September 26, 2025 • 37 mins
Executive Director of the West Virginia First Foundation Jonathan Board on the Momentum Grant Cycle
Monongalia County Republican Party Executive Committee Chairman Dale Sparks on the 15th Regan Dinner in October
Secretary of State Kris Warner with a recap of the state Economic Developemnt Conference held in Bridgeport.
Monongalia County Republican Party Executive Committee Chairman Dale Sparks on the 15th Regan Dinner in October
Secretary of State Kris Warner with a recap of the state Economic Developemnt Conference held in Bridgeport.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Clarksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two fivey five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike notlting Well.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Good Thursday morning, and welcome to Talk of the Town. Well,
this morning, we'll be talking about the West Virginia First Foundation,
their momentum grant cycle, how the application window is open,
and executive director of the Foundation. By the way, the
foundation is designated to distribute nearly a billion dollars in
(01:46):
opioid settlement money, Jonathan Board. He'll take some questions and
provide additional information about the categories of grants available and
the length of time that grant window will remain open.
Of the fifteenth Annual Reagan Dinner just about three weeks
away coming up in October out of the Lakeview Golf
(02:06):
Resorts Golf Resort, and tickets are going fast. The featured
speaker at that event Fox News host Joey Jones, and
we'll have Republican Executive Committee Chair Dale Sparks get some
more information from him and how you can get your
hands on a ticket if you'd like. Now, Secretary of
State Chris Warner, he's going to provide a recap of
(02:29):
the first Economic Council meeting in Bridgeport in a decade,
and we're going to learn that they had the highest
attendance ever. I got a feeling and we'll talk with
Chris Warner. We'll do that at just about nine forty.
Ethan Collins is our producer. Can't bring any of this
to you without his efforts. He's at eight hundred seven
(02:50):
six five eight two five five, and i'd appreciate the
opportunity to put my voice to your words. Now that's
possible through the text line. That number is three zero
four Talk three zero four. Again, that is three zero
four talk three zero four. How Currently Metro News Aki
weather says light rain, sixty seven degrees in the University
(03:14):
City and meteorologists say that we've received up to two
inches of rain in some areas over the last twenty
four hours. Now that total, more than likely where you
are is probably within about three quarters of an inch
to possibly up to an inch and a half. Certainly
what we needed after an extended dry period now so
(03:37):
far this week, as I understand it. Meteorologists say that
we've received up to four inches in some areas, but again,
another more accurate representation of the entire area could be
more like two and a half two and three quarter inches.
The experts tell me not to expect this to improve
the weekly drop monitor this time around, because those total
(04:00):
he was typically tallied from Tuesday to Tuesday. But next
week the drop monitor report should show some progress. Mon
County Commissioner Tom Bloom is expressing his frustrations over the
delayed move of Mylan Pushcar health Right. Health Right was
(04:20):
scheduled to move to their new facility on Scott Avenue
by the end of March in twenty twenty three. Now
more than two years later, it looks like they'll possibly
make that move by the end of November this year.
Bloom went on to say that it's not what was
expected when the city and county and other nonprofits put
(04:40):
up funding for that move. We'll keep an eye on
that now. We did reach out to Health Right officials
and have not heard back. The former assistant manager of
the west Over Dollar Tree on Fairmont Road has been
charged with embezzling the night deposit of more than thirteen
hundred dollars. Earlier than this month, forty six year old
(05:02):
Angela Ornik was seen on surveillance taking that deposit out
of the store, but failed to make the drop out
of the United Bank. She's being held at the North
Central Regional Jail. Detectives from Westover conducted that investigation of
the City of Fairmount plans to redevelop the old box
Factory site into a Momentum Adventure Park. That'll be the
(05:26):
second major trail head in the city and it'll be
the beginning of the final efforts to connect the Parkersburg
to Pittsburgh Trail. Let's see. The planning director there in
the City of Fairmont tells me that they actually have
just about a four mile gap that they need to
take care of, so they're going to get to work
(05:46):
on that now. The value of that Momentum Adventure Park
just about four million dollars. When we come back, going
to spend some time with the executive director of the
West Virginia First Foundation, Jonathan Board. We're going to be
talking about the Momentum grant cycle. It's coming up next.
Talk of the Town AM fourteen forty FM one oh
four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Look good Thursday morning. It's nine fifteen, some light rain
throughout the area, sixty seven degrees in the University City.
Now it is Save a Life Day across the University City.
Ten locations will be distributing free neloxone doses today. You
can get those locations at WAJR dot com. You've got
some time. It doesn't start until ten o'clock this morning.
(06:45):
On the phone, we've got the executive director from the
West Virginia First Foundation, the organization designated to distribute nearly
a billion dollars in opioid settlement money, Jonathan Boord. Jonathan,
good morning. It's a pleasure to have you on.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Wonderful to be with you again.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Mike, absolutely, Okay, Well, Jonathan, I guess give us an update.
The window for the Momentum Grant is now open. Give
us some details please, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Very excited about the Momentum Initiative grant kind of building
off of the success of last year's grant cycle, our
first cycle. You know, over the past year, I personally
have visited all fifty five counties together with our board
of directors and staff, and we've traveled across these regions
and listened to the local voices, to those that received
(07:38):
funding and those that didn't. And what the Momentum Initiative
grant really embodies is the voices that we heard. And
we're proud of this process that we've built together, and
we're going to ensure that every applicant is supported and
through the process and just we've developed a really comprehensive
suite of tools for them to do that. And we're
really excited about this.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
You know what, it's sounds like you've gone around the
state and you've taken maybe some of those near misses,
polished them up a little bit and pointed them in
the direction of victory.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Absolutely, absolutely, and we develop these focus areas. We have
five in total. One that's statewide and that's for foster
care and non parental caregivers. We've got almost four million
dollars in that bucket. It's a large scale and we're
really focused on those programs that support youth and families
raising children outside of traditional parental care. And then the
(08:34):
other four youth prevention, recovery, housing, behavioral health and workforce development,
and day report and re entry programs. These were all
areas that were impressed upon us as we've traveled throughout
the state that desperately need support, and so we want
to elevate and highlight those service providers throughout the state
and make sure that they have the tools they need
(08:54):
to succeed.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Can you explain the way the regional target area categories work, right?
