parents, Vaught encourages creativity and entrepreneurship in his own children. His boys are often starting new companies or building a prototype for a new product. Vaught says that through family fun, involvement and their own ingenuity, his sons
are learning the value of hard work, practice, success and failure, and that life isn’t always fair. Spending time with his family, coaching youth sports and teaching Sunday school are only snapshots of the generous ways Vaught uses his time. He serves as a board member for several organizations, including Beckley Health Right, WVRx and the YMCA of Southern West Virginia, and he helped establish a free health clinic in Hinton, WV, called Hinton Health Right. He also serves on the Maxwell Hill Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization in Raleigh County and was recently appointed president of the local school improvement council. Vaught’s dedication to volunteerism and involvement in his community are reflected in the way he runs his business. “We have the opportunity to innovate every day and, in a very meaningful way, have a positive impact on people’s lives,” he says. “I’m a big believer in company culture. We have developed a culture based on hard work, tenacity, integrity, creativity, service and faith.” When it comes to living and working in West Virginia, the Mountain State is Vaught’s true home. He chose to expand his own roots by planting his business here because the state has provided him with the experiences, education and relationships that led to his success. “I started Vaught, Inc. in West Virginia for several reasons. This is my home and has created the opportunities I now enjoy,” Vaught says. “It was my professional experiences here that allowed me to identify the healthrelated business opportunities that existed within the state. Plus, the work force here is unmatched, as proven by our own smart, creative and hardworking staff. Finally, if technology allows us to be anywhere in the world, why not be in a great place to live and work?” Photography by Tracy Toler on location at Adventures On the Gorge
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The Humidors of
Honduras Exploring the Cigars of Central America The 10 adventurers who set out for Honduras in search of cigars became known as the Leaf & Bean Cigar Club.
By Tim Urbanic
How’s this for a birthday
present? My wife, Melody, intercepted an e-mail from the Leaf & Bean Cigar and Coffee Shop on the Strip, located in Pittsburgh. The e-mail was an invitation to travel to Honduras to the Rocky Patel Cigar Factories. While traveling to Central America is probably something I would never think of doing on my own, going with a group led by someone who’s been there several times and plans trips as a regular part of his job somehow made me feel comfortable with signing on. I celebrated my birthday with a bunch of guys I had never met before with whom I had two things in common: an affinity for fine cigars and a sense of adventure.
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The scenery was spectacular, and there were many panoramic views from the tops of the mountains.
The trip was limited to 10 people and filled up quickly, creating what would become known as the Leaf & Bean Cigar Club. What a crew we were: a merchant marine, an environmental technician, a retired Pennsylvania state policeman, a chamber of commerce president, a photographer, a Presbyterian minister, an entrepreneur, a couple of retired businessmen, the owner of Leaf & Bean and myself, the chef of CafĂŠ Cimino Country Inn. We flew out of Pittsburgh and landed in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, around three in the afternoon. We were met at the airport by a passenger van provided by Rocky Patel Cigar Factories; our guide, Nimish; a humidor full of cigars
and an ice chest of beer. We promptly departed for a three-hour drive to the interior of Honduras, which is just north of the Nicaraguan and Honduran border, to the town of Danli. Danli is the heart of tobacco plantations and cigar factories. The drive alone was an adventure. The roads were anything from paved two lanes to single gravel lanes, and they wound through many tiny villages. The poverty was overwhelming, while the riches were extravagant. The scenery was spectacular, and there were many panoramic views from the tops of the mountains. Transportation varied from walking to riding a horse, donkey, bicycle or motorcycle, and all of these methods of transportation shared the road with cars, vans and small trucks.
The people were beautiful with their dark complexions and bright smiles. All with an inherent connection to the earth, they were subsistence farmers, working the fields by hand or with oxen or tractors.
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Danli, by comparison to the small villages we passed along the way, showed a great deal of prosperity, which can be attributed to the cigar industry. The whole economy in this region of Honduras is attached to the cigar industry in one way or another, from the growing and farming of the tobacco crop, the curing of the leaves and manufacturing of the cigars to the exporting. The rest of the economy acts as a support system providing goods and services to those involved in the tobacco industry. Our destination was a walled villa in the town of Paraiso. The beautiful villa, owned by Rocky Patel, had a courtyard with gardens, fountains and a swimming pool. Our guest rooms surrounded the courtyard but were very simple and utilitarian, and the villa housed an enormous humidor with many choices of Rocky Patel cigars freely available to us, as well as all the beer and rum we could drink. We awoke the next morning for our first day of “Cigar Making 101,� which took place in one of Rocky Patel’s factories in Paraiso. The factory was surrounded by high razor-wired fences with armed security guards everywhere. This is typical in Honduras, as business owners protect their properties with their own private security guards. All of the cigar club members had security escorts at all times. At this first factory tour, we had chalkboard lectures on where the best leaves come from as well as the basis of curing, aging and hand-rolling. This company alone employs 9,000 workers, which is basically everyone in the area. The workers make about $10 a day, and they seem to manage well on this salary. The images from this factory that stand out to me were of the thousands of bicycles, scooters and small motorcycles that filled the employee parking lots. Cars were scarce, as only supervisors and managers had them.
