Keith Funkhouser addressed the Keyser Lions Club last night. He is the GM for Allegheny Balistics Lab here in Mineral County. This was the first time I had learned about ABL and what they do. It is amazing that an organization like this exists here in Mineral County. The engineering is astounding. Keith, a native of Mineral County, cares deeply for the area and it is impressive to have him at the helm.
The question was raised about how ABL would fare in the post-Senator Byrd era. The answer was fairly in depth, but centered around the idea of building relationships with the new politicians in Washington to make sure that money keeps coming out to Mineral County. What strikes me the most is that by the time the post-Byrd era comes about, there is planned to be so much investment in the facility that it's role is critical and the contracts facility will continue to expand and grow. The ownership/lease structure of the property is set in such a way to hopefully continue the planned growth of the facility.
Keith also brought up some politically correct challenges to Mineral County to invest in our infrastructure and development. His challenge came with an "If you build it, they will come" tone when discussing the people that they are recruiting and the expectations of people looking to re-locate to Mineral County. This was the second time I had heard this same concern. Earlier in the day, Heather Ack from American Woodmark, spoke of the challenges that her company has when recruiting management candidates away from more urban areas. Come to think of it, Mineral County Schools have expressed similar struggles when recruiting teachers to the area.
My wife and I found this to be true when we recently relocated to the area. Mineral County simply does not make a very good first impression. When re-locating, many people like to go on a self-tour of the area and see where they would be living. My wife and I tried this, we drove up and down 220 and looked around the only housing areas we could find which were just off of Main St and West End. It can be daunting to take the cut off road, or head out on 46 not knowing where you are headed when you don't know the area. We also drove around the other side of the border and found the Cumberland area much closer to what we were used to seeing in our home towns. It isn't that those areas don't exist, you just have to know where to look in Mineral County.
Our plan had been to find a couple of neighborhood's we liked, then return home and pull up home listings on the computer to find a place to live. We knew that we would only had one planned visit to the area before buying a house and our self tour was going to be the key in finding the neighborhood that we chose to move to. We were determined to live on this side of the border, so we made some un-scheduled trips back and toured with realtors and other locals who showed us all of the areas that are just out of sight. Each one was progressively better and we found ourselves excited about re-locating to Mineral County and the neighborhood that we found. Turns out, our home is only about 1/8 mile off of 220, but without guidance, we never would have seen our neighborhood. Our experience is not unique and I have had discussions with several clients who re-located to the area and found this same challenge.
Perhaps we could establish a welcome website through the Chamber of Commerce that could help potential movers find the communities and hometown features that make Mineral County a great place to live. The site could also have a cost of living calculator to help people understand that their pay cut can actually be net gain. Recent movers/residents could suggest restaurants to try, places to go, etc. There are some unique attributes to this part of the country, and a welcome center or website could help to give our potential future neighbors a true first impression of the area.
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