Speaker 3 (09:01):
So we moved away actually from from the geography based
or regional based and so the MiG what we're calling
the mi IG MINTDM Initiative grant is merit based.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Right.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Awards are capped and set up front to ensure fairness
and transparency and efficiency. And that's a that's a little
bit of a shift, right. We listen to the feedback
that we got from organizations, so this year we set
those caps for each target area based on available funding
and the unique needs of each area. And so this
provides clarity upfront for our applicants to design their programs
(09:38):
and set realistic goals and hopefully get fully funded.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
You know. I think also what it does is it
gives you an opportunity to maybe right size fund some
of these ideas and then be able to manage them
as they go and possibly even grow them if that
would merit. The situation absolutely.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
You know, when you go across this state, you'll realize
very quickly there are communities, even neighboring communities, that have
vastly different needs, and so we want to make sure
that everyone has a voice in this process. I can
tell you between our board and staff, every West Virginia
voice has been baked into this process, and so what
(10:23):
we have now is really really strong. We have a
great scoring rubric and a really aggressive timeline, but we
want to make sure that the need is responded to
quickly and appropriately.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
West Virginia First Foundation Executive Director Jonathan Board is with
us now. The application window opened on Monday and will
remain open until the tenth of October at noon. Now, Jonathan,
I think may have intimidated some new applicants with the
first part of our conversation, but I would like to
assure that this is wide open to each and everybody,
(10:57):
and there's plenty of time in order to make we
seek a little bit of guidance.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
That's right, that's right. So we started this process early.
We also wanted to give folks more time. So really
this process started back on the fifth of September, where
you could access and see the releases and start submitting
questions through the FAQ, and then we published those on
the twelfth. We also published on our website, really importantly
(11:25):
a step by step video tutorial, so you can pause it,
you can look, you can see the portal and how
to access these funds and this application period. I'll tell
you we've kind of canvassed the world. We looked at
a lot of different opioid settlement funds across the country.
We certainly looked at the federal standards.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Those are usually up to.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Forty fifty different types of items and questions that are
asked in that application period process. We cut that in
half and we even brought it down lower. We were
proud of the fact that this is really an open
book test. We've given every every everyone.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
That had a question.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
We published those questions, we published the answers, We produced
a really good video you can go step by step
through this process. We want we want this to be
as accessible to what I call the mom and pop
shops who are busy healing one person at a time,
as well as the large organizations that are working with
hundreds of clients. This is this is for all of
(12:23):
West Virginia, not not isolated.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Well, you know, Jonathan, today just happens to be save
a life day, freeing the locks one day. And back
on Tuesday, I had some members of the Mont County
Quick Response Team in the studio talking about today, and
one of the things that I asked them was, in
the wake of some of the numbers out of the
Department of Health that show opioid overdose deaths declining, wanted
(12:48):
to know what they were seeing in the field. And
their antidotes to me was that what they're seeing matches
what the Department of Health is showing. Now, you've been
to all fifty five counties, sure with us, maybe what
you're seeing.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yeah, well, you know, West Virginia leads the nation in
the reduction of overdose rates.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
We lead the nation.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
That's a wonderful, wonderful report, and that's something that I
think we can celebrate all of our providers across this state.
But I think we're we're also very mindful of the
fact that in some areas addiction rates have plateaued, some
very limited areas, but some areas that we've seen them
go up, and so we need to be really smart.
(13:33):
We're so thankful for recovery medications that are saving lives, right.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
You can't.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
You can't heal folks that have passed away, and sadly,
too many have passed away in this state. So we're
excited about that as well, but we don't want to
we don't want to lose sight of the goal here.
We're still double the national average. We were at one
time triple the national average. So again, great, great effort,
and you can really see the work of our providers
(13:59):
across the state and the success that they're having truly
healing our family, our friends, and our neighbors. But we
want to make sure that they continue to have that
support as we've got still a long way to go.
Our NAS rate is really high. Children born addicted, we
want to work on that. Our childhood bereavement is really high,
and a lot of that's connected to OED and SUD.
(14:21):
So the work is before us and we want to
support those efforts.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Now.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
You can get more information about the grant cycle at
WV first dot org. And you know, I was thinking
about this last night, Jonathan, and there are really a
lot of parallels between treating opioid addiction and economic development,
and I'll tell you why, because each area of the state,
just like in opioid addiction is a little bit different.
(14:48):
You go into the southern part of the state that
used to be, you know, kind of the economic workhorse,
maybe not so much anymore. And I think that there
is a relationship between economic develop upment and healing our
opioid addiction problem. What do you think?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I couldn't agree with you more. And I'll tell you
what excites me is we're seeing large organizations and small
come into this state or those that have been here
for decades who are recognizing that there are there are.
You know, as much as we're challenged in this state
with workforce participation, there are those who have gone through
(15:28):
healing and are so energized about getting back into the workforce,
and many of these organizations are creating pathways to do that.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
I know the state has a.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Program, but there are some that are working independently and
working with their local communities and some of the folks
that are coming through treatment and and they're embracing them.
