Investing in the
Mountain State
West Virginia is ripe for growth, and companies around the world are taking notice of the benefits of doing business here.
According to the West Virginia Development Office, the Mountain State is ranked first in the country for economic growth
for 2019, has the fourth lowest workers’ compensation rate and has a 16 percent lower cost of living than the national average.
Ranked the 11th best state for the cost of doing business, it is no wonder that businesses representing 27 countries now have
a presence in West Virginia.
Since 2017, West Virginia has seen $5 billion in business investments, from new buildings to facility expansions, which
translates to the creation of new jobs and the generation of additional tax revenue for the state and its communities.
From Northrop Grumman’s new 50,000-square-foot facility in Mineral County and Toyota’s $115 million expansion in
Buffalo to the arrival of Carbon Activated’s 55 jobs in Fayette County and Solvay’s $70 million investment in Willow Island,
growth is taking place all over the Mountain State, and West Virginia’s business community has much to celebrate.
AHF Products
BY KATLIN SWISHER. AHF Products, the largest pre-finished
hardwood flooring plant in North America, is undergoing a
$9.2 million expansion project that is set to add 85,000 square
feet to the plant’s existing 750,000-square-foot manufacturing
space. AHF is located in Beverly, WV, and produces four species
of pre-finished hardwood flooring—red oak, white oak, maple
and hickory. With completion expected by October 31, 2019,
the project will add a distribution center and create additional
warehouse and manufacturing space.
“The distribution center will allow for flooring not only
produced in Beverly but other plants to be shipped from this
location,” says Blaine Emery, manager of the Beverly plant.
“The goal of the expansion is to become more efficient in dis-
tributing our product to our customers. This allows us to be
more responsive to our customers’ needs in an ever-changing
marketplace.”
As a result of the expansion, 60 jobs will be saved and 50
new jobs will be created over the next five years.
“This expansion is a partnership between AHF Products and
the Randolph County Development Authority that will anchor
this production in Randolph County for another 20 years with
opportunity to grow,” says Emery. “This means stability for
loggers, sawmills, users of our wood waste and many others.
We also need more trucks to not only bring lumber into the
plant but also to ship our finished flooring out to our customers.
Our truck traffic in and out of the plant will increase signifi-
cantly when the project is completed.”
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
This project also creates the potential for a significant number
of indirect jobs to be added to Randolph County’s workforce,
as AHF already purchases approximately 90 million board feet
of lumber per year from more than 100 sawmills in the region.
That quantity will likely increase once the expansion is complete.
“The distribution center allows distribution to be located
closer to the plant’s customer base, which is primarily in the
eastern U.S., instead of shipping west to our existing distribu-
tion center in Dixon, TN,” says Emery. “This provides faster
customer service as well as more efficient shipping operations.”
The products are not only made in West Virginia but so is the
expansion itself. The construction is being done by Paramount
Builders from St. Albans, WV, and the architectural and engi-
neering work is being led by Pickering Associates of Parkersburg.