installation of 74 miles of new broadband fiber optic cable.
The eligible service area includes the Town of Middlebourne
and the Pursley, Centerville, Alma and Shirley areas.
The funds will be dedicated to making high-speed broadband
available at speeds of up to 100 megabytes upload and down-
load to as many as 3,291 county residents. Upon completion,
the TCDA will own the system’s physical infrastructure and will
lease it to a private service provider. According to TCDA Execu-
tive Director Eric Peters, this digital infrastructure is necessary
to the growth of the Tyler County economy and population.
“Even after this new system is in place, we still have plenty
of work to do in order to reach more of our county population
with reliable broadband service,” he says. “We consider this
ReConnect project to be only the initial step toward making
cost-competitive broadband available to more residents of
Tyler County.”
OVConnect Becomes Generation Wheeling
OVConnect, a local organization dedicated to attracting,
retaining and advancing young talent in the Upper Ohio
Valley, has partnered with Generation West Virginia (GWV)
to become the area’s local affiliate. Now officially operating as
Generation Wheeling, the organization will continue to provide
opportunities for young people to work, live and give in their
community with GWV’s support.
GWV’s local organizations serve as hubs of connection, en-
gagement and development led by and for young people who are
eager to step up in their communities. Generation Wheeling will
host events and programs around the motto #WorkLiveGive,
connecting people with the good work they need to stay, help-
ing make their community the kind of place where people want
to live and creating more ways to give back because people stay
in places where they feel connected.
“The decision to become a local Generation with GWV is
an exciting way for us to reach more young people in Wheeling
and throughout the Northern Panhandle,” says Alex Panas,
OVConnect president. “This partnership provides us with a
wider network of support from across the state, which means
more engaging and consistent opportunities for our community.”
Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport Joins
the Western Potomac Economic Partnership
Members of the Western Potomac Economic Partnership
(West-PEP) have voted to include the executive director of the
Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport (MRB) as a voting
member of the organization. West-PEP is a partnership and
approved nonprofit organization that brings together the four
economic development authorities and the Eastern Panhandle
Regional Planning and Development Council to provide shared
marketing and economic development initiatives to the Eastern
Panhandle.
This is the first expansion of the group since its creation by
then-Governor Joe Manchin in 2009. Nic Diehl, current director
of the airport, joins the directors of the Berkeley, Hampshire,
Jefferson and Morgan county development authorities and
the director of the Eastern Panhandle Regional Planning and
Development Council.
“We are excited to be part of this dynamic marketing and
business development team,” says Diehl. “MRB is a great asset
to the Eastern Panhandle with a large economic impact. We
want to do our part to support and grow our regional economy.”
The group meets on a monthly basis to discuss strategies and
partner on initiatives that help reach into the metro areas and
promote the region as a great place to do business, including
combining their resources for target advertising in the Washing-
ton, D.C., metro transit and other business media outlets to
garner interest from prospective businesses.
“West-PEP’s collaboration and regional approach to market
eastern West Virginia by sharing resources, information and
strategy advances the unique jurisdictional interests of each
participating economic development entity while collectively
enhancing its vision, mission and competitive advantage,” says
Eileen Johnson, executive director of the Hampshire County
Development Authority. “Adding the Eastern West Virginia
Regional Airport to the West-PEP alliance will provide depth
and new opportunities to develop marketing materials and
strategic relationships to attract new business development
to the region.”
Davis & Elkins College Earns High Marks
in Forbes Financial Ranking
Booth Library at Davis & Elkins College.
Davis & Elkins (D&E) College was recently recognized by
Forbes magazine for its strong financial health, ranking among
the top 15 percent in the nation. The annual Forbes’ College
Financial Grades ranking focuses on 933 private not-for-profit
colleges and ranks them with scores ranging from A+ to D. In
the report, D&E earned a B+ with a financial GPA of 3.36 and
was the only private college in West Virginia to earn above a
C. Each college was graded on a balance sheet for strength and
operational soundness, along with other indicators, including
admission yield, percentage of freshmen receiving institutional
grants and instruction expenses per student.
When Forbes reporter Carter Coudriet was collecting infor-
mation, he noticed D&E showed significant positive figures
and requested an interview with President Chris Wood, who
shared information such as the completion of a $101 million
campaign in 2019.
“I was honored to share with Forbes magazine a tangible ex-
ample of Davis & Elkins College’s efforts like Leading the Way
as our financial health continues to strengthen due to the excel-
lent stewardship of our resources and strong donor support that
has enabled us to pay off all our debt and complete the largest
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