Being able to choose our favorite tobacco leaves and wrappers and create our own cigar brands was a real bonus of the trip.
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The members of the Leaf & Bean Cigar Club in a tobacco field on the Rocky Patel Plantation.
After a full day at the Paraiso Cigar Factory, we retired to our villa to play dominos, drink rum and enjoy another great homemade dinner prepared by the cooks: a burrito buffet, where they grilled meats and vegetables and we built our own burritos. The next morning, we traveled deeper into the farmland to the Rocky Patel tobacco plantations where we got to see tobacco growing in several different stages: the seed, the finished leaf, the harvesting of the leaves and the cure barns. What makes these Central American cigars so great is that they are authentic Cuban seeds rolled by Cuban
mentors who settled in Honduras after the Cuban revolution and Castro’s takeover. After touring the tobacco plantation, we went even further into the mountains to see a coffee plantation. It was during the coffee tour that the security guards got wind of the fact that I am an Italian chef, and they began plotting for me to prepare an Italian spaghetti dinner that evening for our group of 30 people. On the way back to the villa, the guards took us to markets and little grocery shops to gather ingredients for my big Italian dinner. Boy, was this a challenge! I ended up with enough lettuce and vegetables for a salad. I made a dressing from some vodka and olive oil we were able to find along the way. I made a Bolognese sauce out of freshly ground meats and chorizo sausage, which I served over the limited pasta we could find in the local stores. I also cut up fresh fruits and soaked them in a vodka and Cuban sugar marinade. Needless to say, I scored big as everyone loved the change in cuisine. While being able to choose our favorite tobacco leaves and wrappers and create our own cigar brands—mine is available at Café Cimino’s Little Dishes—was a real bonus of the trip, the true highlight was that all 10 of us were able to get along so well regardless of our religious or political beliefs. That’s what smoking a good cigar among friends is about: putting away differences to bask in the pleasure of finely rolled tobacco. Photography by Tim Urbanic
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Photo By Rick Burgess
Break from traditional corporate conferences and get together in the Great Outdoors. TEAM BUILDING SKILLS come naturally with whitewater rafting on the roller coaster rapids of Cheat River, hiking Coopers Rock State Forest to the 1,200 foot overlook, and ropes courses that promote leadership and communication. ADD FRESH AIR to your agenda with an outdoor meeting at the Forks-of-Cheat Winery Pavilion, the Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheatre, the Hotel Morgan rooftop, or the dining decks overlooking the Mon River in Morgantown’s Wharf District. • Conference, classroom and banquet space for groups of six to 2,000 • Over one acre of indoor space for trade shows, dinners, and expositions • 30,000 s.f. multipurpose event center adjacent to the Waterfront Place Hotel
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West Virginia Celebrating 150 Years of Mountain State Success By Charles Morris
West Virginia —the only state formed by
Presidential decree—became a state on June 20, 1863. In the midst of the Civil War, with skirmishes and battles surrounding them, the state’s founding fathers worked through major decisions about electing officials, writing a constitution, choosing a site for the state capitol and the many other details of becoming a new state. To mark the state’s 150th birthday, the West Virginia Division of Culture and History is preparing to celebrate the state’s sesquicentennial with an exhibit that highlights West Virginia’s people, places and events through the decades from 1863 to the present. The division’s museum staff has carefully searched through more than 60,000 artifacts in the state museum collection to select items for the exhibit. The sesquicentennial exhibit, called West Virginia 150, will be located in the Theater and Balcony galleries of the West Virginia Culture Center at the State Capitol Complex and will focus on 150 people, places and things that helped shape West Virginia during the last 150 years.
In the 1880-1890 portion of the exhibit, visi1880-1890 tors will take a look at those who guided West Virginia’s development as well as the progress that came with the construction of the lock and dam system that influenced travel on the Kanawha, Ohio, Monongahela, Little Kanawha and Big Sandy rivers. The Hatfields and McCoys make an appearance with an artifact from their infamous feud, and guests will learn the story behind the opening of Oakhurst Links in White Sulphur Springs, the first organized golf club in the United States.
1863-1880
1890-1900 The exhibit begins with the 1863-1880 period, the early years of statehood, which are also one of the most turbulent times in any state’s history. This 17-year period focuses on President Abraham Lincoln’s decision to establish West Virginia as the country’s 35th state. The exhibit will also feature other new beginnings such as the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, which linked Huntington to White Sulphur Springs, and the invention of the first bricklaying process in Charleston.
The decade of 1890-1900 focuses on business growth, West Virginia’s leadership role in the Spanish-American War, the first rural free mail delivery in Jefferson County and the opening of the West Virginia State Museum by Governor William MacCorkle. One of the items of particular interest in this section is an artifact from the original museum about Andrew Rowan’s role in the Spanish-American War. Rowan is often referred to as the man who carried the message to Garcia.
