Wise announces partnership with PGA TOUR

West Virginia will host a new $600,000 Nationwide Tour event at the Pete Dye Golf Club in Harrison County from July 12-18, 2004. The Pete Dye West Virginia Classic, a three-year event, will be covered on The Golf Channel. “This outstanding opportunity boosts West Virginia’s already impressive status as a tourist destination even higher,” said Gov. Bob Wise.

The Nationwide Tour is owned and operated by the PGA TOUR while Nationwide, one of the world’s largest insurance and financial services providers, is the umbrella sponsor of the Tour. Since its inception in 1990, Nationwide Tour alums have won 137 PGA TOUR titles, including 10 major championships. Among the past participants are current U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk and PGA champion Shaun Micheel, along with other tour stars such as Ernie Els, David Toms, Chad Campbell, David Duval, Tom Lehman and John Daly.

“We are very proud of the growth experienced by this Tour and particularly pleased with the role charity plays in our events,” said Bill Calfee, chief of operations for the Nationwide Tour. “We are sure local fans will enjoy the world-class competition on this Tour, and our players will enjoy the outstanding and very challenging Pete Dye Golf Club.”

The tournament also will showcase and honor Pete Dye, known to many as one of the world’s greatest golf course architects. “The golf event will produce significant economic and intangible benefits for the state of West Virginia,” said Rick Horrow, president of Horrow Sports Ventures/Omnicom and the strategic development consultant for West Virginia, who introduced the PGA TOUR to the state.

Pete Dye Golf and Sporting Club is first TIF

The Pete Dye Golf and Sporting Club, a nearly $40 million investment, is West Virginia’s first project approved for funding through the tax increment financing method, endorsed by voters in November 2002.

“Tax increment financing allows West Virginia a new, flexible financing method that opens opportunities for a great range of economic development projects,” said Gov. Bob Wise. “The people of West Virginia have said they welcome changes that will improve our state’s business climate.”

The Pete Dye Golf and Sporting Club will consist of nearly 400 second and third homes on 1,400 acres in Harrison County, including such amenities as a spa; a sports barn with tennis courts; an equestrian center; a swimming pool; and a gun club with skeet and trap and clays course.

The Pete Dye Golf Club, ranked by Golf Week magazine among the top five courses of the Modern Era, anchors the development.

Hardy County wood products firm to expand

American Woodmark Corp., a supplier of kitchen cabinetry to the new construction and remodeling industry, will build a new 250,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Hardy County and create as many as 300 jobs.

The plant, to be located on a 40-acre site in the Robert C. Byrd Industrial Park with plans to double its size in the next few years, provides additional manufacturing capacity to support the continued growth of AWC. The company will invest $27 million for the first phase of the facility’s development, with portions of the production process expected to begin as early as June 2004.

AWC’s third plant in Hardy County will manufacture wood cabinet components. American Woodmark Corp., located in Winchester, Va., is the third-largest manufacturer of kitchen cabinets in the United States and Canada.

Business services company announces jobs

BeBetter Networks, Inc., will locate in Charleston and create up to 100 jobs with average salaries of $45,000 a year. The company provides behavior management employee assistance services as well as coaching for managers and employees to a variety of organizations utilizing high-tech delivery systems.

Employees and individuals will be able to receive professional guidance over the telephone and the Internet at their convenience from anywhere in the world.

Governor honors companies for exporting

Thirty West Virginia companies received the Governor’s Commendation for International Market Entry and four won the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Exporting. “International trade is one of West Virginia’s strongest economic successes, representing $2.2 billion last year,” Gov. Bob Wise said. “The export of manufactured products increased 12 percent in 2002 over 2001.”

Gov. Wise created the market entry award last year to represent the first peso, mark or other currency a West Virginia exporter earned in an international market. The Excellence in Exporting awards, established in 1983 and presented by the governor and the West Virginia Export Council, honor companies and business professionals for their leadership and success in the state’s exporting efforts.

Companies receiving the Governor’s Commendation for International Market Entry and the new markets entered include:

Companies honored with the 2003 Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Exporting include Allegheny Wood Products, Petersburg; Kanawha Scales & Systems, Inc., Charleston; Kreinik Mfg. Co. Inc., Parkersburg; and Wescor Forest Products, Clarksburg.

W.Va. sponsors trade mission to Australia

West Virginia companies attended the 2003 AIMEX mining industry show in Sydney, Australia. The West Virginia Development Office sponsored the West Virginia Pavilion in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Commerce, giving the state’s companies the added prestige of a federal association.

Participating companies included A.L. Lee Corp., Lester, W.Va.; Boone Supply, Sylvester, W.Va., represented by Southern Engineering Service; Kanawha Scales & Systems, Inc., Poca, W.Va.; K.R. Komarek, Inc., Wheeling, W.Va.; KSD Enterprises, LLC, Clarksburg, W.Va.; Phillips Machine Service, Inc., Beckley, W.Va.; Saminco, Inc., Lavalette, W.Va.; and The Moore Co., Inc., Charleston, W.Va.

