Corridor H, a highway project that when completed will stretch from Interstate 79 in Weston, WV, to Interstate 81 in Strasburg, VA, has been conceptualized since the late 1960s. To date, approximately 44 miles of the roadway have been completed from Weston to Kerens and approximately 49 miles from Davis to Wardensville. The original goal of Corridor H was to increase economic development and tourism opportunities for the many small towns that fall along its route. While it is not scheduled to be completed until the late 2030s, this designated Appalachian Development Highway has sparked optimism and anticipation in Lewis, Randolph and Upshur counties and paved the way for future growth.
Lewis County
Located at the intersection of Interstate 79 and Corridor H, Lewis County provides easy access to business and leisure. A progressive community that strives to maintain an attractive and affordable climate for businesses and residents, Lewis County is home to Stonewall Resort; several golf courses; a variety of historic attractions, including the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, The Museum of American Glass and the Mountaineer Military Museum; and West Virginia University’s Jackson’s Mill.
“If you love history, the outdoors and great food, Lewis County is the place for you,” says Chrissy Richards, executive director of the Lewis County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB). “In the near future, we expect tourism increases and a whole new market of travelers with the decreased drive time from Washington, D.C., to Lewis County with the completion of Corridor H.”
While tourism, hospitality, health care and education are among the county’s top industries, oil and natural gas have always had a strong presence.
“For decades, oil and natural gas have provided heat, jobs and revenue to the county,” says Lewis County Administrator and Economic Development Director Cindy Whetsell. “This is still true. The construction of Corridor H has brought many possibilities to our county, and we are aggressively working to expand infrastructure to accommodate all sizes of business creation.”
This infrastructure includes two industrial parks located along I-79 at the Jane Lew exit, including the Lewis County Industrial Park, which is nearly at capacity due to large investments by oil and natural gas companies like Dominion Energy.
This growth is thanks in part to the cooperative work between the Lewis County Commission and Lewis County Economic Development Authority. These organizations work together to plan for future growth while also marketing the county to potential investors. In 2019, they combined forces to provide water service to nearly 1,000 homes while also working to expand broadband coverage.
“With broadband enhancement, Lewis County will be able to be a major player in both the national and international business market,” says Whetsell.
Small business growth is also thriving in Lewis County. “Small business growth has brought new life to our communities and is the fastest-growing sector of development,” says Whetsell. “Every day, we work with entrepreneurs to provide information and assistance for opening their own small business. The future is very bright for locally owned and operated small businesses in Lewis County.”
With a strong workforce and a low cost of living that contribute to both business and residential growth, Lewis County is primed for the future.
“The future for Lewis County is bright, endless and very optimistic,” says Whetsell. “We have the location and the workforce, and the creation of new economic development parks provides the opportunity for businesses to be a part of our strong growth.”
Randolph County
Photo by Robbie Skinner.
Rich in culture and history and home to a variety of businesses and industries, Randolph County offers an affordable and comfortable lifestyle with the bonus of being surrounded by millions of acres of the Monongahela National Forest and having access to rivers and streams and a multitude of other recreation opportunities.
With a population of approximately 29,000—a 2 percent increase since 2000 despite an overall decrease statewide—and a logistical advantage in terms of location and access to workers and raw materials, Randolph County is poised for business growth. The completion of Corridor H will directly connect the county with Interstate 81, offering easy access to the Virginia Inland Port at Front Royal, VA, and other deep-water ports along the eastern seaboard, opening it up to international markets. This will be combined with the existing access the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad already provides to major markets throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada.
The county has already seen an increased demand for office space and an increase in retail sales. It is home to the Elkins Rail Yard and Huttonsville Industrial Park, both of which provide space for new and expanding commercial and retail development.
Robbie Morris, executive director of the Randolph County Development Authority (RCDA), is charged with the recruitment, retention and expansion of business in Randolph County and coordinates efforts with Elkins Main Street, the Elkins-Randolph County Chamber of Commerce and the Elkins-
Randolph County Tourism CVB.
“We are working to create wealth-building jobs through a stable and diverse group of businesses that help grow our economy,” says Morris. “We work with many organizations to create economic and community development opportunities for communities within our county and our region.”
According to Morris, Randolph County’s economy has been growing at a steady pace. With several large investments and major expansions by key sectors and companies in its economy such as Davis Medical Center, AHF Products, Big Timber Brewing and Davis & Elkins College, the county’s diverse group of industries allows it to weather economic storms better than others. Along with growth in its top industries—hardwood/forest products, tourism, health care, natural resource extraction and government—Randolph County is also seeing an increase in small businesses and entrepreneurship.