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The period of 19001910 ushers in a new century and a booming economy. Fenton Art Glass in Williamstown, Meadow River Lumber Company in Rainelle, Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company in Wheeling and 1900Kelly Axe in Charleston played leadership roles 1910 in their industries. This decade also produced celebrations we still honor today. The first Mother’s Day service was held in Grafton, and it was during this time that the Pinch Reunion, the longest continuous reunion in the country, was established. Artifacts and documents of West Virginia’s many traditions and milestones are preserved in the state archives, which opened in 1905. Photo provided by West Virginia State Archives
1910-1920
In the years of 1910-1920, Libbey Owens opened in Kanawha City, becoming the largest plate glass plant in the world. In 1915, Benjamin Franklin Gravely built the first motorized plow and the first Gravely tractors in Dunbar. This period also marks the organization of the West Virginia State Police and the Paint Creek/Cabin Creek mining strike. In the 1920s, West Virginia coal miners were among the first to eat that West Virginia invention known as the pepperoni roll when Giuseppe “Joseph” Argiro began baking them in his Country Club Bakery in Fairmont. The Battle of Blair Mountain 1920s in Logan County pitted coal miners against mine owners. Union Carbide established the first ethylene plant in Clendenin, marking the beginning of the petrochemical industry. The nation recognized the state’s contributions to its national defense when the USS West Virginia was commissioned in 1923. In 1928, Minnie Buckingham Harper of Welch became the first African-American woman to serve in a legislative body in the United States.
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1930s
The 1930s, which followed the Great Depression, was a time of celebration in West Virginia. A beautiful marble and golddomed capitol was built in Charleston to house government following the fiery destruction of the 1885 Victorian capitol. During this era, Eureka became Blenko Glass Company in Milton, a name still known internationally for its glass creations. The 1940s features two of West Virginia’s greatest athletes. Parkersburg’s Alfred “Greasy” Neale played professional football and baseball and coached the NFL Philadelphia Eagles from 1941-1950, leading them to two world championships. He is credited with 1940s introducing the naked reverse, five-man defensive line and the man-to-man pass defense. George Smith King of Charleston began his career at Morris Harvey College, where he led the nation in scoring in 1949 and 1950. His 31.2 game average in 1950 was the first 30-plus point average in college basketball history. The 1940s also saw the completion of Camp Washington Carver at Clifftop and its dedication as the first 4-H camp for African-American youth.
1950s
In the 1950s, the West Virginia Turnpike connected Southern West Virginia to the capitol city. Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corps, now Century Aluminum Company, opened in Ravenswood and became the largest fully integrated aluminum works company. Mister Bee Potato Chip Company was founded in Parkersburg by Leo and Sara Klein.
The 1960s saw Don Knotts of Morgantown starring on “The Andy Griffith Show” and Huntington native Peter Marshall hosting “Hollywood Squares.” The state celebrated its centennial with the showboat Rhododendron 1960s and the melodrama “East Lynne,” written in 1863. The Rhododendron transported the University of Pittsburgh’s Panthers to Morgantown to play West Virginia University, duplicating the first football game between the two schools in 1891 when the Mountaineers traveled to Pittsburgh by steamboat. While not publicly known, a 112,000-square-foot bunker was completed beneath America’s resort, The Greenbrier.
1970s The 1970s showcased the preservation of our culture and history and the expansion of our exceptional natural resources for tourism. The Canaan Valley Resort and State Park fostered the beginning of West Virginia’s ski industry while the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayette County was dedicated and called the eighth wonder of the world. It is also the decade when West Virginia’s favorite son, Jerry West, led the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA Championship. His image lives on as the NBA logo.
1980s
In the 1980s, West Virginians broke records all over the world. Mary Lou Retton of Fairmont took home the gold medal for gymnastics during the Olympic Games. Kathy Mattea of Cross Lanes became the Country Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year. Jon McBride of Beckley piloted the STS 41-G, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida above the orbiter Challenger.
1990s In the 1990s, West Virginia hit the big screen with “Patch Adams,” the story of Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams, a holistic doctor who founded Gesundheit! Institute in Hillsboro, and with “October Sky,” a film adaptation of Coalwood native Homer Hickam’s memoir, “Rocket Boys.” Moving into the 21st century, West Virginia remained in the spotlight. Universal Pictures released the film “A Beautiful Mind,” a factbased account of Bluefield native John Nash, Jr., the 1994 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize 2000in Economics. Jennifer 2010 Garner of Charleston won the Golden Globe for her television series “Alias,” and Wheeling native John Corbett’s career thrived with on-camera appearances in “Sex and the City,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and many others. In the political arena, U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd became the longest-serving lawmaker in Congressional history.
2010-2012
From 2010-2012, West Virginia has continued to make records and achieve success. The film “Super 8,” with footage from Weirton, New Cumberland, New Manchester, Follansbee and the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport, became a hit. Brad Paisley of Glen Dale won every country music award imaginable and Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. of Logan won “America’s Got Talent.” The West Virginia University Mountaineers recorded the most points scored in college bowl history with its 70-33 win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Yes, West Virginia has certainly caught the attention of the nation and the world since its beginnings. Please join in the many celebrations in 2013 that will salute these achievements of yesterday.
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To this day, historians continue to debate Carlile’s tragic transformation from the state’s most ardent proponent to its greatest traitor.
