CEO, Contractors Association of West Virginia
Photo by Chris Gosses.
By Arianna Whitehair
Even as a child, Jason Pizatella knew he wanted to make a difference.
“I was pretty sure I was going to go to law school early in life, perhaps as early as middle school,” says Pizatella, CEO for the Contractors Association of West Virginia (CAWV). “I knew then, however, that I probably wouldn’t spend an entire career as a lawyer in the traditional sense. I wanted to help people solve problems that often involved the government.”
Growing up in Fairmont, WV, Pizatella recalls a childhood spent outdoors enjoying the abundant beauty of the Mountain State.
“In the days before wireless phones, iPads and social media, if it wasn’t dark outside, we were outdoors doing something,” he says.
After receiving his bachelorʼs degree from West Virginia University (WVU) in political science in 2004, he attended WVU College of Law, where he graduated in 2007.
“I really enjoyed law school. In fact, I often said during my first few years of private practice that I wished I could go back to school,” he says. “Law school simply teaches you new ways to think about things—new ways to analyze and solve problems.”
After graduating from law school, Pizatella began his career as an associate at Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC.
“As a young lawyer, I always tried to learn as much as I could about my clients’ business so that, even as their lawyer, I could be somewhat of an extension of my clients’ management team,” he says. “Clients tend to trust their lawyers more when they know they also understand the business.”
In his current position with the CAWV, Pizatella is able to help drive policy change and represent those building new roads, bridges, airports, schools, hospitals and more across the state.
“I’m only the sixth person to lead the association since its founding in 1923, and we are celebrating our centennial this year,” he says. “The association represents 475 businesses and approximately 20,000 employees in the building, highway and utility contracting industries. We have the privilege of working with the next generation of the construction industry whose job it is to first maintain the infrastructure that we have and second, to expand it. Every single day I feel like we get to honor those who build a better West Virginia and all their employees.
He cites one of his favorite parts of the job being his ability to directly improve the quality of life for every West Virginian.
“When you have a small hand in an industry that helps get someone something that the rest of us take for granted, like a public sewer system, clean water, a new school or high-speed internet, it definitely has an impact and is what keeps us all going,” he says. “It’s an exciting time to be a contractor with all the recent investments in infrastructure funding, including the state of West Virginia’s Roads to Prosperity program and Congress’s passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. These investments, collectively, will be transformational for our state.”
Always searching for ways to give back to the legal profession, Pizatella was a previous member of the West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board, West Virginia Water Development Authority, West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council, West Virginia Parkways Authority, West Virginia State Personnel Board and Capitol Building Commission. He has also been actively serving on the Fairmont State University Board of Governors since 2020 and was appointed by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to the Board of Law Examiners in 2016, where he served until 2022.
Having been involved with various leadership roles during the administrations of former governors like Joe Manchin and Earl Ray Tomblin and current governor, Jim Justice, Pizatella gained invaluable work experience that he still uses today. He also served two stints as the governor’s deputy chief of staff and worked as the deputy state tax commissioner, the acting cabinet secretary of the Department of Administration and served briefly as the CEO of the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce.
“Each position had its own unique pros and cons, but each offered a different leadership opportunity from which I could accomplish ways to improve West Virginia,” he says.
While having learned many valuable life lessons throughout his extensive career, Pizatella cites the values of integrity and honesty as some of the most important traits for success.
“Whether you’re a lawyer, lobbyist, contractor or anything in between, your reputation is all you have. Once you lose it, you can never get it back,” he says. “I hope if you asked others about me, something they might say is, ‘We weren’t always on the same side, I didn’t always agree with him, but he always told me the truth and you could count on his word.’”
Having had many mentors who constantly pushed him to be a better legal professional and person, Pizatella looks forward to one day returning the favor by mentoring the next generation.
“I’ve been very lucky in my career to have really amazing professionals who took time to mentor a young lawyer and who stayed interested in my work both as a practitioner and outside the traditional scope of law,” he says. “I hope I can spend the next few years of my career, even though it’s outside the traditional practice law, mentoring young lawyers and law students about the various possibilities that a law degree can provide.”
Pizatella taught a Lawyers and the Legislative Process seminar at WVU College of Law for several years as a testament to his dedication to educating budding lawyers in the Mountain State.
“I try to devote my time and energy to causes that not only feel right, but that will also move the needle to help us move forward as a state,” he says.
A born and raised Mountaineer, Pizatella takes immense pride in lifting up his state and the people in it in such a way that the rest of the world can see why so many are proud to call it home.
“West Virginia has so much potential. The governor likes to say sometimes that, ‘West Virginia is the diamond in the rough that everyone missed.’ I think he’s right,” says Pizatella. “I stayed here because I wanted to make a difference and I continue to be inspired by the people who call West Virginia home and refuse to give up on making the Mountain State the best that it can be.”
