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Cabela's announces 1,200 jobs,
$80 million investment
Gov. Bob Wise and representatives from Cabela’s, Inc., “the world’s foremost outfitter,” announced the location of a distribution center and retail store in Ohio County.
The company plans as many as 1,200 jobs and an $80 million investment in West Virginia by 2007.
“West Virginia’s incredible natural resources and our rich tradition of enjoying the outdoors provided a perfect fit for Cabela’s,” Wise said. “The qualities of West Virginia’s work force – commitment, loyalty and dedication – form the foundation of the project.”
Cabela’s stores mix museum-quality animal displays with colorful dioramas and huge aquariums stocked with native fishes, providing topnotch educational and entertainment attractions. The stores have become top tourist attractions, drawing visitors from hundreds of miles away.
Projections indicate that the newest Cabela’s store will draw four million visitors annually.
“West Virginia’s scenic beauty, its commitment to preserving its outdoors for people to use it respectfully, its people’s incredible participation rate in outdoor recreation all were factors in our decision to locate in the state,” said Jim Cabela, vice chairman of Cabela’s board of directors. “Add to that the reputation West Virginia’s people have earned as dedicated, hardworking employees and we knew we had found the right location for Cabela’s newest center.”
Infocision Management Corp.
opens $1.6 million facility
Gov. Bob Wise and representatives from InfoCision Management Corp., a leader in providing call center services for nonprofit organizations and Fortune 1000 companies, announced the grand opening of a new $1.6 million facility in Harrison County.
Currently, 350 people work at the center; 400 will be employed there by this summer.
“InfoCision’s continuing commitment to West Virginia provides undeniable proof that our work force, infrastructure and business climate attract today’s thriving telecommunications companies,” Wise said. “Nothing says success better than repeat customers.”
Wind center in Thomas
is producing energy
Less than one year after groundbreaking, Florida Power and Light's Mountaineer Wind Energy Center in Thomas, W.Va., is producing emission-free energy.
Using the world’s latest wind turbine technology, the facility is the largest commercial wind energy facility in the eastern United States.
Pennsylvania’s Radnor Township announced that it will purchase 62 percent of its electricity from the center, making it the nation’s leading wind energy purchaser among municipalities.
Toyota reports record
production at Buffalo
Workers at Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia produced a record number of engines and transmissions last year.
The Buffalo plant produced 352,343 engines: 201,273 four-cylinder engines and 151,070 V6 engines. That was up from 314,991 engines in 2001.
The plant also made 360,957 automatic transmissions last year, more than 2 1/2 times the number produced in 2001. Buffalo began making transmissions in May 2001.
W.Va. Toyota plant builds engine,
transmission for new Sienna
Both the engine and the transmission for the all-new second-generation 2004 Toyota Sienna minivan will be built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia’s power train production facility.
The new Sienna will deliver a substantial boost in power, fuel-efficiency, and refinement, thanks to an all-new 230-horsepower V6 engine and an all-new five-speed automatic transmission.
During internal testing the compact and lightweight power train was capable of launching Sienna from zero-to-60 in a best-in-class time of 8.4 seconds.
At 25 miles-per-gallon Sienna will have one of the highest highway mileage ratings in its class. The power train will be certified as a Level II Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV-II).
Protea’s technology will aid
in treatment of cancer
Protea Biosciences, Inc., has entered into a contract to provide proteomics services to Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. The West Virginia company will apply its proteomics technology to the identification of protein biomarkers present in the blood samples of cancer patients.
Protea scientists will use a new technology, known as solution-based ultra-sensitive mass spectrometry, to analyze and identify proteins secreted by the cells of cancer patients.
The collaboration is focused on identifying protein biomarkers present in human sera that will allow physicians to identify specific cancers earlier, predict their aggressiveness and design new treatments.
Biometric group, WVHTC
form alliance to set standards
International Biometric Group (IBG) and the West Virginia High Technology Consortium (WVHTC) Foundation have formed a strategic alliance that will provide the biometrics industry with comprehensive services for complying with new, international information security standards.
Common Criteria is an international standard that requires accredited testing laboratories to evaluate products.
Biometrics Fusion Center
to aid demonstrations
BearingPoint, Inc., a business consulting and systems integration firm, received a $1.2 million Department of Defense Biometrics Management Office contract to develop technologies that could greatly enhance security at the department’s facilities.
BearingPoint will work with the department’s Biometrics Fusion Center (BFC) in north-central West Virginia to evaluate the potential use of contactless smart card and biometric technologies with the department’s common access card (CAC) in a physical access environment.
