Impacting the Community
Even though they weren’t born in West
Virginia, Hitchcock and Yandura exude
the characteristics of true Mountaineers
with their strong work ethic, pride for
the Mountain State and enthusiasm to
re-energize their community. They are
more than just entrepreneurs, real estate
agents and rental property owners—they
are ambassadors for the state, inspiring
the locals and encouraging outsiders to
find their own paradise in West Virginia.
Over the past five years, Hitchcock and
Yandura have encouraged other entre-
preneurs to bring their businesses to the
area, including Sally Weaver, another
Washington, D.C., transplant who started
the Firefly Inn, a modern four-room motel
in the heart of Wardensville. “We love to
connect property owners and investors
on Main Street with people who want
to start a business, and if asked, we are
there to give new business owners advice,”
says Hitchcock.
One piece of advice they offer to up-
and-comers is how to be successful in
West Virginia. Given that the post just
celebrated five years in operation and
has shown a 5 percent sales increase year
after year with 2018 hitting 11 percent,
they are a reliable source for how to find
success in a small, rural town.
“Our success comes from an ability
and a willingness to pick up, move here
full time and say, ‘We’re going to make
this happen,’” says Yandura. “That is the
biggest impetus for our success.”
Empowering the Next Generation
Seeing a need to create opportuni-
ties and employment for local youth,
the couple, in partnership with the JDL
Foundation, helped launch the Wardens-
ville Garden Market in 2016 on a 100-
acre property. The project is a farm and
food-based educational nonprofit dedi-
cated to expanding opportunities for
local Appalachian youth. The original
goal of this venture was to broaden their
knowledge by teaching them about running
and sustaining a small business and offer-
ing opportunities to pursue new career
paths through classes and scholarships.
Hitchcock and Yandura were aware
that in the past, economic development in
Appalachia led to profits for outside com-
panies with little benefit to the local com-
munity. Because of this, they decided to
flip that construct and create a nonprofit
entity that would use proven business
practices and the power of market demand
to create sustainable profits that would
benefit the community: opportunities for
local youth, activities to protect the natural
environment and revenue to support the
operation.
The model seems to be working. Since
2016, the first full year of operation, the
on-site bakery and produce market has
raised one-third of the overall project
budget each year through sales. From a
job creation standpoint, what started out
as a hope to create 10 jobs for local young
people has now created more than 70
jobs with more than 40 of them filled by
local high school students. The project
has also expanded its year-round edu-
cation, enrichment and career-readiness
programs and has added free science,
technology, reading, engineering, arts
and math—or STREAM—learning op-
portunities and camps for local middle
and high school students.
The project is now in its third year
under Hitchcock and Yandura’s manage-
ment. The JDL Foundation has purchased
the 100-acre property used to launch the
project and has made a commitment to
provide ongoing support.
“This has bloomed into so much more
than we originally thought,” says Yandura.
“To me, it really inspires a great hope for
the future. One thing that has always sad-
dened me is this great debate for a young
person on whether they should stay in
West Virginia or leave. We don’t want
them to leave, but the reality of it is we
can’t always keep them here. We have to
say, ‘Hey, if you want to leave, take these
skills with you so you’re really successful.
But you know what? You could also
stay and apply those skills here in West
Virginia.’”
As this power couple who has adopt-
ed West Virginia helps revitalize and
make a positive impact on their small
town, some still question how two people
who have lived in large cities ended up
living along these country roads. Yandura
narrows it down to two things: the natural
beauty and the people.
“The natural beauty in West Virginia is
amazing, and so are the people,” he says.
“I have been blown away by the young
people here—how smart, tough and resil-
ient they are. We want to see opportunity
for young people and for others here like
we see elsewhere in the country.”
WWW.WVEXECUTIVE.COM
Photo by Kelsey Kneeland.
Photo by Rob Edwards.
Photo by Margo Pflegler.
Photo by Julie Waeshe.
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