President, McDonald Land Companies
By Jamie Null
Glenn Yost, president of McDonald Land Companies, developed his strong work ethic as a kid growing up along the state line of Southern West Virginia.
Born in Huntington, WV, he grew up in the two Bluefields—in both West Virginia and Virginia. His introduction to hard work started with mowing lawns, running a paper route and keeping score at the local bowling alley. In 1975, he took a job working in a coal mine in McDowell County immediately after graduating high school. It was one of the hardest, most physically demanding jobs he ever experienced—but he didn’t give up. He stuck with the job over the summer and returned during every summer break while he was a student at Virginia Tech.
“The most important thing I learned from those early jobs is that a work ethic means you show up on time, work hard for the money you’re being paid and respect the person in charge,” he says.
Yost graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering and started his first professional job with the Pittston Coal Company in Jewell Ridge, VA, in 1979. By 1990, he was promoted to general manager of operations over seven surface mines, a deep mine and a preparation plant, managing 400 people. When it was time to start a family, he felt he needed a change. In 1992, he accepted the job as president of McDonald Land Companies in Logan.
While this change in career was great for Yost professionally, personally it allowed him to become involved in several community organizations. He started on the board of the Logan County Community Fund in 1993 and has since served on the Logan Country Club board of directors, Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College board of governors and Logan County Airport Authority board. Today, he remains a longtime board member for the Logan County Chamber of Commerce and Logan County Bank & Trust Company and director of the National Council of Coal Lessors. In 2007, he helped co-found the Hatfield McCoy Convention & Visitors Bureau in Logan County, where he served as chairman since its inception.
Yost is heavily involved in tourism in Logan County and Southern West Virginia.
In 1997, he and his good friend, Greg Wooten, were invited to hear a pitch about building ATV trails in Southern West Virginia. It seemed there was no way to pull it off, as it required land, and public lands were not an option. Yost and Wooten set out to sell the idea to their respective land companies, as they both saw the potential and benefit of a trail system to the local economy. They took positions on a newly formed board with other land agents and economic development directors, which eventually became the Hatfield McCoy Regional Recreation Authority board. Yost remains on the board to this day and currently serves as its chairman.
His work to help develop licensing agreements and pass legislation to protect landowners led to the development of the Hatfield McCoy Trail System, and McDonald Land Company was the first to execute a licensing agreement in 2000. The first trails were built on McDonald land in Man, WV, and Dingess-Rum Properties in Ethel, WV.
“There were many heartaches along the way, but the Hatfield McCoy Trail System is by far the most successful tourist attraction in the state,” he says. “Logan County needs diversity, and I will continue to work on ways to make that happen.”
Although Yost might differ from his fellow West Virginians in football team preference—he is a huge Virginia Tech fan—he chooses to live and work in the Mountain State because of the people.
“The people are friendly, courteous and down to earth,” he says. “There is no place like West Virginia. The geography, mountains, streams and beautiful fall colors are like no other I have ever seen.”
As he continues to work and play in West Virginia, Yost is committed to bringing diversity to his home county and is currently working on building an ATV resort on an old golf course. When completed, it will be the largest along the Hatfield McCoy Trails.
1975 Graduated from Graham High School
1979 Graduated from Virginia Tech
1979 Began work at Pittston Coal Company
1983 Obtained professional engineer license
1987 Named manager of Motivation Coal Co.
1990 Named general manager of Pyxis Resources
1992 Son, John, was born
1992 Named president of McDonald Land Companies
1993 Named director of Logan County Community Fund
1997 Daughter, Kelly, was born
1997 Appointed to Hatfield McCoy Trail Authority board
2003 Appointed chairman of Logan County Airport Authority
2006 Named to Southern WV CTC board of governors
2007 Founded Hatfield McCoy CVB
2012 Married wife, Gena
2015 Elected chairman of Hatfield McCoy Trail Authority
