[ real wv ]
#ChooseWV
A New Narrative for the Mountain State
“West Virginians need hope.”
According to Rachael Rae Dyer, a 2018 graduate of the
Leadership West Virginia (LWV) program, this is a reality that
touches every county in the Mountain State, and it’s a need
that drove her and her LWV classmates to action.
As part of the program’s curriculum, each new LWV class
chooses a special project to work on over the course of its year
together. The mission of each project is to do something that
helps move the Mountain State forward. Projects of past LWV
classes include the creation of the WV Visionary Group by
the class of 2014, which focuses on helping students in West
Virginia build strong values, learn leadership skills and nurture
relationships, and the donation of more than $20,000 by the
class of 2017 to the Backpack Program, which provides school
supplies to foster children in the Harrison County area.
After considering past projects and the impacts they have
had on communities throughout West Virginia, the 2018 class
agreed on a theme of hope for its project. As a result, this
class became the first in LWV’s 27-year history to create a
public relations campaign. The name of the campaign is Choose
West Virginia.
“We love our state and the people in it for many reasons,”
says Dyer, a small business owner and one of the class members
who took the lead on the Choose West Virginia campaign.
“West Virginia is a great place to work, play, start a business
and raise a family. We should control our own narrative about
the state.”
In November 2018, at the class’ graduation ceremony, that
common love for the state shone through in the unveiling of
a commercial that features small businesses, families and the
state’s natural beauty while including many members of the 2018
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
KATE REED
BEN BERRY
class in close-ups and voice-overs. The first-time viewing of the
commercial was met with a standing ovation from the audience.
“The Choose West Virginia project is very important to
the state because it is our story, told by us, to the world,” says
Steven Flaughers, a 2018 class graduate. “It was and is our
opportunity to visually and vocally tell others what we feel,
what we know and what we want everyone else to know about
West Virginia.”
Early on, the class deliberately discussed internal and external
perceptions of the state. During the first session each year,
many of the state’s economic statistics are presented by guest
speakers, and it was the concern regarding rankings and negative
attributes that incited the initial idea for this project. Negative
stories about West Virginia are often at the forefront of media
coverage, and the class wanted to change the narrative and
address many of the incorrect perceptions about the state.
“Negative information gets the most attention and makes
the news,” says Dyer. “When we only hear the negative, it can
be very challenging to remember the many positive things
about West Virginia and its people. West Virginians are all
over the world. We do amazing things, and we remember our
roots no matter where we live or how long we are gone. West
Virginians have amazing grit, problem solving skills and where-
withal to accomplish goals. This project was needed so we can
remember that, harness it, use it to overcome challenges and
work together to celebrate our state, bring people home and
improve our economy.”
As the year progressed, the class honed in on the details of
the campaign concept. The class worked together to write a
script, hire Mountain Craft Productions as its film production
company and raise money to fund the project. West Virginians