GARVEE Bonds
Another $500 million will come from
federal GARVEE bonds. The revenue
from these bonds will support interstate
reconstruction, bridge replacements, slide
repairs and freeway drainage. According
to Smith, the state has only reconstructed
about seven miles of interstate over the
last 10 years due to lack of funds.
“With the GARVEE bonds, one of the
things you will see is interstate recon-
struction on 60 miles around the state
in about 13 different projects,” he says.
The 60 miles will include sections of I-77,
I-64 between Huntington and Charles-
ton, I-79 and I-81.
So far, the state has sold $220 million
in GARVEE bonds. Because of the state’s
credit rating, the DOT was able to lever-
age $260 million in revenue. A second in-
stallment of GARVEE bonds will be sold
in early summer for $100-120 million.
Project Transparency
To select the more than 600 proj-
ects, the DOT followed a six-year plan,
which was already in place prior
to the new bonds, as well as
other transportation planning
characteristics and recommen-
dations from West Virginia
communities.
“We asked, ‘Where are the
surfaces of our roadways most
in need of repair? Where do we
have deficient bridges that need
to be repaired? Where do we
have projects that will have the
biggest bang for their buck from
an economic recovery stand-
point?’” says Smith. “Those are
the types of things that led us
to pick the number of projects
we have county by county.”
The DOT typically receives about $450
million in federal funds and up to $300
million in state funds annually for rou-
tine maintenance and other projects. With
those funds still intact, the department is
working to repair equipment, buildings
and other infrastructure that have been
neglected. All of the projects, including
construction schedules and contract in-
formation, will be documented on the
DOT’s website at transportation.wv.gov.
“We are trying to operate with more
transparency than we ever have,” says
Smith. “As time goes by, we will be put-
ting more and more information out. The
public will be able to find out who the
contractor is, what the contract amount is
and what the project does for the roadway.
We realize how important this is and how
important it is for us to do it correctly.”
Job Creation
More than 48,000 jobs are expect-
ed to be created in West Virginia as a
result of these investments. That number
was determined by a formula used in a
study by Duke University, which indi-
cates 28,000 jobs are created for every
$1 billion invested.
The types of jobs include direct jobs,
which are jobs working on the actual
projects, like construction; indirect jobs,
which are related to the project’s imple-
mentation such as engineers designing the
projects or factory workers in the steel
fabrication plants that produce materi-
als for the projects; and induced or trick-
le-down jobs, which reflect the changes
in the economy such as equipment manu-
facturers and dealers, restaurants, hotels
and entertainment.
“A lot of people were having to go
out of state to work because of the lack
of opportunities here in West Virginia,”
says Clowser. “Our road program was
going downhill quickly. We didn’t have
as many projects out for bid. The first
people who are going back to work are
those people who had to go to other states
for opportunities. We have contractors
who have already brought people back
to West Virginia. We are hoping to bring
a lot of West Virginians home to work
on our roads.”
Several West Virginia companies are
already hiring in preparation for these
projects and have plans to add more jobs
as the projects continue. SMH Construc-
tion, a bridge contractor in Bradley, WV,
is adding jobs in base-level labor like car-
pentry, iron working, finishing and sur-
veying and has also expanded its office
personnel. “We’ve significantly added
to our workforce in the last six months,
and we will continue to do so this year,”
says Shannon Hapuarachy, a construc-
tion engineer with SMH.
Martin Engineering in Hur-
ricane, WV, has already hired
eight new field technicians in
preparation for the increased
needs around the state. These
employees will work in mate-
rials testing, concrete, black-
top and compaction. According
to Paul Martin, the company’s
president, the company plans to
hire 20-30 more individuals in
the next year and open satellite
offices in Beckley, Bridgeport
and Charleston.
Rodney Holbert, the principal
engineer in charge for Burgess
and Niple, Inc., has anticipat-
ed the positive economic impact the road
bonds will have on the state’s economy
for some time. Despite usually hiring just
one engineer per year, which is generally
due to attrition, the Parkersburg-based
company has hired four engineers in the
last six months and is in the process of
hiring a fifth. It will also add two interns
to its staff this summer.
“The workload is coming,” says Hol-
bert. “We are getting great projects
from the highways department. We are
growing. I believe this is going to be our
economic stimulus. It’s good for West
Virginia. Lasting effects will come out
of this.”
“The workload is coming.
We are getting great projects
from the highways department.
We are growing. I believe this is
going to be our economic stimulus.
It’s good for West Virginia. Lasting
effects will come out of this.”
30
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
“The increase in jobs is already oc-
curring,” says Smith. “We have seen en-
gineering firms add employees or offic-
es to West Virginia, and construction
companies are moving their crews back
from other states because they realize a
surge is coming.”
According to Mike Clowser, execu-
tive director of the Contractors Associ-
ation of West Virginia, many Mountain
State contractors have been bidding in
neighboring states like Kentucky, Mary-
land, Ohio and Virginia and even as far
as North Carolina because those states
have seen increases in highway funding
in recent years.