Contactless smart cards integrate a wireless antenna that eliminates the need for users to insert the cards in a card reader; instead, they can pass the card by a panel in close proximity.
WVU students test
new security method
A high-tech hand recognition device used to control access at banks and nuclear reactors may eventually allow some college students to leave their ID cards at home.
Diebold, Inc., an Ohio company that also pioneered the first automated teller machine to use iris-recognition technology, is testing the hand scanner in a dormitory and recreation center at West Virginia University. In time, the devices will be installed campuswide.
Students enter a five-digit personal identification number, then place their hands in the readers. The scanner takes more than 90 measurements, gauging length, width, thickness and surface area in one second. If the geometry of the hand matches the record on file, the door unlocks or the turnstile opens.
WVU officials will control a database of hand images they are now building.
KeyLogic of Morgantown wins
federal information technology contract
KeyLogic Systems, headquartered in Morgantown, W.Va., with several regional offices throughout the United States including Washington, D.C., won the first government-wide acquisition contract dedicated to information technology firms certified as historically underutilized business zones.
The five-year contract enables federal agencies to purchase information technology products and services from pre-qualified IT companies.
KeyLogic Systems specializes in knowledge management and e-government solutions.
West Virginia clean coal
project awarded funds
The U.S. Department of Energy granted partial funding to eight “clean coal” projects worth more than $1.3 billion.
Private-sector participants will invest slightly more than $1 billion.
Western Greenbrier Cogeneration LLC of West Virginia won $107 million for a project to help cut air pollution through conversion of coal to gas and through multi-pollutant control systems.
Fortune rates BASF No. 1
in the global chemical industry
BASF has been ranked as the No. 1 chemical company in the world by Fortune magazine’s “Global Most Admired Companies” ranking.
BASF also was ranked No. 1 in each of nine attributes of reputation: quality of management; quality of products and services; innovation; long-term investment value; financial strength; ability to attract, develop and retain talent; responsibility to the community and the environment; wise use of corporate assets, and global business acumen.
The Hay Group asked more than 10,000 directors, executives and managers at 345 companies around the world to rank other companies in his or her industry on the nine attributes. The average of those scores was used to compile the industry lists.
Weyerhaeuser's mill in Sutton
attains environmental standard
Weyerhaeuser Co.’s oriented strand board facility in Sutton has earned international recognition for its rigorous approach to environmental management.
The facility is registered to the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard. The International Organization for Standardization developed a common set of manufacturing, trade and communications standards. ISO 14001 is a standard for effectively managing the environmental aspects of an organization’s activities, products and services.
To achieve ISO 14001 certification, Sutton developed and implemented a formal, documented environmental management system to address federal, state and local environmental regulatory compliance, as well as initiatives in areas such as waste reduction and pollution prevention.
The Sutton mill is the 18th Weyerhaeuser manufacturing facility to earn ISO 14001 registration. It employs approximately 180 people.
West Virginia a test site
for global warming solution
With carbon dioxide emissions rising steadily in the U.S. and around the world, countries seek ways to reduce the heat-trapping pollution.
In the meantime, scientists say it can be unloaded into dark reaches of the earth, including saline aquifers, depleted oil wells, coal seams and the ocean.
As part of a federal program, American Electric Power is collaborating on a $4.2 million carbon sequestration project in the Ohio River Valley, which has the largest concentration of power plants in the nation.
Over the next two years, researchers will conduct seismic surveys of the massive Mt. Simon Sandstone in West Virginia, which extends as far west as Illinois and Wisconsin. The project also involves drilling a 10,000-foot exploratory well.
West Virginia business gets
the gold for wellness
The Wellness Councils of America designated Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. as a Gold Well Workplace.
Workplace Gold designation acknowledges organizations with comprehensive, results-oriented programs. Gold Award recipients identify health programs as strategic and integral and demonstrate positive health outcomes with employees.
Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. has more than 450 employees and spouses using its Morgantown on-site wellness center. All of the nearly 1,300 local employees are involved in the company’s wellness program.
West Virginia site to host
statewide candidate videos
The West Virginia secretary of state’s office will allow candidates for legislative and statewide offices in 2004 to put three-minute promotional videos on its Web site.
“We believe we’ll be the first state to bring this opportunity to every candidate,” Secretary of State Joe Manchin said. “It's neat to use technology this way.”
The goal of the Candid Candidate project is to eliminate distance between candidates and voters, Manchin said, adding that he had heard the idea from students while traveling the state to encourage youth voting.
Videos will be accepted from candidates seeking the following offices: U.S. House of Representatives, governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, attorney general, agriculture commissioner and state Supreme Court.
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