State on pace to exceed
record job creation total in 1999

Gov. Cecil H. Underwood announced that six-month job creation totals for 1999 exceed those from 1998, putting the state on pace to eclipse the record single-year job creation total set a year ago.

The governor reported that 62 companies announced the creation of 5,688 new jobs with the location of new facilities or the expansion of existing facilities in West Virginia during the first six months of 1999.

A total of 5,261 new jobs were announced during the same period in 1998.

“These figures indicate what many companies throughout the world have recognized. West Virginia’s work force is determined to produce a quality product at a competitive price,” Gov. Underwood said.

More than $305 million in total capital investment was committed to new business projects in West Virginia between Jan. 1, 1999, and June 30, 1999.

The governor also reported that total job creation for the fiscal year eclipsed the 11,000-job mark. Between July 1, 1998, and June 30, 1999, new companies announced the creation of 6,769 jobs while existing companies added 4,398 jobs through expansions in the state.

Council names Snider to top
Development Office position

John R. Snider was named executive director of the West Virginia Development Office by the West Virginia Council for Community and Economic Development.

“West Virginia is proud to have such an outstanding and highly qualified individual to serve in this important capacity,” said Don Rigby, chairman of the Council. Snider succeeds Thomas C. Burns, who retired earlier this year.

“I know that I can only be as successful in this position as our teamwork allows. Without everyone working together as a team, we will never reach our mutual goal - to provide more and better jobs for West Virginians,” Snider said.

He is a Certified Economic Developer and a graduate of the Economic Development Institute at Oklahoma University. Snider was an industrial development representative in the West Virginia Department of Commerce and Governor’s Office of Economic and Community Development (GOCID) from 1974 through 1979.

His private-sector business experience includes management, marketing, accounting and human resource operations. Snider joined the West Virginia Development Office in 1997 as the director of the Business and Industrial Development Division.

He is chairman of the West Virginia Steel Advisory Commission, an alliance of steel companies that works to improve the competitive position of West Virginia’s steel industry.

International frozen food maker
comes to Wood County

Luigino’s Inc. brings as many as 600 jobs to the Parkersburg Business Park in a $35 million investment.

The company will build a new 250,000-square-foot facility near Coldwater Creek’s distribution facility at Mineral Wells.

Luigino’s will produce its Michelina’s® brand, which includes frozen pasta and sauce entrees, low-fat entrees, international entrees and extra value entrees, at the new facility.

The company’s products, based on family recipes brought from Italy by the mother of CEO and Chairman Luigino “Jeno” Paulucci, are distributed worldwide from its plants in Duluth, Minn., and Jackson, Ohio. Luigino’s also prepares and sells the Yu Sing® line of Chinese entrees.

Coldwater Creek opens
facility in Parkersburg

In the culmination of the company’s $39 million investment, Coldwater Creek opened its new 590,000-square-foot facility in the Parkersburg Business Park.

The center, located near Interstate-77 and W.Va. Route 14 at Mineral Wells, eventually is expected to employ as many as 1,000 people.

In 1998, Sandpoint, Idaho-based Coldwater Creek mailed more than 150 million catalogs and had net sales of more than $325 million.

Coldwater Creek is a multi-channel retailer with a catalog business, prime retail stores and a quickly expanding e-commerce site at www.coldwatercreek.com.

Magazine puts West Virginia,
Huntington on top deal list

West Virginia came in 10th on a list of the top 100 deals of 1999, according to Southern Business & Development.

This year, the magazine increased its job threshold for eligible deals from 500 to 550 jobs.

“This year’s crop of major employment deals in the South makes for the sixth straight year of more and bigger deals,” wrote Lee Burlett in the magazine’s spring 1999 issue.

In a per capita ranking, West Virginia was the top deal-producing state in the South with 11.1 deals per million people that created more than 200 jobs. Huntington tied with Daytona Beach, Florida, and Huntsville, Alabama, for the magazine’s list of top mid-market cities.

Shell Chemical Company
triples plant capacity

In a $2 million investment, Shell Chemical Company at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, announced it has tripled the plant’s capacity for the production of Corterra Polymer.

The plant’s capacity for Corterra, which can be spun into fibers and yarns, increased from 15 million pounds to 45 million pounds annually.

PAZ awareness tour
piques companies' interest

Companies from Toledo to Tokyo visited West Virginia as part of the 1999 Polymer Alliance Zone Awareness Tour.

As a result, one company is pursuing plans to build a facility in the zone; another will consider West Virginia in its expansion plans.

Wood, Jackson and Mason counties make up the Polymer Alliance Zone, the world’s largest concentration of polymer producing plants.

United Airlines breaks ground
on second call center

United Airlines’ wholly owned subsidiary, Mileage Plus, Inc., broke ground near Huntington on its second West Virginia customer service call center.

MPI’s first West Virginia complex opened August 2 outside Charleston. The call center will create up to 335 jobs, handling about 7 million customer inquiries per year. MPI has customer service centers in Rapid City, S.D., and Tucson, Ariz., and is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Ill.

