Governor, council
honor investors

Gov. Cecil H. Underwood and the West Virginia Council for Community and Economic Development honored the businesses whose investments in the state spurred a successful year of job creation in 1999.

Since January 1997, the West Virginia Development Office has reported the creation of nearly 29,000 jobs - the largest three-year job creation total in the state’s history.

“As these results indicate, we are succeeding with our commitment to create new economic opportunities for West Virginians,” Gov. Underwood said. “New companies investing in West Virginia accounted for nearly 70 percent of the jobs announced last year. This trend illustrates that our message is reaching the global business community: West Virginia is a great place to do business!”

The 1999 investors include:

Amazon.com comes
to Cabell County

Gov. Cecil H. Underwood and Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV joined Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Internet retailer Amazon.com, and state and local officials in announcing the company’s plans to construct an East Coast customer service center in Huntington.

The company is expected to employ as many as 375 people.

Headquartered in Seattle, Wash., Amazon.com is the Internet’s No. 1 book, music, DVD and video retailer.

“Our quality-driven work force and significant investments in technology infrastructure development have attracted a global pioneer in the emerging e-commerce sector. Amazon.com represents the kind of successful, prosperous business that we want to bring to West Virginia,” Underwood said. “This announcement clearly demonstrates that West Virginia is well positioned to take advantage of the new opportunities in today’s information and technology-driven economy. I am pleased to welcome this progressive company to Cabell County.”

Amazon.com established initial operations in a temporary location while a high-tech facility is constructed in the Huntington Business and Technology Park.

Tele-Tech brings high-tech
jobs to Morgantown

Gov. Cecil H. Underwood and officials from TeleTech Holdings Inc. announced the opening of a new customer interaction center in the Mountaineer Mall and the creation of as many as 500 jobs in a $10 million investment.

The announcement was the culmination of a major telecommunications infrastructure upgrade by Bell Atlantic with the assistance of the Monongalia County Development Authority and Mountaineer Mall. This upgrade will benefit the entire community by widening the distribution of advanced telecommunication service.

InfoCision adds 125 jobs
in Harrison County

InfoCision Management Corp. added 125 jobs at the company’s Clarksburg call center.

Established in 1982, InfoCision is a leader in outbound and inbound telephone marketing for the commercial and direct marketing industries.

The Akron, Ohio-based company began operations in the Palace Business Center in November 1999. The expansion brings total employment at the facility to 225.

General Woods & Veneers
plans Roane facility

Gov. Cecil H. Underwood announced General Woods & Veneers Ltd. will open a veneer manufacturing facility in Spencer that ultimately will employ 120.

Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, General Woods & Veneers is recognized as an innovative leader in world-class veneers, wood industry technologies, strategic forestry maintenance, conservation and outstanding hardwood logs and lumber.

“I am pleased to welcome this wood industry leader to West Virginia,” Underwood said. “Our quality-driven work force and abundant natural resources will play an important role in helping the company meet the growing needs of its broad, international customer base.”

General Woods & Veneers employs more than 1,000 people worldwide. The company does business in more than 70 countries and operates manufacturing facilities in Canada, the United States and Hungary.

Job creation total makes
magazine's top 10 list

West Virginia’s 1997-99 job creation total earned the state a No. 8 ranking on Site Selection magazine’s annual listing of jobs created per million residents.

“West Virginia continues to merit the nation’s attention as we improve our economy and attract well-paying, high-quality jobs to the state,” said Gov. Cecil H. Underwood.

Last year, the magazine put West Virginia on its top 10 list in the same category, placing it ahead of New York and Texas. This year’s list, published in the magazine’s March 2000 issue, placed the state ahead of Texas and South Dakota.

The ranking by Site Selection, a magazine seen by more readers worldwide than any other economic development publication, allows an equitable assessment in terms of population and landmass.

New jobs come
to Northern Panhandle

Western Inventory Service will open a new office in Ohio County that will create as many as 80 full-time jobs, while Handl-it Inc. will establish a warehouse and distribution center in Marshall County.