I know some of our higher ed is getting involved
in that too and creating certification and pathways back into
this We are very excited, and I can tell you
(15:59):
your little head of us with some announcements, but we're
very excited about the future of workforce development and it
is absolutely connected to healing this state, as we say,
from the inside out.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
You know, Jonathan, the other thing I wanted to address
with you was the financial strategy of the Foundation, because
when I take a look at the momentum momentum initiative
grant cycle, you know, you've got the awards broken down.
For example, in the youth prevention category in the regional
target area, there's a total of four million dollars and
there will be thirty two total grants of one hundred
(16:36):
and twenty five thousand dollars given each and in each
one of the categories. It gives you the total that
will be allocated, the number of awards, and then the
amount of the awards, and then if you figure in,
you know, nine hundred and sixty eight million dollars, give
or take a couple ten million or so, you're really
(16:57):
kind of setting yourself up to be a true foundation
to where you are paying out what you're earning.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Well, that's right, good good analysis there. You know, we
want to grow the purpose for generations and generations to come.
We fully recognize that this problem will not go away
in the ten or so years that we have drawdowns
on these settlements, So we want to make sure that
we are investing appropriately now, but we're not committing intergenerational
(17:30):
theft where we're stealing from the next generation. So that's
why we don't take anything in a blase a attitude.
We are very focused on today's needs, but we always
have a mind's eye upstream to what might be coming next.
Your children, our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. People that
have never been born are going to look back in
(17:50):
time and say, what did you do with this gift
that was given to you? And we want to make
sure that we are very good stewards. And that's why
we're very focused on making sure we're getting funds out,
we're investing appropriately and turning this into something more of
an endowment than just some sort of blase fund that
you know, every access is always successful. We have to
(18:13):
be really focused on that absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
And now you can get more information at WV first
dot org and the application window is open until October
tenth at noon. And I'm sure Jonathan, the regional representatives,
everybody is certainly more than willing to reach out and
answer a question.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Absolutely, we'd love it anytime. Please reach out and you
can go again wv First dot org slash m ig
to learn more about this grant.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Okay, perfect, Hey Jonathan, Always a pleasure to catch up
with you and hope you have a great day.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Thank you so much you as well.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Absolutely take care, Sir Jonathan Board, executive director of the
West Virginia First Foundation, certainly appreciate his time. Now coming
up at the top of the hour that will kick
off the official start of Save a Life Day and
those free neloxone doses available throughout the throughout the community. Now,
(19:11):
there are three locations on the West Virginia University campus
at the Health Sciences Center, the Rex Center, and the
Mountain Layer. Then off campus they'll be at the Mont
County Health Department. They'll have tents in downtown Morgantown at
the Mont County Courthouse Plaza. Then the McDonald's locations in
(19:33):
Saberton and Suncresttown Center, as well as the Clinton District
Library and the Pierpont Landing Pharmacy. Now the Clinton District Library.
They'll have slightly different hours. I believe they'll be open
from noon until four. However, all other locations will be
(19:54):
passing out three doses of neloxon from ten a m.
This morning until six o'clock this evening. Coming up in
just about three weeks, it'll be the fifteenth annual Reagan Dinner.
That'll be at the Lakeview Golf Resort and features Johnny
Joey Jones. He's an author and Fox News contributor. He'll
(20:17):
be the keynote speaker, speaking with the executive or I'm sorry,
the Chairman of the Mont County Republican Executive Committee, Dale Sparks.
Those tickets are going pretty fast, So what we're going
to do next spend a few minutes with Dale, get
some details about the dinner and how you can get
in on these tickets while there are still some left.
(20:39):
Now that event for your planning purposes. It's coming up
on October sixteenth. It'll be at the Lakeview Golf Resort.
Features Johnny Joey Jones. We'll talk with Dale Sparks. Coming
up next. Right now, some light rain and sixty seven
degrees in the University City. It's time now to find
out what's happening across the great state of West Virginia.
(21:01):
And to do that, we'll head to the Metro News
anchor desk.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Well, good Thursday morning. It is at nine thirty four
the Montaguelia County Republican Executive Committee cordially invites the public
to their fifteenth annual Reagan Dinner that's coming up on
the sixteenth of October at the Lakeview Golf Resort. We've
got the Executive Committee Chairman Dale sparks with us, and
Dale is about to tell you better get a ticket
(21:43):
if you want to go, isn't that right? Dale?
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Absolutely right. We have less than one hundred tickets left.
It's going to be a sellout at four hundred and
like I said, less than one hundred tickets, so you
better get them. They're going, They're going fan and Joey
Jones is going to be an amazing speaker, So it's
going to be a great time. The only chance you're
(22:07):
going to have to meet him in this time, in
this town for a while.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
I would say absolutely. Now, the social hour they'll get
started at five o'clock, the dinner at six thirty, and
then there will be a VIP reception following. Are there
still tickets available? For that VIP reception.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
Yes, you have to be one of the sponsors, the
fifteen thousand, ten thousand, or five thousand dollars table sponsors
to qualify to be a VIP. We still have a
few of those left, so that's also going to max
out around fifty or so. And you'll get a free
book signed by Joey, you'll get a photo taken with Joey.
(22:49):
You'll actually get the meeting and talk to him for
you know, we're going to have about about an hour,
half an hour to forty five minutes to an hour
to meet with Joey and talk with him. So those sponsorships,
a few of them, just a few of them are
left available. So the turnout for this has been absolutely phenomenal.