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Struggle forWest Statehood Virginia’s Secession By Bryan Ward
When Abraham Lincoln was elected
president on November 6, 1860, southern states erupted with calls for secession. By the time Virginia responded to the pending crisis, seven states had already left the union. When delegates arrived in Richmond, a majority of them did not support secession. Some, like former Governor Henry Wise, vehemently called for disunion. Others, like John Carlile, boisterously stumped for Virginia to remain in the Union. Carlile, a Clarksburg lawyer and former state senator, met every call for secession with a fierce rebuttal. During debates, Carlile referred to the crisis as a Southern conspiracy that would result in “self-murder.” He called secession “an insult to all living humanity, and a crime against God.” His views, however, weren’t universally well-received in Richmond. Carlile was accosted on the street, and at one point a rowdy crowd gathered outside his boarding house with a noose.
Another staunch Unionist at the convention was Morgantown lawyer Waitman Willey who also challenged secession. While Carlile evoked the Almighty in his dramatic attacks, Willey calmly and prophetically warned the delegates gathered in Richmond that secession would eventually lead to a division of the state. On April 4, Carlile and Willey were united with the majority when they voted down a motion for secession, but, within weeks, they would find themselves precariously in the minority. When Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, and Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion, the mood of the convention shifted. Delegates quickly ExEdge passed an ordinance of secession by a vote of 88 to 55. With the passage of Claiming the Eastern the measure, Virginia’s secession was Panhandle and then placed in the hands of the voters on its Baltimore and May 23. Fearing for their lives, Carlile, Ohio Railroad as Willey and the others who had voted part of the new West Virginia against secession quickly left town and was of utmost returned home to mobilize against it. importance Citizens in western Virginia gathered because it to voice their opposition to secession. removed the railroad from the One of the largest pro-Union gatherings Confederacy’s occurred in Clarksburg on Monday, April control. 22, when nearly 1,200 people gathered Source: www. at the courthouse. At the meeting led wvculture.org by Carlile and others, the convention Universityissued a proclamation that challenged the actions of the Richmond Secession Convention and called for a convention of pro-Union delegates to meet in Wheeling on May 13.
An image of the Wheeling Custom House, also known as Independence Hall, as it appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper on August 10, 1861.
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The interior of the Wheeling Custom House during the first session of the Second Wheeling Convention.
Early the following morning, Blair made his way to the White House to learn of Lincoln’s decision. When he arrived, the White House was closed for New Year’s Day. Blair, unable to wait, found an open window and climbed inside.
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On May 13, 1861, the First Wheeling Convention opened at Washington Hall. Two camps quickly developed. General John Jay Jackson, Willey and a majority of the delegates were willing to wait for the vote on the secession ordinance on May 23. Carlile and others, however, were ready for action and called for the formation of the state of New Virginia, which would remain loyal to the Union. In spite of his efforts, Carlile’s motion failed. In an uncharacteristic move, Carlile temporarily abandoned his statehood position and joined with the others to support the resolution that condemned secession and called for delegates to return to Wheeling if the secession ordinance passed. When voters did, in fact, ratify secession, the delegates returned to Wheeling and selected Arthur Boreman of Parkersburg as president of the convention. On June 13, Carlile presented “A Declaration of the People of Virginia,” which called for a reorganization of the state government with a new slate of state officials. Carlile abandoned his earlier call for statehood and instead moved to create a pro-Union government at Wheeling with the hope of forming a new state later. The ordinance was passed, and on June 20, 1861, the Restored Government of Virginia took
shape with Francis Pierpont selected as governor. With the move, Virginia now had two governments: one Confederate in Richmond and one that was loyal to the Union in Wheeling. On July 9, Willey and Carlile were selected as the state’s two U.S. senators. For many, like Archibald Campbell, editor of the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, Carlile was the best suited for the task at hand, but for Willey, they had a harsher appraisal. Campbell said he would rather have any one of the other two candidates that ran against Willey. He felt that Willey was “a man of good enough abilities, experience and good character” but “not, never was, nor never will be a leader.” He further lamented that Willey did not have “the backbone for times like these.” After some initial wrangling and a heated debate in the U.S. Senate, Carlile and Willey were seated nonetheless. In August, the Reorganized Government of Virginia met and approved a referendum for the creation of a new state, and on October 24, voters approved the measure. In November, a meeting was convened to write a constitution for the new state. The constitution was completed in February, but the question of slavery loomed large. The final result was a compromise provision that prohibited free blacks or slaves from permanent settlement in the state, a provision that would come back to haunt statehood leaders. Voters approved the new constitution on April 3, 1862, and on May 13, the Reorganized Government of Virginia approved the creation of the new state. With the local hurdles completed, the measure now moved on for approval by Congress and President Abraham Lincoln. On May 29, 1862, Willey presented the formal petition to the Senate for the admission of West Virginia to the Union. The petition was forwarded to the Committee on Territories where Carlile was tasked with writing the bill. When Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio reported the West Virginia bill to the Senate on June 23, Willey and the statehood supporters in Wheeling were stunned. The bill drafted by Carlile was vastly different from what they had expected. Carlile had added 15 counties, provided for gradual emancipation and called for a new state constitutional convention. Willey moved quickly and offered an amendment to the bill to rectify the damage. After some compromise, the Willey Amendment,
