Assistant Secretary of Defense Todd Weiler visits the Patriot Guardens program at Camp Dawson. Photo by WVARNG.
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how to weed and how to fertilize. Tying Patriot Guardens to the flood recovery is helping individuals re-establish themselves and grow to a bigger capacity than where they were before the flood.”
Patriot Guardens has also extended its efforts to Nicholas County, where they received a grant from the Office of Surface Mining to plant 100,000 apple trees on a post-surface mining site.
“ We see tremendous opportunities through the post-surface mining sites and the flood zones,” says McHugh.“ This is an opportunity to work with the mining companies during reclamation to steer their efforts toward agriculture, which would also produce additional jobs.”
Taking on Tourism and Technology
To assist towns considering new opportunities to increase their tourism-based economic activities, the WVARNG offers mapping and grant writing services to evaluate empty properties, such as those impacted by the flood near White Sulphur Springs, WV. The Guard is also evaluating tourism-based opportunities along the Cherry River in Richwood and the Elk River in Clendenin, as well as new opportunities for West Virginia’ s emerging foodie market.
Another unexpected economic opportunity following the flood is software development. Mined Minds, a company uniquely committed to West Virginia, offers coding boot camps and apprenticeships to help out-of-work miners jump-start careers in the tech industry. After the flood, the company expanded its work to Clendenin, where it guaranteed 20 software jobs that allow employees to work from home.
“ A Clendenin building that had eight feet of water in the basement when the flood waters first started to recede is now home to a software development company that has hired 11 of the first 20 jobs they’ ve committed to in the area,” says Hoyer.“ Who would’ ve thought that before the flood there would be 20 software development jobs in Clendenin? That’ s a pretty good example of where we think we can go in turning this bad situation into a unique opportunity to allow us to be the catalyst to reinvent these economies.”
Through the post-flood recovery economic development efforts, the WVARNG hopes to lead West Virginia into the future.
“ The flood recovery is both a big challenge and a big opportunity to change the future of West Virginia,” says Hoyer.“ I’ ve told the communities that we don’ t want them to think about what they used to be. We don’ t want them to think about this process from the standpoint of looking like they did 30 years ago. Instead, we want them to envision what they want to look like 10 years from now. We are not going to look back.” •
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