executive assistant to the mayor, says the committee is currently working on an outdoor space at the public library for children’ s projects and outdoor reading.
The city’ s homeless commission, made up of 25 community volunteers, has worked to help those in need by hosting resource fairs to provide things like hygiene kits, food and clothing. The Ministerial Association also hosts The Table, a free community soup kitchen.
“ Summersville is really proud of our efforts to try to offer a hand to people who need it,” Taylor says.
Southern West Virginia also uplifts its communities by aiding local entrepreneurs with programs like Accelerate WV, which offers coaching, planning and funding for local economic resilience.
According to Judy Moore, NRGRDA deputy director and WV Hive executive director, the WV Hive is seeking a location for a food incubation hub to build a shared commercial kitchen for food and beverage entrepreneurs.
“ In our Accelerate WV partnership with the WV Community Development Hub, we ' re seeing tremendous impact because we are at the core of the community conversations,” Moore says.
Photo by New River Gorge Regional Development Authority.
“ We’ re getting in touch with the leaders of communities who then connect us to the entrepreneurs we need to work with.”
Concord University is helping youth prosper, one example being its involvement in the Special Olympics. Concord partners with the Special Olympics yearround, often hosting events at the Carter Center or Callaghan Stadium.
“ Our student athletes and coaches volunteer as support staff for Special Olympic events, and olympians are recognized in the fall with a signing day, making them an official part of the Mountain Lion family,” Lindsey Byars, director of marketing and public relations, says.
Ascend WV is expanding community in the New River Gorge and Greenbrier Valley. Emily Huguenin, director of talent attraction and retention for West Virginia University’ s( WVU) Brad & Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative( OEDC), says 171 remote workers have relocated to the region through the program.
Huguenin also mentions First Ascent, an initiative aimed at offering remote, hybrid and entrepreneurial work opportunities. She says First Ascent has helped 20 recent university graduates launch careers in Southern West Virginia.
“ Through talent attraction and retention, we are changing the narrative that quality of life and a successful career are only found by leaving,” Huguenin says.“ Those whose jobs allow them to live anywhere are choosing West Virginia over anywhere else in the country.”
The City of Beckley has been promoting community through exciting partnerships as well, according to Director of Outdoor Development Mitch Lehman. These include the Beckley Outdoors Coalition, which promotes coordination and offers resources, and Beckley Area Trails, which works to build and maintain the town’ s trail systems.
“ This kind of grassroots involvement is critical to sustaining high-quality outdoor recreation infrastructure in the long term, and it’ s been inspiring to see the level of energy and commitment they bring,” Lehman says.
Education
West Virginia’ s education sector is constantly growing with new opportunities, and the story is no different in Southern West Virginia.
Photo by New River Gorge CVB.
Becky Sullivan, executive director of the New River Gorge Convention & Visitors Bureau( CVB), says CVB staff is educating elementary school students on outdoor ethics through the Leave No Trace program.
“ Within the next school year, we will go into the classrooms in Fayette County and cover all the elementary school age kids, fourth and fifth grade, to give them the Leave No Trace principles and lessons,” Sullivan says.
Lisa Strader, director at Visit Southern West Virginia, emphasizes the importance of the program in teaching outdoor ethics early.
“ I think it’ s a really good thing to teach at a very young age when a huge part of our tourism footprint is in parks, and if people don ' t keep them clean and take care of them, we won ' t have that anymore,” she says.
WVU Medicine Princeton Community Hospital is advancing education through a partnership with Bluefield State University, hosting eighth graders on campus who want to explore nursing careers. The hospital also provides post-secondary students with clinical hours and offers nursing students financial support and job placement through its Aspiring Nurses program.
“ We are very active in supporting the next generation of nurses,” Karen Bowling, president and CEO of Princeton Community Hospital, says.
WVU Tech in Beckley is renowned for its STEM education. Ramon Stuart, president of WVU Tech, says this includes a top 100 engineering program, the state’ s only four-year construction management degree and the number one return on investment of any other four-year institution in West Virginia.
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