We're excited as can be to be able to bring
(23:12):
Joey in. He's a special guy. He's now got his
own show, The Big Weekend Show on Fox on Saturdays
and Sundays, so he's no longer just a contributor. He's
a weekend anchor on the Big Weekend Show, so he
is gaining more popularity and just a great human being
(23:35):
and we're so excited to bring him in. We're going
to you know, like we said, we're going to have
registration at five in that social hour, and then six
we'll start to program dinner. Six thirty, we'll have a
few introductory guest speakers, and then the main man, Johnny
Joey Jones about seven thirty, and we'll also have we've
(23:56):
just we've recently announced this online. We are going to
have a moment of silence in memory of Charlie Kirk
and the tragic loss of him in the past two weeks.
So we're going to take time because I think Joey
was friends with him, and he will probably have a
few words to say about that as well, but we
will have a dedicated moment of silence for Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
And now let's see Jones as a Marine Corps veteran
motivational speaker, as Dale just said, now has his own
show on Fox. But you know, fifteen years ago he
was an explosive ordnance technician in Afghanistan, suffered a life
changing injury, lost both of his legs, and I guess
(24:42):
this year he's celebrating his fifteenth alive day.
Speaker 5 (24:47):
He is, and he kind of jokingly said on Fox
one day he said, I almost gave my life for
my country. I failed miserably at it, but and I'm
glad he failed miserably because he is one we want
to keep around. So he also has a sense of
(25:09):
humor about the tragedy that he's suffered through and the
grind that he's put through to get back to where
he is today and thriving. So I noticed on X
this morning that he's trying to find a pair of
cowboy boots that will fit his prosthetics so that he
can wear cowboy boots as well. Now, so I'm hoping
(25:32):
he has those cowboy boots with him and he'll be
wearing them here. So, you know, it's just an amazing story.
He's a motivational kind of guy. If you got ten
or thirty minutes to watch on Fox Nation his story
about his fifteenth to live day, it's worth the time
to watch that before you get the meeting.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
You know, Dale, I haven't had I'm not a huge
consumer of Johnny Joey Jones, but I can tell you
that I appreciate his brand of you know, just laying
it out there, being honest and using common sense to
make a point.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
He is very common sense. He just tells it straight.
I mean, there's no reason for him to not tell
it straight. He's got this second chance on life, that
he's been living this special life for the last fifteen years,
and he has every reason to shoot straight, tell it
like it is and let people know what the truth
(26:36):
is by using common sense, which is at a premium,
it seems like anymore around our country.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
You just said a mouthful, that's for sure.
Speaker 5 (26:49):
Yeah, he will bring it. I guarantee you he will
bring a message that will especially in light of the
tragedy of Charlie Kirk, you know. And we're just a
side note here. We are providing security for the event,
so if anybody's worried about anything, we're going to have
a security presence so that that's taken care of as well.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Okay, good deal. Now, if anyone would like to get
some more information on their own, you can do that
by going to moncountygop dot com, or you can contact Dale.
He's normally pretty free with his cell phone number.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Oh yeah, three oh four two eight two nine eight
nine nine. And I've filled a lot of calls, people
calling and asking So one thousand dollars table you can
buy online, which is ten seats for one thousand dollars,
or you can buy individual tickets one hundred dollars apiece.
(27:49):
We will have some special tickets available for veterans, so
you need to contact us and let us know about that.
But if you're wanting to sponsor at the fifteen, ten
or five thousand dollars levels, that's going to require a
call to me and we'll discuss the details and get
that taken care of.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Okay, good deal, hey, Dale, As always, really do appreciate
your time today, sir.
Speaker 5 (28:14):
Yes, sir, great to talk to you, Mike, and God
bless everybody in mon County and let's just keep this
momentum going.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Absolutely. You take care of Dale and have a great day.
Thank you, yes, sir. Nine forty one some light rain,
sixty seven degrees. When we come back, we're going to
spend a few minutes with Secretary of State Chris Warner
and we'll get a read out on the State Economic
Council conference that was held in Bridgeport this week. The
(28:44):
theme of that event was the silver lining. We'll talk
to Secretary of State Chris Warner about that silver lining
coming up next on Talk of the Town AM fourteen
forty FM. One oh four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two finy five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Well, good Thursday morning. It is nine forty seven, some
light rain and plenty of rain on the radar as
well sixty seven degrees in the University City. From Monday
through Wednesday, more than two hundred and seventy economic developers
gathered in Charles Point at the Conference Center there to
talk about economic development, the silver lining as they call it.
(29:45):
On the phone, we've got Secretary of State Chris Warner. Hey, Chris,
good morning, sir. How are you?
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Good morning, Mike. I'm calling in this morning from Pleasants County,
where we're here at Saint Mary's High School today for
voter registration drive its National voter Registration month. But yesterday
we were in Harrison County for the West Virginia Economic
Development Council conference, and boy, it was a crowded room.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
And you know what, Chris, I think. I took a
look at your comments, and I took a look at
some notes from that meeting, and it looks like we're
trying to develop a way to weave together some public
private partnerships to maybe more evenly distribute the wealth throughout
(30:33):
the state. That's probably not a good way to see it.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
No, Mike, we are and the people that were gathered
in that room yesterday were local development officials at the
county level. They had Regional Planning Development Council representatives, State
Development Office, REPS, Commerce Department folks. But these are the people,
(30:59):
these of the workhorses. They get it done. I mean,
you know, we've all been around for the huge announcements,
but these folks work with small business owners and developers
to create public private partnerships and connect people with financing
that is available, whether that's through the state or federal
(31:22):
programs like USDA Rural Development and the Small Business Administration
at the federal level. But that's exactly what was going
on yesterday, sharing best practices and figuring out where government
can help out when necessary.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
And it looks like one of the top tools for
these economic developers is the tax increment finance district.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
Yeah, tax increment financing is a great way to know.
The case study yesterday was Charles Point and Bridgeport had
been a couple of small farms and a mining operation.