“We have a growing business climate throughout many parts of the county, including, but not limited to, Beverly, Mill Creek and Elkins,” says Morris. “Elkins Main Street, the chamber of commerce and Beverly OnTrac, among others, are all working together to create a climate to grow business opportunities.”
According to Taira Landavere, director of marketing for the Elkins Randolph County Tourism CVB, it’s been amazing to watch the growth of Randolph County over the years.
“We have a lot of momentum, and I think this momentum has a lot to do with economic development taking place around the county,” she says. “We have major manufacturing companies expanding, our regional hospital has grown exponentially, and although Corridor H isn’t complete yet, the parts that are complete have made our area much more accessible.”
In the future, Morris sees Randolph County securing its position as a regional economic hub in West Virginia.
“As further construction on Corridor H is completed, activity throughout this entire region will grow,” he says. “Randolph County is working to position itself to benefit from that growth.”
Upshur County
Robert Hinton, executive director of the Upshur County Development Authority, is laser focused on the diversification of industry in Upshur County.
“I’d like to see us not be as impacted by the ebb and flow of oil and gas as we have been in the past,” he says. “I’d like to see more knowledge-based work and job opportunities that match the skill sets of college graduates. This would help turn the corner on economic growth.”
With this goal in mind, Hinton and other leaders in Upshur County have worked toward nurturing the region’s top industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, STEM, timber, health care and aerospace.
With a variety of properties ready for development, a ready and willing workforce and major employers like Aleris Corporation; SEFPRO; Weyerhaeuser; Weatherford; MRC Global; Baker Hughes; A.F. Wendling’s Foodservice; AFP Logs & Lumber, Inc.; West Virginia Split Rail; J.F. Allen Company; WVU Medicine; and West Virginia Wesleyan College (WVWC), Upshur County is open for business.
“At the Upshur County Development Authority, we try to sustain the job creation we have in the county for existing businesses,” says Hinton. “We try to make sure they have the resources they need to stay in business and excel and grow. We try to recruit new companies to our area while also trying to figure out what opportunities are untapped. For a while we were heavy into oil and gas, but we’re trying to figure out new solutions to job creation and find some new industries.”
While the development authority focuses a lot on the area’s wood products industry, it is also seeing local and corporate investments in the growing hemp industry. In addition, the county recently completed a state-of-the-art innovation center, a 25,000-square-foot facility on Main Street in Buckhannon that provides flex office and coworking space for entrepreneurs with access to a full-time small business coach.
“We have seen immense growth in entrepreneurs and small businesses,” says Hinton. “From a standpoint of statistics, last year new business creation and small business access to capital was about $9 million. Our innovation center has seen an influx in tech-type entrepreneurs and knowledge-based companies that are finding space in the innovation center and using those resources.”
To piggyback off this success, the county is also promoting telework as an up-and-coming industry. This includes identifying companies that offer remote work and the skills they are looking for and working with WVWC and Pierpont Community & Technical College to create coursework for building those skills.
“Our biggest challenge as a county is population,” says Hinton. “When recruiting businesses to the area, they all look at overall population, which hurts us, but it can also become an advantage in attracting other types of businesses and jobs. We are working on telework/remote work recruiting opportunities. We will pinpoint companies that have remote jobs available and find prospective folks with those skills. We have a well-connected region in terms of broadband, which gives people the ability to do telework. That is an advantage in a small town. People are migrating toward this type of lifestyle. Traffic jams are a pain. That is part of our recruitment strategy—quality of place.”
Part of that quality includes Upshur County’s top-tier health care, ample housing options, creative culture and an active arts community, including the Upshur Arts Alliance, Inc. The alliance is a nonprofit organization that promotes, enhances and contributes to the educational, artistic and cultural lives of residents, making the county attractive to millennials and young families.
“A lot of people associate Buckhannon and Upshur County with classic, small-town America,” says Laura Meadows, executive director of the Upshur County CVB. “You can rattle off the tangible features like the main streets, flowers and picturesque things you can physically see, but to take it a little bit deeper, there is something intangible about it that people can’t quite describe. There is a certain atmosphere and a sense of community here.”
In May 2019, U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin announced that an additional $100 million had been secured for the West Virginia Department of Transportation to complete Corridor H. With this push, area residents and leaders are hopeful the completed roadway will be used by investors and visitors eager to see what makes this piece of Almost Heaven so special.
