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Interviews & Transcripts:
Steve Roberts, President, West Virginia Chamber of Commerce
We have representatives, for instance, from embassies from around the world. We have people who are here talking about health care. Here's a spoiler alert - We're going to have some announcements tomorrow. New jobs, new companies announcing coming to West Virginia. So there's going to be a lot of excitement in the air.
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce speaks for business. Our goal is to organize businesses to speak with one voice and to be available to solve problems that face West Virginia, We want a stronger economy.
90 years is a nice long run, but we're looking forward to the future. West Virginia has so much to offer. We are an energy producing and exporting state, We are the best people on earth, as so many people have said.
Brad D. Smith, President, Marshall University
One of the crippling challenges we have in the United States is the second biggest debt that Americans carry after a home mortgage is student loan debt. And so, we decided we would launch a program where students could graduate in four years debt free. We now have 620 students that have come in on the Marshall For All promise. They're outperforming their peers in grade point average.
They're retaining at a higher rate, and they are seeing success. And we are so excited to have this become a demonstration project for the rest of the nation to graduate debt free.
Today athletics, for every dollar we put into athletics, it has an $80 million impact in the region. So, it's $1.67 for every dollar. So those are the kinds of things we do. We bring concerts in like the big concert we had at the Joan. And that had a $3 million impact in just three days in the city of Huntington. So everything we do is to create jobs, opportunity and vitality for the region.
That's who we are in West Virginia. Our families mine the coal and forged the steel and built the roads and manufactured the automobiles and served our country. And that's what the Idea district continues to promote.
Chris Weikle, Government Relations Director, Expand Energy
I think the future is, not to use a cliche, but bright, and it's one where we're going to see energy growth. I mean, Governor Morrisey's 50 by 50 plan is, is pushing energy development higher. And it's something that I think we're going to see continued business growth in that.
And the natural gas industry is happy to be a major part of that.
Building those natural gas facilities within the state of West Virginia, we've seen them being built in Ohio, Pennsylvania, but the fact that we've had those announcements here in West Virginia will hopefully start to begin to lower those energy costs and bring more affordability to the state of West Virginia,
We obviously have our history of coal. We've seen some development of renewables, whether that is solar or wind in some projects. And then it's been really exciting to have about 5.2 gigawatts of natural gas power announced just over the last six months.
Dr. Erienne Olesh, CEO of Resilient Energy Technology & Infrastructure Consortium, West Virginia University
What RETI is, is RETI is now officially a National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine. What that means is we've been awarded $160 million from our federal partners at the National Science Foundation. Our partner network has collectively committed an additional $161 million to that effort. So this is really a $321 million investment into our region to address critical issues like energy resilience.
We want to work with everything from our small startup companies that have really unique and creative solutions to really important, pressing challenges. We want to work with our manufacturers, both small and large, to help understand what challenges they have and help improve and solve those challenges.
Dr. Michael T. Benson, President, West Virginia University
We have a really big comprehensive campaign, our biggest in our history that we're going to launch here in a few weeks. And our goal is to reach that goal that we'll announce at the kickoff because it's our biggest, most ambitious one yet.
And the way you attract people to come here is what you invest in education, infrastructure and business and provide opportunities to your graduates so they can stay here.
But I met so many people during our 55 county tour that now I get to see again and I commend Steve and his team and the chamber and 90 years of doing this, that’s really something.
François Poirier, President & CEO, TC Energy
What we've seen here with the reshoring of manufacturing coming back to America, America investing again in itself, you need plentiful energy to be able to do that. West Virginia is going to play a critical role in providing that plentiful energy for the rest of the country.
And what I'm particularly proud of over the last decade, we've invested over $5 million in the communities. Community support is something we believe in very strongly at TC energy.
We are one of the largest movers of natural gas across the entire continent. We move about a third of the natural gas across America, and we are the largest transporter of natural gas in the heartland of America.
Patrick Farrell, Mayor, City of Huntington
Well, I'd say if you haven't been to Huntington in a while, come visit. Right. Which you'll see when you drive into town is growth. You'll see cranes in the skyline, and you'll see every part of town is building in some different way.
Right, what I hope people realize is that the power of we really does work. When I say that when the when the city and the university and our hospital system work together, there's nothing we can't solve. And what we found is not just us because then other people want to be a part of it
Our Institute for cybersecurity is getting built. We're building a wastewater treatment plant that is the biggest public infrastructure project in a very long time in our area. Maybe the biggest wastewater treatment plant the state's ever built. And so those things are all cornerstones of then the growth that happens to support it and so come see it, you'll feel it.
Scott Raynes, President & CEO, Marshall Health Network
I mean we continue to grow, grow with our workforce, grow with our services, grow technologically, broadened our service area. We're in a partnership with Logan Regional Medical Center. So just a lot of really good things - Our medical school has grown in its residency, so it's just a really healthy place to be.
The university will be breaking ground on the school of Medicine within the next year or so. Really exciting thing to have happen - Long overdue. When you think about the School of Medicine at Marshall has been around since 1975, and it really doesn't have its own devoted building, so that we're reconciling that right now and I just applaud the university and the School of Medicine with our partnership to help make that happen.
I mean, you just feel the energy of what's going on with the Business Summit, The Chamber of Commerce, celebrating 90 years. You can just tell things are happening.
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