But you know when those cease to exist, you can
take that area and develop it. And you can see
(32:11):
what's happened down at Charles Point with everything from a
new hospital, forty million dollar hospital being built, a fifty
million dollar sports complex, retail housing. But that that only
happens when you have a public private partnership. And you know,
in this case, they use the Economic Development Authority to
(32:34):
help fund some of the infrastructure. So you know, the
infrastructures you know needed in so many places around West Virginia.
And we're hopeful that people were able to, you know,
share their best practices yesterday see what Jamie and Jennifer
Corton have done and Bridgeport, and then reproduce that quite
(32:55):
frankly in other places. I mentioned one other place southern
West Virginia and Logan County. You've got Ronnie and Diana
Barnett with US gear Works and they are taking advantage
of a program through the State of West Virginia. Thus
again another public private partnership. They're going to create seventy
(33:17):
five jobs building gears, something that's only done in probably
five places around the world do you build gears, And
they're going very innovative. We're going to do it right
here in West Virginia. They need gears for mining equipment,
but they'll end up producing gears for all sorts of
industries around the world and won't have to pay the tariffs.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Secretary of State Chris Warners with us and now, Chris,
one thing I wanted to run by is I've had
the time, or I had the chance to spend a
few minutes with Jamie Corton, and you know what a
vision that that guy has. And you know, if he
could spend some time with some of these economic developers
in the southern part of the state, that'd be a
(34:03):
huge help, wouldn't it.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
You know, you got to remember, Jamie's been at this
for a while in the Charles Point development that everybody
goes by on the interstate now and sees everything that
has happened there. This has been twenty years of long,
hard work. Jamie did not used to have gray hair
when he got started in this project. So economic development
(34:29):
takes time, and it's a lot of times, you know,
working with you know, local officials. Jamie does a great
job of doing that. I know he's working closely now
with the new Mara of Bridgeport. But it takes a
lot of time and investment, and quite frankly, on these
two case studies that I mentioned, they've both put their
(34:49):
families time and money and investment. As they say, they've
got their own skin in the game, and that makes
a huge difference when it comes to having a successful
project like the one at Charles Point.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
One of the things the attendees got to do is
they got to go see places like the North Central
West Virginia Airport, the new terminal, the Aerotech Business Park
with all the development there as well as Charles Point,
the seventeen hundred acre plan development with an economic impact
of more than a billion dollars. You got an economic
(35:25):
impact of more than a billion dollars at the North
Central West Virginia Airport and Aerotech Business Park. There's lots
to see down there.
Speaker 4 (35:34):
You know, Tracy Miller with the aerospace industry there around
Bridgeport and Clarksburg, the North Central Regional Airport, you know,
they have numerous businesses that are they're producing for companies
all around the world right now right there in north
central West Virginia. She's doing a fabulous job. And you know,
(35:59):
we we admire and respect the folks that are working
with the airspace industry there. You know, it's very interesting
when you look across Route fifty and see what's happening
in the west with steel manufacturing and the energy industry.
You know, I see that that quarter will eventually it'll
(36:21):
be a quarter linked with businesses all the way from
Clarksburg to Parkersburg. And you know, with the tech based
businesses that we now have around Morgantown and Huntington and
remote workers. Looking at West Virginia, we are truly evolving.
Used to be the southern portion of the state was,
(36:43):
you know, the industrial area of the state focused on coal.
That area has been hit hard, and none of us
can you know, forget that industrial heart of West Virginia,
recognize the decline of coal and the significant hurdles they're facing,
you know, with job walls and population decline and lack
(37:04):
of access to capital. And I think we can take
some of these practices that are being used around the
rest of the state and get back and make sure
that we keep a focus on southern West Virginia as well.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Okay, Secretary of State Chris Warner, Hey, Chris, really do
appreciate your time. Good work, and we'll talk again soon.
Speaker 4 (37:25):
I'm sure, and Mike, thank you very much for having
me on.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Absolutely take care of yourself and safe travels by the
way as well. Secretary of State Chris Warner in Pleasants
County at the high School with Saint Mary's High School
registering young people to vote. That's Secretary of State Chris Warner.
We'll be back to wrap things up after this on
Am fourteen forty f M one oh four point five
w AJR
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Clarksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two fivey five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike notlting Well.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Good Thursday morning, and welcome to Talk of the Town. Well,
this morning, we'll be talking about the West Virginia First Foundation,
their momentum grant cycle, how the application window is open,
and executive director of the Foundation. By the way, the
foundation is designated to distribute nearly a billion dollars in
(01:46):
opioid settlement money, Jonathan Board. He'll take some questions and
provide additional information about the categories of grants available and
the length of time that grant window will remain open.
Of the fifteenth Annual Reagan Dinner just about three weeks
away coming up in October out of the Lakeview Golf
(02:06):
Resorts Golf Resort, and tickets are going fast. The featured
speaker at that event Fox News host Joey Jones, and
we'll have Republican Executive Committee Chair Dale Sparks get some
more information from him and how you can get your
hands on a ticket if you'd like. Now, Secretary of
State Chris Warner, he's going to provide a recap of
(02:29):
the first Economic Council meeting in Bridgeport in a decade,
and we're going to learn that they had the highest
attendance ever. I got a feeling and we'll talk with
Chris Warner. We'll do that at just about nine forty.
Ethan Collins is our producer. Can't bring any of this
to you without his efforts. He's at eight hundred seven
(02:50):
six five eight two five five, and i'd appreciate the
opportunity to put my voice to your words. Now that's
possible through the text line. That number is three zero
four Talk three zero four. Again, that is three zero
four talk three zero four. How Currently Metro News Aki
weather says light rain, sixty seven degrees in the University
(03:14):
City and meteorologists say that we've received up to two
inches of rain in some areas over the last twenty
four hours. Now that total, more than likely where you
are is probably within about three quarters of an inch
to possibly up to an inch and a half. Certainly
what we needed after an extended dry period now so
(03:37):
far this week, as I understand it. Meteorologists say that
we've received up to four inches in some areas, but again,
another more accurate representation of the entire area could be
more like two and a half two and three quarter inches.