as it became known, called for West Virginia statehood with the gradual emancipation of slaves if the state constitutional convention approved of the measure. Carlile bristled at any attempt for the federal government to impose conditions on the state. He openly opposed and argued against the Willey Amendment and actually voted against the statehood bill. In spite of Carlile’s vote against the measure, the bill passed the Senate by a vote of 23 to 17 on July 14. Ironically, it had been over a year since the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer questioned Willey’s resolve in manner of statehood, but it was he alone who rescued the West Virginia bill in the Senate. With passage in the Senate, the bill moved on to the House of Representatives. After another contentious debate, the measure passed the House on December 10 by a vote of 96 to 55. When the West Virginia bill first made its way to the White House, Lincoln lamented to Illinois Senator Orville Browning that he wished he had more time to consider the bill. Under the Constitution, Lincoln had 10 days to approve, veto or let the bill become law without his signature. Browning, sensing the president’s concerns, offered to delay delivery of the bill for a week, which he did after providing the president with an unofficial copy. A week later, on December 22, 1862, Lincoln was officially presented with the West Virginia statehood bill. Lincoln sent a copy of the bill to his cabinet members and asked them whether the act was constitutional and expedient. The cabinet split evenly with three in support of the bill and three against it. Unfortunately for Lincoln, the final decision would rest with him alone. When word of Lincoln’s plan to ask for opinions from his cabinet reached Willey, Congressmen William Brown and Jacob Blair, they hurriedly met with three members of Lincoln’s cabinet. On December 31, the three met with Lincoln himself. During the meeting, Lincoln read the opinions of his cabinet without revealing the authors’ names, but Willey, Brown and Blair were well aware where each member stood. Finally, Lincoln shared his view and then bid them farewell until the next day when his decision would be made. Early the following morning, Blair made his way to the White House to learn of Lincoln’s decision. When he arrived, the White House was closed for New Year’s Day. Blair, unable to wait, found an open window and climbed inside. When he found Lincoln, who had just woken up, Lincoln went to his desk and retrieved the bill. He showed Blair the signed West Virginia bill. An elated Blair thanked the president and quickly made his way to find Willey. After sharing the news, the two men rushed off to telegraph the results to Wheeling. The West Virginia Constitutional Convention reconvened, approved the Willey Amendment and set a state referendum vote for March 26. Carlile and others continued fighting and urged voters to vote against the changes, but the measure passed. On June 20, 1863, to much fanfare, West Virginia entered the Union as the 35th state. Following statehood, the loyal Restored Government of Virginia and Governor Francis Pierpont moved to Alexandria where he was re-elected and later became the governor of Virginia during reconstruction. Willey became a senator for West Virginia where he served until 1871. To this day, historians continue to debate Carlile’s tragic transformation from the state’s most ardent proponent to its greatest traitor. Photography provided by West Virginia State Archives
A map of the new State of West Virginia, as it appeared in the New York Herald on December 14, 1862.
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Regional Focus Compiled by Jennifer JEtt
West Virginia Business Plan Competition Shatters Record Number of Entries The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in West Virginia, as this year’s Statewide Business Plan Competition shattered records for the number of entries and the number of participating colleges and universities. The 2012-13 competition received 141 entries from 11 schools, both of which represent records. Last year’s 117 entries were the most received in the program’s history, and the previous record number of participating schools in a single year was nine, also last year. “Interest in the West Virginia Statewide Business Plan Competition continues to grow, and we couldn’t be happier with the participation this year,” says Steven Cutright, director of the West Virginia University (WVU) Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The center is housed in the WVU College of Business and Economics, which hosts the annual statewide competition. Winners in each of two categories will be awarded $10,000 for their first place business plans to proceed with establishing and opening their businesses in West Virginia. Those two winners also receive a one-year professional services package that includes legal and accounting services, as well as space for one year in the West Virginia University Business Incubator. The package is valued at more than $6,000. Cutright says there are 90 entries in the Lifestyle & Innovation category and 51 entries in the Hospitality & Tourism category. Along with WVU, entries were received from Bluefield State College, Concord University, Fairmont State University, Glenville State College, Marshall University, Shepherd University, the University of Charleston, West Liberty University, Wheeling Jesuit University and West Virginia Wesleyan College. In the seven years the statewide competition has been held, 677 teams from 14 different West Virginia colleges and universities have participated. “On behalf of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and the state’s higher education system, I applaud the West Virginia Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition,” says Dr. Paul Hill, chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission. “This competition, which is now in its seventh
year, has provided nearly 700 student teams with an opportunity to showcase their entrepreneurial spirit while networking with both their peers and business leaders from across the state. Such activities are a critical component of the student experience by stimulating learning and generating innovative ideas, products and services.” More than 100 state and regional business professionals volunteered their time as mentors, coaches and judges throughout the course of the competition last year. “Our goal is to have participation by all 21 West Virginia colleges and universities,” Cutright says. “We have worked very hard on expanding the competition into schools that may not have had much or any participation in the competition before. Great ideas are born on college campuses every day, and it’s important that the entrepreneurial and innovative platform the business plan competition provides is made available to every student in West Virginia who wants to participate.”
