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Princeton, WV 24740
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In the News
• IPM Hiring 100
New Employees
• Mercer County Leads WV
New Business Growth
• Intuit Locating in Bluefield
with 200-500 Employees
and New Prosperity Hub
Find these stories and more at
www.mercereda.com/news.
Photo by Visit Mercer County.
Community leaders and elected
officials in Mercer County are
making changes to be more region-
ally focused in their efforts to im-
prove the Southern West Virginia
business climate. Changes began
when Mercer County’s two cham-
bers of commerce, which stood
separate for more than 100 years,
came together in 2019 to form the
Chamber of Commerce of the Two
Virginias—an important first step
in building a regional partnership.
“It was a common belief that if
the chambers that aim to enhance
business and commerce—a goal
everyone can support—could merge
together and reduce duplicative
services, then others may follow
that lead,” says Chamber President
and CEO Joshua Cline.
Elected leaders are also making a
stronger investment in the Mercer
County Economic Development
Authority (EDA) through new lead-
ership and an increase in funding,
allowing it to be a greater advocate
for the region. The EDA showcases
Mercer County’s excellent location
for business along the I-77 corri-
dor with its proximity to I-64 and
I-81, and it provides personalized
attention to businesses’ needs.
“Mercer County offers many
opportunities and benefits to com-
panies looking for a good location
with developed infrastructure,”
says Mercer County EDA Exec-
utive Director John O’Neal. “At
the same time, meeting our exist-
ing businesses’ needs to help them
grow and expand is an important
way to supercharge our business
climate in the short term.”
Both leaders cite the importance
of creating a team mentality, which
they put into practice with weekly
communication on the vision for the
area between their organizations,
county and local governments; the
convention and visitor’s bureau; and
other key players in the community.
“We believe that by working as
one collective business community,
we can see greater gains in the eco-
nomic development, tourism and
political realms,” says Cline. “The
comradery and united vision are
helping shift the community’s per-
spective toward thinking the local
business climate is getting better
and our future holds great potential.”