The experts tell me not to expect this to improve
the weekly drop monitor this time around, because those total
(04:00):
he was typically tallied from Tuesday to Tuesday. But next
week the drop monitor report should show some progress. Mon
County Commissioner Tom Bloom is expressing his frustrations over the
delayed move of Mylan Pushcar health Right. Health Right was
(04:20):
scheduled to move to their new facility on Scott Avenue
by the end of March in twenty twenty three. Now
more than two years later, it looks like they'll possibly
make that move by the end of November this year.
Bloom went on to say that it's not what was
expected when the city and county and other nonprofits put
(04:40):
up funding for that move. We'll keep an eye on
that now. We did reach out to Health Right officials
and have not heard back. The former assistant manager of
the west Over Dollar Tree on Fairmont Road has been
charged with embezzling the night deposit of more than thirteen
hundred dollars. Earlier than this month, forty six year old
(05:02):
Angela Ornik was seen on surveillance taking that deposit out
of the store, but failed to make the drop out
of the United Bank. She's being held at the North
Central Regional Jail. Detectives from Westover conducted that investigation of
the City of Fairmount plans to redevelop the old box
Factory site into a Momentum Adventure Park. That'll be the
(05:26):
second major trail head in the city and it'll be
the beginning of the final efforts to connect the Parkersburg
to Pittsburgh Trail. Let's see. The planning director there in
the City of Fairmont tells me that they actually have
just about a four mile gap that they need to
take care of, so they're going to get to work
(05:46):
on that now. The value of that Momentum Adventure Park
just about four million dollars. When we come back, going
to spend some time with the executive director of the
West Virginia First Foundation, Jonathan Board. We're going to be
talking about the Momentum grant cycle. It's coming up next.
Talk of the Town AM fourteen forty FM one oh
four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Look good Thursday morning. It's nine fifteen, some light rain
throughout the area, sixty seven degrees in the University City.
Now it is Save a Life Day across the University City.
Ten locations will be distributing free neloxone doses today. You
can get those locations at WAJR dot com. You've got
some time. It doesn't start until ten o'clock this morning.
(06:45):
On the phone, we've got the executive director from the
West Virginia First Foundation, the organization designated to distribute nearly
a billion dollars in opioid settlement money, Jonathan Boord. Jonathan,
good morning. It's a pleasure to have you on.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Wonderful to be with you again.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Mike, absolutely, Okay, Well, Jonathan, I guess give us an update.
The window for the Momentum Grant is now open. Give
us some details please, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Very excited about the Momentum Initiative grant kind of building
off of the success of last year's grant cycle, our
first cycle. You know, over the past year, I personally
have visited all fifty five counties together with our board
of directors and staff, and we've traveled across these regions
and listened to the local voices, to those that received
(07:38):
funding and those that didn't. And what the Momentum Initiative
grant really embodies is the voices that we heard. And
we're proud of this process that we've built together, and
we're going to ensure that every applicant is supported and
through the process and just we've developed a really comprehensive
suite of tools for them to do that. And we're
really excited about this.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
You know what, it's sounds like you've gone around the
state and you've taken maybe some of those near misses,
polished them up a little bit and pointed them in
the direction of victory.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Absolutely, absolutely, and we develop these focus areas. We have
five in total. One that's statewide and that's for foster
care and non parental caregivers. We've got almost four million
dollars in that bucket. It's a large scale and we're
really focused on those programs that support youth and families
raising children outside of traditional parental care. And then the
(08:34):
other four youth prevention, recovery, housing, behavioral health and workforce development,
and day report and re entry programs. These were all
areas that were impressed upon us as we've traveled throughout
the state that desperately need support, and so we want
to elevate and highlight those service providers throughout the state
and make sure that they have the tools they need
(08:54):
to succeed.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Can you explain the way the regional target area categories work, right?
Speaker 3 (09:01):
So we moved away actually from from the geography based
or regional based and so the MiG what we're calling
the mi IG MINTDM Initiative grant is merit based.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Right.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Awards are capped and set up front to ensure fairness
and transparency and efficiency. And that's a that's a little
bit of a shift, right. We listen to the feedback
that we got from organizations, so this year we set
those caps for each target area based on available funding
and the unique needs of each area. And so this
provides clarity upfront for our applicants to design their programs
(09:38):
and set realistic goals and hopefully get fully funded.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
You know. I think also what it does is it
gives you an opportunity to maybe right size fund some
of these ideas and then be able to manage them
as they go and possibly even grow them if that
would merit. The situation absolutely.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
You know, when you go across this state, you'll realize
very quickly there are communities, even neighboring communities, that have
vastly different needs, and so we want to make sure
that everyone has a voice in this process. I can
tell you between our board and staff, every West Virginia
voice has been baked into this process, and so what
(10:23):
we have now is really really strong. We have a
great scoring rubric and a really aggressive timeline, but we
want to make sure that the need is responded to
quickly and appropriately.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
West Virginia First Foundation Executive Director Jonathan Board is with
us now. The application window opened on Monday and will
remain open until the tenth of October at noon. Now, Jonathan,
I think may have intimidated some new applicants with the
first part of our conversation, but I would like to
assure that this is wide open to each and everybody,
(10:57):
and there's plenty of time in order to make we
seek a little bit of guidance.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
That's right, that's right. So we started this process early.