Parkersburg Businesswoman Named Small Business Person of the Year Judy Sheppard, president and CEO of Professional Services of America, Inc. (PSA) located in Parkersburg, has been named the 2012 West Virginia and Region 3 Minority Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). “The presentation of this prestigious award provides us the opportunity to recognize the entrepreneurial achievements not only of Judy Sheppard, but of the minority small business community as well,” says SBA Regional Administrator Natalia Olson-Urtecho. Sheppard was recognized as 2012 West Virginia and Region 3 Minority Small Business Person of the Year at the Women in Technology Conference held at the Oglebay Resort and Conference Center in Wheeling. The conference, sponsored by TechConnect West Virginia, was held October 18-19 with the ceremony during the October 18 luncheon. “PSA, a participant in the SBA’s 8(a) business development program, has shown tremendous business growth during their involvement in the program. This, I believe, is a direct reflection of the entrepreneurial abilities of Judy Sheppard. I am thrilled to be able to recognize her as the 2012 West Virginia and Region 3 Minority Small
Business Person of the Year,” says SBA West Virginia Director Judy McCauley. This year marks the 30th year that the SBA has recognized outstanding owners of minority small businesses for their individual achievements, contributions to our nation’s economy and those who best exemplify entrepreneurial success. Since 1983, the President of the United States has designated a day in recognition of the minority small business community’s contribution to our nation’s economy. Sheppard, a Native American, established PSA in 1989 with two employees and has grown the business to more than 244 fulltime employees in 40 states with an office presence in Washington, D.C.; Gulfport, MS; Chicago, IL and Fort Bliss, TX. Under Sheppard’s leadership, PSA doubled in size and today is a $12 million business with federal and commercial contracts. The company is engaged in a wide variety of different yet complimentary services with the primary focus to provide human resource staffing and project management and development services to meet the needs of clients in government and corporate sectors.
West Liberty University Professor Named to National Fulbright Selection Committee West Liberty University’s Associate Professor of Marketing Dr. Joseph Scarpaci has been named to the National Fulbright Selection Committee. “I am pleased to be invited to serve on the national selection committee and to be involved in this important process of naming students for Fulbright Scholarships to pursue research and teaching overseas,” Scarpaci says. Dr. Joseph Scarpaci
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Scarpaci is the chair of the department of marketing and management, which is part of the Gary E. West College of Business. He was notified by the Institute of International Education and will serve on the committee for the Southern Cone region that includes Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil. The institute is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes stronger cultural relations between the U.S. and other nations through educational exchange and training programs. Scarpaci specializes in Cuban culture and the emerging Cuban economy. Now in his second year at West Liberty University, he teaches marketing research methods, marketing principles, retail marketing and international marketing.
Mine Safety Training Earns MSHA Award A manual created by the Center for Educational Technologies to help miners discuss important safety topics has earned an award from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). “Toolbox Training: Mine Safety” received first place in the printed materials category of the 2012 Mine Health and Safety Training Materials Competition. The event kicked off the threeday 2012 Training Resources Applied to Mining (TRAM)/ National Mine Instructors Seminar sponsored by MSHA, which was held at MSHA’s National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beaver, WV. The training book features 33 scenarios in 11 general mine safety topics, ranging from avoiding roof and rib collapses in underground mines to guarding against highwall collapses and rollover accidents at surface mines. The team, part of the center’s Emergency Preparedness and Worker Safety Training
Program, researched 33 actual fatal mining accidents in the United States over the last decade and designed safety training around the common causes of those accidents. The scenarios are organized so that trainers or supervisors at a mine can deliver them in short, roughly 15-minute increments, giving trainers the freedom to have safety discussions at the mine while on the way underground to begin a shift, for example. Each topic features three real life scenarios, questions designed to get miners discussing similar safety scenarios at their mine or prep plant, a wealth of safety best practices around each topic and illustrations highlighting many of those best practices. Each topic is covered on the front and back of a page to allow for ease of use for both trainers and miners. Another manual created by the Center for Educational Technologies also received recognition at the TRAM conference. The workbook, “The Dust Management: Protecting Your Health,” received an achievement certificate. This workbook highlights health hazards and other dangers dust presents in underground and surface mining, and it offers ways to manage dust effectively. “The Center for Educational Technologies is pleased to contribute to NIOSH (the National Institute for Occupational Safety Training and Health) and MSHA’s efforts to provide improved training resources for mine safety instructors,” says Hope Coffield, manager of the Emergency Preparedness and Worker Safety Training Program. “Effective training materials can have a longlasting, positive impact on the health and safety training at mining operations. The ultimate goal of improved, innovative training is to prevent workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses.”