In business since 1967, Western Inventory Service offers such services as year-end inventory counts, inventory control, labeling and fixed asset inventories.

Western’s customers include Kmart, Wal-Mart and Rite Aid. Headquartered in Bedford Heights, Ohio, Handl-it is a third-party and contract warehousing and distribution company that provides more than 3 million square feet of heated, secured, rail-served warehouse space.

Constellation Power to build
$100 million plant

Constellation Power Inc. will construct a $100 million gas-fired “peaking” power plant in Wayne County on a 45-acre site at Neal between U.S. 52 and the Big Sandy River.

The 300-megawatt plant will operate about 10 percent of the year, primarily during the summer. It will provide electricity to wholesale customers during peak energy consumption periods.

As many as 75 jobs will be created during the construction phase of development.

In 1985, the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), America’s oldest utility, created Constellation Power Inc. to prepare BGE to successfully compete in the emerging markets for independent power generation. BGE and Constellation Power today are part of the newly formed holding company, Constellation Energy Group. The company employs a diverse range of technologies and fuels, including gas, oil, biomass, geothermal, coal, waste coal, hydro and solar.

Plastics manufacturer
creates 150 jobs

Gov. Cecil H. Underwood and officials from Merrick Engineering Inc. announced the company’s plans to construct a new plastics manufacturing facility in Harrison County that will create 150 jobs.

Established in 1973, Merrick Engineering Inc. specializes in the injection molding of plastic products. Since 1986, the company has focused on producing plastic products for large-volume buyers. The rapidly growing company is now one of the largest manufacturers of plastic hangers and closet accessories in the United States.

New chemical company
locates in Putnam

Poca Blending L.L.C., a newly formed chemical company, plans a manufacturing and warehousing facility in Putnam County that will create as many as 50 jobs.

Poca Blending offers custom manufacturing and handling services, warehousing and packaging of industrial and specialty chemicals.

The company will store and blend chemicals it purchases from such companies as Tetra Chemical, HVC and Freedom Industries at its new 32,000-square-foot docking facility in the Par Industrial Park.

Manufacturer selects
Raleigh County site

Virginia-based Klockner Pentaplast of America Inc. announced a facility in the Raleigh County Memorial Airport Industrial Park that will manufacture rigid plastic films used in packaging, graphic arts and industry.

The company plans to employ as many as 100 people during its first three to five years of operation at the 54,000-square-foot building. Initially, the company will invest $20 million in the facility.

Education Week ranks
W.Va. schools in top five

West Virginia ranked fifth in the nation on Education Week magazine’s national report card.

In the publication’s fourth annual “Quality Counts” study, West Virginia scored 15th nationwide in standards and accountability, sixth in improving quality, 18th in school climate, second in adequacy of resources and 21st in allocation of resources.

Site Selection story focuses
on Toyota, West Virginia

Site Selection’s January 2000 issue included a cover story on Toyota’s investment in West Virginia.

“When it comes to labor availability - that persistent bugaboo that’s stifling so many U.S. expansion plans - West Virginia has delivered for Toyota like ‘Almost Heaven,’ that fictional locale John Denver memorialized in song. And, Toyota might add, you can drop the ‘almost,’ “ wrote Jack Lyne.

The magazine is seen by 45,000 readers.

Magazine names Charleston
a top destination

Charleston, West Virginia, is a winner, according to Facilities and Destinations magazine’s 1999 Annual Top Destination’s Awards.

Destinations whose Convention and Visitors Bureaus received at least 100 votes of confidence for superior service and facilities from the trade magazine’s readership share this award. This is the first time Charleston has been recognized in the annual awards.

Quad/Graphics expands
Martinsburg facility again

Quad/Graphics will add 100 new workers and almost 300,000 square feet of production space to its already 720,000-square-foot printing facility.

Quad/Graphics prints retail inserts for Target, Ames and Kmart and produces catalogs for Victoria’s Secret, a division of Macy’s and L.L. Bean. The company operates 10 printing facilities in the United States and employs 11,500 workers nationally.