We also wanted to give folks more time. So really
this process started back on the fifth of September, where
you could access and see the releases and start submitting
questions through the FAQ, and then we published those on
the twelfth. We also published on our website, really importantly
(11:25):
a step by step video tutorial, so you can pause it,
you can look, you can see the portal and how
to access these funds and this application period. I'll tell
you we've kind of canvassed the world. We looked at
a lot of different opioid settlement funds across the country.
We certainly looked at the federal standards.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Those are usually up to.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Forty fifty different types of items and questions that are
asked in that application period process. We cut that in
half and we even brought it down lower. We were
proud of the fact that this is really an open
book test. We've given every every everyone.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
That had a question.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
We published those questions, we published the answers, We produced
a really good video you can go step by step
through this process. We want we want this to be
as accessible to what I call the mom and pop
shops who are busy healing one person at a time,
as well as the large organizations that are working with
hundreds of clients. This is this is for all of
(12:23):
West Virginia, not not isolated.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Well, you know, Jonathan, today just happens to be save
a life day, freeing the locks one day. And back
on Tuesday, I had some members of the Mont County
Quick Response Team in the studio talking about today, and
one of the things that I asked them was, in
the wake of some of the numbers out of the
Department of Health that show opioid overdose deaths declining, wanted
(12:48):
to know what they were seeing in the field. And
their antidotes to me was that what they're seeing matches
what the Department of Health is showing. Now, you've been
to all fifty five counties, sure with us, maybe what
you're seeing.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yeah, well, you know, West Virginia leads the nation in
the reduction of overdose rates.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
We lead the nation.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
That's a wonderful, wonderful report, and that's something that I
think we can celebrate all of our providers across this state.
But I think we're we're also very mindful of the
fact that in some areas addiction rates have plateaued, some
very limited areas, but some areas that we've seen them
go up, and so we need to be really smart.
(13:33):
We're so thankful for recovery medications that are saving lives, right.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
You can't.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
You can't heal folks that have passed away, and sadly,
too many have passed away in this state. So we're
excited about that as well, but we don't want to
we don't want to lose sight of the goal here.
We're still double the national average. We were at one
time triple the national average. So again, great, great effort,
and you can really see the work of our providers
(13:59):
across the state and the success that they're having truly
healing our family, our friends, and our neighbors. But we
want to make sure that they continue to have that
support as we've got still a long way to go.
Our NAS rate is really high. Children born addicted, we
want to work on that. Our childhood bereavement is really high,
and a lot of that's connected to OED and SUD.
(14:21):
So the work is before us and we want to
support those efforts.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
Now.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
You can get more information about the grant cycle at
WV first dot org. And you know, I was thinking
about this last night, Jonathan, and there are really a
lot of parallels between treating opioid addiction and economic development,
and I'll tell you why, because each area of the state,
just like in opioid addiction is a little bit different.
(14:48):
You go into the southern part of the state that
used to be, you know, kind of the economic workhorse,
maybe not so much anymore. And I think that there
is a relationship between economic develop upment and healing our
opioid addiction problem. What do you think?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I couldn't agree with you more. And I'll tell you
what excites me is we're seeing large organizations and small
come into this state or those that have been here
for decades who are recognizing that there are there are.
You know, as much as we're challenged in this state
with workforce participation, there are those who have gone through
(15:28):
healing and are so energized about getting back into the workforce,
and many of these organizations are creating pathways to do that.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
I know the state has a.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Program, but there are some that are working independently and
working with their local communities and some of the folks
that are coming through treatment and and they're embracing them.
I know some of our higher ed is getting involved
in that too and creating certification and pathways back into
this We are very excited, and I can tell you
(15:59):
your little head of us with some announcements, but we're
very excited about the future of workforce development and it
is absolutely connected to healing this state, as we say,
from the inside out.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
You know, Jonathan, the other thing I wanted to address
with you was the financial strategy of the Foundation, because
when I take a look at the momentum momentum initiative
grant cycle, you know, you've got the awards broken down.
For example, in the youth prevention category in the regional
target area, there's a total of four million dollars and
there will be thirty two total grants of one hundred
(16:36):
and twenty five thousand dollars given each and in each
one of the categories. It gives you the total that
will be allocated, the number of awards, and then the
amount of the awards, and then if you figure in,
you know, nine hundred and sixty eight million dollars, give
or take a couple ten million or so, you're really
(16:57):
kind of setting yourself up to be a true foundation
to where you are paying out what you're earning.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Well, that's right, good good analysis there. You know, we
want to grow the purpose for generations and generations to come.
We fully recognize that this problem will not go away
in the ten or so years that we have drawdowns
on these settlements, So we want to make sure that
we are investing appropriately now, but we're not committing intergenerational
(17:30):
theft where we're stealing from the next generation. So that's
why we don't take anything in a blase a attitude.
We are very focused on today's needs, but we always
have a mind's eye upstream to what might be coming next.
Your children, our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. People that
have never been born are going to look back in
(17:50):
time and say, what did you do with this gift
that was given to you? And we want to make
sure that we are very good stewards. And that's why
we're very focused on making sure we're getting funds out,
we're investing appropriately and turning this into something more of
an endowment than just some sort of blase fund that
you know, every access is always successful. We have to
(18:13):
be really focused on that absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
And now you can get more information at WV first
dot org and the application window is open until October
tenth at noon. And I'm sure Jonathan, the regional representatives,
everybody is certainly more than willing to reach out and
answer a question.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Absolutely, we'd love it anytime. Please reach out and you
can go again wv First dot org slash m ig
to learn more about this grant.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Okay, perfect, Hey Jonathan, Always a pleasure to catch up
with you and hope you have a great day.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Thank you so much you as well.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Absolutely take care, Sir Jonathan Board, executive director of the
West Virginia First Foundation, certainly appreciate his time. Now coming
up at the top of the hour that will kick
off the official start of Save a Life Day and
those free neloxone doses available throughout the throughout the community. Now,
(19:11):
there are three locations on the West Virginia University campus
at the Health Sciences Center, the Rex Center, and the
Mountain Layer. Then off campus they'll be at the Mont
County Health Department. They'll have tents in downtown Morgantown at
the Mont County Courthouse Plaza. Then the McDonald's locations in
(19:33):
Saberton and Suncresttown Center, as well as the Clinton District
Library and the Pierpont Landing Pharmacy. Now the Clinton District Library.