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Snowshoe Hires New Director of Sales and Marketing Snowshoe Mountain Resort, the No. 1 ski area in the Southeast, recently announced that David Dekema has been named Snowshoe’s new director of sales and marketing. In this position, he oversees key marketing, sales, public relations and promotions initiatives. Dekema has more than 20 years of marketing experience and has held several executive management positions at large and small companies in the resort, hospitality and Internet industries. For the past nine years, Dekema was director of marketing for Angel Fire Resort, a year-round ski and golf destination in New Mexico. He has also held the positions of vice president of brand promotions for AOL and director of marketing at Starwave, where he managed strategic partnership programs. “With Dave Dekema’s experience in marketing and resort management, combined with his strong leadership abilities and creativity, we are confident that he will help us reach our strategic marketing goals,” says Frank DeBerry, Snowshoe’s COO.
graduate degrees in business administration from the California University of Pennsylvania. Chuck Myden has been named branch manager for MVB’s Morgantown office and he will also manage the new Sabraton location when it opens in 2013. Myden joined MVB Bank earlier this year as the branch manager of MVB’s Cheat Lake office. With 26 years of experience in the banking industry, Myden most recently worked for First Commonwealth Bank in McMurray, PA. He is a native of Uniontown. Joseph Spadafore has been named the vice president and deposit calling manager and is based at the MVB Operations Center in Bridgeport. He is responsible for deposit growth programs including a new employer-based product with special features for employees called MVB@Work. An experienced banker, Spadafore relocated back to his home region following several banking assignments throughout West Virginia and parts of Kentucky during the past 12 years.
MVB Bank Appoints Branch Managers in Key Markets
Jenkins Fenstermaker Attorneys Named “The Best Lawyers in America”
MVB Bank has announced the appointment of two branch managers at locations in Clarksburg and Morgantown/Cheat Lake/Sabraton and the appointment of a vice president/deposit calling manager for the Bridgeport area. Jacqueline Britt has been named branch manager for MVB’s newest location in downtown Clarksburg’s historic district. Britt was most recently the branch manager at MVB’s Morgantown office. Her background includes more than six years of experience in banking and investments. She earned her undergraduate and
Jenkins Fenstermaker, PLLC, is pleased to announce that nine of its 22 attorneys were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2013 edition of “The Best Lawyers in America.” In addition, Thomas Scarr was recognized as a Best Lawyers’ 2013 Lawyer of the Year in the areas of Employment Law Management and ERISA (the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) Litigation. The nine Jenkins Fenstermaker attorneys recognized in the publication are: Wesley Agee, selected for Mergers and
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Acquisitions Law; Stephen Golder, selected for Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Real Estate Law; Lee Murray Hall, selected for Insurance Coverage; Henry Kayes, selected for Trusts and Estates Law; Brian Lindsay, selected for Mass Tort Litigation; Robert Sweeney, Jr., selected for Medical Malpractice Law; Steve Wellman, selected for Workers’ Compensation Law and Thomas Scarr, selected for Commercial, Construction, ERISA and Labor and Employment Litigation and Employment Law. First published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 36,000 leading attorneys cast almost 4.4 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in the same and related specialties.
Concord University Participates in College Application and Exploration Week Governor Earl Ray Tomblin proclaimed October 1-5, 2012, as “College Application and Exploration Week” in the Mountain State, and Concord University was among the more than 70 colleges and universities, middle schools, high schools and community organizations across West Virginia to participate in the observance. The goal of the week was to assist more students in preparing for education and training beyond high school. Participating schools and organizations hosted events and activities designed to help students and families explore and apply to higher education programs. Concord University hosted a “College Prep Rally” on October 1. Sponsored by West Virginia GEAR UP, the event brought 400 high school students out to campus from Southern West Virginia to learn about the college application and admissions process.
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Ohio Valley University Leaders Attend Event to Celebrate Civic Engagement and Alumni Ohio Valley University (OVU) President Dr. Harold Shank, along with university staff and board members, recently traveled to Washington, D.C., as honored guests for The Washington Center (TWC) 2012 Gala event. The October 1 gala took place at the renowned National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., and recognized how individuals can impact nations and society through civic engagement. It honored special individuals who have devoted their lives to the service of their fellow citizens for the betterment of society. TWC for Internships and Academic Seminars is an independent, nonprofit educational organization founded in 1975. Its mission is to prepare college and university students for civic leadership through experiential education. In this way, The Washington Center seeks to promote future leadership for the private, public and nonprofit sectors of society. It has served approximately 50,000 students from close to 1,000 colleges and universities located in the United States and around the world. Dr. Jim Bullock, OVU vice president for Academic Affairs, serves on TWC’s Liaison Advisory Board and has served as a faculty leader for several of its academic seminars since 2005. “OVU has sent more than a half dozen students during the past five summers to Washington to participate in a variety of competitive internships, and they have thrived,” says Bullock. “OVU’s partnership with TWC is helping to place the Mid-Ohio Valley on a national stage for excellence in higher education, and we could not be more pleased to be affiliated with such a fine organization.”
Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau Partners with Charles Ryan Associates The Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) is pleased to announce a partnership with Charles Ryan Associates (CRA) as their new marketing agency and Web site development firm. After a long selection period, the CVB elected to collaborate with this nationally recognized yet locally owned public relations firm. In order to market more effectively, the CVB sought out to hire a full-service marketing agency to redesign its Web site. Proposal requests were issued separately to ensure the best agency was selected for the job. Proposals were reviewed by a selection committee and the top two scoring agencies were brought in for oral presentations. Charles Ryan Associates and Stonewall Retail Marketing were asked to present a strategy directed toward Charleston residents in a “Bring It Home” campaign. “We are elated to be working for the City of Charleston and the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau,” says Susan Lavenski, managing partner at Charles Ryan Associates. “This is the city where our company was founded 38 years ago, so it has a great deal of special meaning for us to secure this partnership to work together to promote this destination.” In an evolving effort, the Charleston CVB continues to brand Charleston, WV as a destination city with something for everyone. New marketing initiatives include a recently introduced five-minute video and full staff.
Blueprint Communities Initiative Expanding in Southern West Virginia
Tara Cosco
Glenville State College Professor Publishes Book for Aspiring Teachers Glenville State College (GSC) Assistant Professor of Special Education Tara Cosco has published her first book titled “Follow Your Dream: Become a Teacher.” Cosco wrote the book in hopes of preparing her Foundations of Education class students for the real world of teaching. She gives pointers and tips along with personal experiences to give her students a better understanding of teaching beyond the required textbook. “This book allows me to expand my class time and personally reach each of my students and other future educators,” says Cosco. “I hope that through my mistakes and accomplishments, I can prepare my readers to enter the teaching field prepared to make a difference in the lives of their own students and community.” “I am proud of Tara’s hard work and dedication to the students of GSC,” says Dean of Teacher Education Dr. Kevin Cain. “I am amazed she was able to write such a quality book while working on her doctorate.” “If you can inspire students to love learning, you have truly succeeded as an educator,” says Cosco. “One of my brightest moments was raising a student’s reading level from second grade to fifth grade in six months’ time. This book is an effort to teach my students to become lifelong learners.”
The Blueprint Communities initiative, which helps smaller communities gain their second wind through a program of leadership training, capacity building, community planning and access to private and public funds, is expanding in Southern West Virginia. The initiative, inaugurated in 2007 in 10 West Virginia communities, is now recruiting other communities interested in gaining the tools they need to spur revitalization in their neighborhoods. Three of the original Blueprint Communities organizers—Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh , West Virginia Community Development Hub and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation—have decided to bring a second round of community building to the state in concert with other partners and have specifically targeted Southern West Virginia due to ongoing area needs. Up to seven communities will be selected to participate in this second round, which gets under way in December and runs through late 2013. To be eligible, a community must have a population of 1,000-30,000; may be a neighborhood within a municipality, a single municipality or a collection of contiguous municipalities and must not have completed a community vision and comprehensive revitalization strategy within the last two years. In addition, communities must demonstrate local leadership, possess basic development capacity and be able to assemble a diverse team of local leaders committed to attending training sessions and advancing the welfare of their neighbors. Communities selected for participation will enjoy benefits that include six days of community revitalization training including materials, meals and lodging with a total value of more than $15,000; coaching from a certified expert carrying a value of more than $10,000; a community profile containing key indicators and trends and a mini-grant for technical assistance, project implementation or predevelopment needs after successful completion of training. Since Blueprint Communities was introduced to West Virginia in 2007, local team leaders report that 20 housing projects, 25 new or expanded businesses, 33 infrastructure projects and 69 other projects have been completed or are under way. Total public/private funding for these projects stands at $26.8 million.
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Ad Finder ACT Foundation Adventures On the Gorge Appalachian Log Structures
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ME Consulting Engineers, Inc.
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Mid Atlantic Aerospace Complex Inc.
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NARCO, Inc.
Asayo Creative
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Pikewood Creative
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Mon Valley Integration LLC
Arnett Foster Toothman PLLC
Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center
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SITECH Mid-South, LLC
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Blue Mountain Aerial Mapping
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Smoker Friendly
BrickStreet Insurance
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Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC
CAMC Foundation
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State Farm Insurance
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Stonewall Resort
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Summersville CVB
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Capitol Business Interiors Chapman Technical Group Chesapeake Energy Creative Spatial, LLC Decota Consulting Company, Inc.
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Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP
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Edward Tucker Architects, Inc.
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Enviroprobe Integrated Solutions, Inc.
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Suttle & Stalnaker PLLC Syrra Salon
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Tamarack Foundation
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Tamarack Gift Shop
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Thomas Health System
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United Bank
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Fifth Third Bank
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Walker Machinery Co.
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Goldman Associates, Inc.
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Waterfront Place Hotel
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French Door Cover
Wells Fargo Insurance Services
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Greater Morgantown CVB
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West Virginia American Water
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H&H Enterprises
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West Virginia Housing Development Fund
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Greater Bridgeport CVB
Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young LLP
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West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
Hayflich Grigoraci CPA
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West Virginia State University
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Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield
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West Virginia University
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Holiday Inn Express
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White Oak Photography
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Holiday Inn West
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WV Division of Rehabilitation Services
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HSC Building Automation & Controls
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WV Economic Development Authority
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HSC Industrial
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WV Higher Education Policy Commission
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Industrial Bolting Technologies, Inc.
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WVHTC Foundation
Komax Business Systems
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WVU Communication Studies
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ZMM Architects & Engineers
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Law Offices of Clinton W. Smith March-Westin Company, Inc.
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