“We help West Virginia’s existing businesses research potential export markets, arrange trade show participation and locate prospective international business partners,” said Leslie Wrenn Drake, deputy director of the international division of the West Virginia Development Office.

AIMEX 2003 drew 11,641 visitors. It was one of five export promotion events sponsored this year by the West Virginia Development Office.

Railcar components builder attains certification

Engines, Inc., which manufactures structural steel freight car components in Milton, W.Va., obtained certification that meets the standards of the Institute for Supply Management.

Certification demonstrates to the railroad and supply industry that Engines, Inc., has a quality assurance system, which enhances confidence that the supplier provides quality goods and services on a continuing basis. The company, established in 1988, employs 120 people.

Networking company achieves standard

TROY Group Inc. announced that its Wheeling, W.Va., manufacturing facility achieved the ISO 9001:2000 certification for its wireless and connectivity manufacturing processes.

The international ISO 9001:2000 standard on good management practices ensures that an organization consistently delivers products that meet customers’ quality requirements. TROY’s wireless and connectivity product line provides connectivity solutions over a wide range of wireless and wired standard networking technologies.

W.Va. trucking executive to lead industry group

West Virginia trucking executive Fred Burns, Jr., was named chairman of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the nation’s largest trucking industry trade and advocacy group.

Through a combination of direct members, 50 affiliated state trucking associations and other trucking groups, ATA represents the interests of more than 37,000 trucking companies.

Burns of Marlinton, W.Va., is president of Burns Motor Freight, a family-run trucking operation founded by his father in 1946. The firm operates 100 tractor-trailer units out of its Marlinton headquarters and terminals in Beverly and Sam Black Church, W.Va., specializing in service to the wood products industry.

Fannie Mae to open Charleston headquarters

Lending giant Fannie Mae will open a West Virginia headquarters in Charleston. With the new office, the company plans to expand its focus in the state, providing financial muscle to build rental housing complexes and revitalize dormant neighborhoods, a company spokeswoman said.

New York-based Fannie Mae, the nation’s leading financing source for home mortgages with 4,700 employees, already pours about $300 million into single-family mortgages in West Virginia, according to company and state officials. The company’s Charleston location will be its 55th.

Live performance show highlights diversity

The U.S. State Department will include videotapes of Mountain Stage, produced by Mountain Music Partners LLC, a West Virginia public-private partnership, in gifts to foreign dignitaries. The tapes also will be shown at U.S. embassies to highlight the cultural diversity of the United States.

Mountain Stage, recorded before a live audience, presents acts ranging from traditional roots and country music to avant garde rock and jazz. Guests have included Los Lobos, Alison Krauss, Phish, Muzikas (Hungary), Buddy Guy, Ali Farke Toure (Mali), John Trudell, Dr. John, The Del McCoury Band, Joan Baez, Barenaked Ladies, Randy Newman, Chucho Valdes (Cuba), Ralph Stanley, John Cale, Wilco, Bobby Blue Bland, The Indigo Girls, Altan (Ireland), Lucinda Williams, Joshua Redman, Loudon Wainwright III, Richard Thompson, Norah Jones and R.E.M.

The TV shows are essentially hourlong compilations of the radio show, a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Steel company makes floor decking for 7 WTC

A division of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel is producing the steel floor decking for 7 World Trade Center, to be rebuilt in its former position in front of the Twin Towers destroyed Sept. 11, 2001. It will be taller than the prior building’s 47 stories.

Also, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. broke ground on the site of an electric arc furnace that will provide it flexibility for the future, allowing steel production from scrap, and which will make Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel one of the most productive steel companies in the world.

State guarantees loan for co-generation plant

West Virginia will provide a $3 million loan guarantee for the Western Greenbrier Co-Generation project, which will convert coal waste into electricity, use steam and hot water from its generation for greenhouses, fish farms and lumber kilns, and produce wood bricks from fly ash, wood chips and sawdust.

An innovative boiler system with the most up-to-date pollutant control systems forms the basis of the project. Cogeneration plants produce heat (usually in the form of hot water and/or steam) and power simultaneously, utilizing one primary fuel.

The project is in line for a U.S. Department of Energy award of $107 million.

Hospital honored for quality, workplace health

Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston, W.Va., has achieved a Gold Seal of Approval for health care quality from the Hospital Accreditation Program of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The three-year award of accreditation demonstrates the hospital’s compliance with national standards for patient safety and quality of care.

The Wellness Council of America and Wellness Council of West Virginia awarded the hospital a Gold Well Workplace Award for a second time. This places the hospital among the healthiest organizations in the nation, according to the Wellness Council of America President David M. Hunnicutt, Ph.D.

“By successfully meeting rigorous health promotion standards, Thomas Memorial Hospital has clearly demonstrated its commitment to improving the health and well-being of your most valuable asset—your employees,” he said.