Pennsylvania Fashions brings
385 jobs to Northern Panhandle

Pennsylvania Fashions Inc. plans an $8.3 million warehouse and distribution center for the Three Springs Business and Industrial Park in Weirton, creating as many as 385 jobs in the next five years.

The company produces sportswear for adults and children. The Weirton site will serve as the company’s main distribution point for about 700 stores.

Allegheny Products opens
Anqet water bottling facility

Allegheny Products Inc., had an open house and dedication of its 15,000-square-foot Anqet water bottling facility in Raleigh County.

The opening marked the third Raleigh County business venture for James L. Hern and added 18 new jobs to the 103 already established by his companies.

Anqet water comes from a spring operated by Sweet Springs Valley Water Co. on the eastern slope of Peters Mountain in Monroe County. The water was a gold medal winner in 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997 at the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting.

WVU study shows exports up
$600 million in five years

A report from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at West Virginia University shows state exports at $2.5 billion in 1997, an increase of $600 million over the $1.9 billion total in 1992.

Chemicals were the leading export, accounting for $948 million, with coal close behind at $940 million. Primary metals were third at $280 million. The single largest recipient of West Virginia goods is Canada, followed by Belgium.

Viking Pools Inc. brings
jobs to Lewis County

Viking Pools North East Inc., the nation's largest fiberglass swimming pool manufacturer, will build a 40,000-square-foot facility in the Lewis County Industrial Park along Interstate-79 in a $2.5 million investment.

The Lewis County facility will complement existing manufacturing facilities in Midland County, Texas; Williams, Calif., and Oak Hill, Fla.

The AIROLITE Company opens
facility in Greenbrier County

The AIROLITE Company opened its new 139,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Greenbrier County, a $1.5 million investment that will create as many as 50 jobs.

The Marietta, Ohio-based company is a leading designer and manufacturer of custom architectural louvers, grilles and sun controls.

Mineral County development
brings more than 300 jobs

The Grand Central Business Center will bring 324 jobs and six new companies to Mineral County.

The announcement represents a $31 million commitment over the next five years.

Powertel Inc. will establish a call center at the facility and create 250 jobs with three divisions.

Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, a Baltimore, Md.-based civil engineering firm, will create 40 jobs with the opening of an office at the center.

Other new companies and organizations locating at the facility include The Tornado Cafe and Coffee House; Big Brothers Big Sisters; Document Solutions, a local office solutions and copying company; and Hartman Paving.

Companies relocating or expanding at the facility include Mountain State Pest Control; Action Youth Care; Vinetta Specialties; the Mineral County Chamber of Commerce; Spirit 101, an inspirational radio station relocating from Westernport, Md.; and Mountain State Investigations.

Firms win Governor's Awards
for excellence in exporting

Six West Virginia companies won the 1999 Governor's Awards for Excellence in Exporting.

The awards, established in 1983 and presented by Gov. Cecil H. Underwood and the Export Council of West Virginia, honor companies and business professionals for their leadership and success in exporting.

Recipients are Appalachian Controls Environmental, South Charleston; Azimuth Inc., Morgantown; Concept Mining Inc., Bluefield; Fancy Hardwoods, Inc., Romney; Friar Chemical Company, Lavalette; and J.H. Kilmer Sales, Martinsburg.

Ruskin Manufacturing
expands into success

Ruskin Manufacturing, which makes louvers, control dampers and fire and smoke dampers for commercial and industrial buildings, has expanded from one production line to nine and nearly doubled the plant’s production area in the two years it has been in Marion County.

The Kansas City, Mo.-headquartered company sells its products nationwide and employs 116 full-time workers.

Parkersburg may be state's
fastest-growing area

A researcher from the West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Research predicts that the Parkersburg, West Virginia - Marietta, Ohio metropolitan statistical area likely will be the fastest-growing in the state in the next 10 years.

Barring a recession, Dr. George W. Hammond, a research assistant professor, forecasts the region’s growth will outpace statewide and nationwide job and income rates.

Council honors the best
of Main Street West Virginia

The Council for Community and Economic Development presented awards to 1998’s most outstanding programs at Main Street West Virginia’s Annual Awards banquet.

Among the numerous award winners was Main Street Ripley, which won the best small town Achievement Award, and Main Street Morgantown, which won the Achievement Award for best large town.

Each group won $5,000 to further the economic development efforts of its community.

Beckley Main Street was named the most improved program and received a $3,000 award from the Council.

Berkeley County
warehouse opens

The former Handy and Harmon property north of Martinsburg is now a contract warehouse.

Officials with Maryland-based Antietam Limited Liability Co. plan to add 50,000 square feet to the 89,000-square-foot building and search for a manufacturer.

InfoCision brings
100 jobs to Clarksburg

Akron, Ohio-based InfoCision will locate in the 60,000-square-foot former Palace Furniture building in downtown Clarksburg, bringing 100 jobs to the city.

The call center will be the 14th for the company, which employs 1,600 people who perform outbound telephone marketing for causes such as the March of Dimes, Easter Seals, The American Cancer Society, various Christian organizations and other non-profit groups.