Founder and CEO, Coalfield Development
By Jennifer Jett Prezkop
Brandon Dennison was just a child when his roots began to influence his destiny.
“Growing up, when I would travel on family vacations or to Boy Scout camp, people would act sorry for me when I told them I was from Southern West Virginia,” he remembers. “This confused me because I had a great childhood.”
Dennison remembers the painful poverty he bore witness to all around him in the Mountain State. As a high school student he dreamed of running for office so he could help his people. “In time, I learned the real change agents work from the bottom up,” he says. “The real creativity comes from community, not big speeches.”
While in college, he served as a church youth director, which instilled in him a strong passion for social justice. It also introduced him to Pastor Randy Tremba, his mentor. The two facilitated service trips together, visiting Native American reservations, inner city soup kitchens and apple orchards worked by migrants. While these trips were deeply inspiring, Dennison realized he could have a bigger impact at home.
The last service trip proved to be the most impactful. The destination was Williamson, WV, and what came of this visit changed the course of many lives.
“We were doing home repair volunteer work, and two young men approached us,” he recalls. “They asked if we had work available. I explained that we were volunteers, and they went on their way. It felt like such a minor moment, but it stayed with me. It represented a primary problem we face in Southern West Virginia: we have people who want to work and learn and be part of something. We have gumption, but because our communities are so distressed and depressed, there are no opportunities to apply that gumption.”
Dennison acted on this realization by creating Coalfield Development, the parent company of a family of social enterprises in Wayne, WV, that are taking the lead on building a new economy in Southern West Virginia. To date, Coalfield Development has created more than 120 on-the-job training positions and more than 800 professional certification opportunities, redeveloped more than 175,000 square feet of dilapidated property and successfully launched 11 new businesses in real estate development, construction, wood working, agriculture and artisan trades.
Being a leader and a visionary is hard work, but Dennison finds motivation in those around him.
“Meetings and administrative challenges get me down, but when I spend time with our crew, I get re-energized,” he says. “These are people overcoming the oppressive pain of poverty to realize their full potential. They inspire me every day.”
In his spare time, Dennison lends his time, talent and treasure to volunteer projects. He serves on the board of directors for the Big Laurel Learning Center, which supports environmental education for youth, and the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce board of directors, where he is active with the workforce development committee. He also sits on the advisory board for the Marshall University School of Business iCenter, which works to increase entrepreneurial activities in Southern West Virginia, and the advisory board for the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund. He is a fellow of Ashoka, an international organization that promotes social entrepreneurship, and as a graduate of Shepherd University, he is active with the alumni network and collaborates with university departments to create volunteer experiences for students.
He credits his faith with the successes he’s experienced, and he measures his actions, in part, by whether they honor his ancestors: Appalachians of lifetimes past.
“These are the pathfinders,” he says. “These are the tough mountain women who worked the land and the war veterans. These are the pastors, shop owners and musicians. They are the essence of Appalachia. They lived full lives in Appalachia, and the way to honor them is to live as fully as I can.”