They'll have slightly different hours. I believe they'll be open
from noon until four. However, all other locations will be
(19:54):
passing out three doses of neloxon from ten a m.
This morning until six o'clock this evening. Coming up in
just about three weeks, it'll be the fifteenth annual Reagan Dinner.
That'll be at the Lakeview Golf Resort and features Johnny
Joey Jones. He's an author and Fox News contributor. He'll
(20:17):
be the keynote speaker, speaking with the executive or I'm sorry,
the Chairman of the Mont County Republican Executive Committee, Dale Sparks.
Those tickets are going pretty fast, So what we're going
to do next spend a few minutes with Dale, get
some details about the dinner and how you can get
in on these tickets while there are still some left.
(20:39):
Now that event for your planning purposes. It's coming up
on October sixteenth. It'll be at the Lakeview Golf Resort.
Features Johnny Joey Jones. We'll talk with Dale Sparks. Coming
up next. Right now, some light rain and sixty seven
degrees in the University City. It's time now to find
out what's happening across the great state of West Virginia.
(21:01):
And to do that, we'll head to the Metro News
anchor desk.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Well, good Thursday morning. It is at nine thirty four
the Montaguelia County Republican Executive Committee cordially invites the public
to their fifteenth annual Reagan Dinner that's coming up on
the sixteenth of October at the Lakeview Golf Resort. We've
got the Executive Committee Chairman Dale sparks with us, and
Dale is about to tell you better get a ticket
(21:43):
if you want to go, isn't that right? Dale?
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Absolutely right. We have less than one hundred tickets left.
It's going to be a sellout at four hundred and
like I said, less than one hundred tickets, so you
better get them. They're going, They're going fan and Joey
Jones is going to be an amazing speaker, So it's
going to be a great time. The only chance you're
(22:07):
going to have to meet him in this time, in
this town for a while.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
I would say absolutely. Now, the social hour they'll get
started at five o'clock, the dinner at six thirty, and
then there will be a VIP reception following. Are there
still tickets available? For that VIP reception.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
Yes, you have to be one of the sponsors, the
fifteen thousand, ten thousand, or five thousand dollars table sponsors
to qualify to be a VIP. We still have a
few of those left, so that's also going to max
out around fifty or so. And you'll get a free
book signed by Joey, you'll get a photo taken with Joey.
(22:49):
You'll actually get the meeting and talk to him for
you know, we're going to have about about an hour,
half an hour to forty five minutes to an hour
to meet with Joey and talk with him. So those sponsorships,
a few of them, just a few of them are
left available. So the turnout for this has been absolutely phenomenal.
We're excited as can be to be able to bring
(23:12):
Joey in. He's a special guy. He's now got his
own show, The Big Weekend Show on Fox on Saturdays
and Sundays, so he's no longer just a contributor. He's
a weekend anchor on the Big Weekend Show, so he
is gaining more popularity and just a great human being
(23:35):
and we're so excited to bring him in. We're going
to you know, like we said, we're going to have
registration at five in that social hour, and then six
we'll start to program dinner. Six thirty, we'll have a
few introductory guest speakers, and then the main man, Johnny
Joey Jones about seven thirty, and we'll also have we've
(23:56):
just we've recently announced this online. We are going to
have a moment of silence in memory of Charlie Kirk
and the tragic loss of him in the past two weeks.
So we're going to take time because I think Joey
was friends with him, and he will probably have a
few words to say about that as well, but we
will have a dedicated moment of silence for Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
And now let's see Jones as a Marine Corps veteran
motivational speaker, as Dale just said, now has his own
show on Fox. But you know, fifteen years ago he
was an explosive ordnance technician in Afghanistan, suffered a life
changing injury, lost both of his legs, and I guess
(24:42):
this year he's celebrating his fifteenth alive day.
Speaker 5 (24:47):
He is, and he kind of jokingly said on Fox
one day he said, I almost gave my life for
my country. I failed miserably at it, but and I'm
glad he failed miserably because he is one we want
to keep around. So he also has a sense of
(25:09):
humor about the tragedy that he's suffered through and the
grind that he's put through to get back to where
he is today and thriving. So I noticed on X
this morning that he's trying to find a pair of
cowboy boots that will fit his prosthetics so that he
can wear cowboy boots as well. Now, so I'm hoping
(25:32):
he has those cowboy boots with him and he'll be
wearing them here. So, you know, it's just an amazing story.
He's a motivational kind of guy. If you got ten
or thirty minutes to watch on Fox Nation his story
about his fifteenth to live day, it's worth the time
to watch that before you get the meeting.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
You know, Dale, I haven't had I'm not a huge
consumer of Johnny Joey Jones, but I can tell you
that I appreciate his brand of you know, just laying
it out there, being honest and using common sense to
make a point.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
He is very common sense. He just tells it straight.
I mean, there's no reason for him to not tell
it straight. He's got this second chance on life, that
he's been living this special life for the last fifteen years,
and he has every reason to shoot straight, tell it
like it is and let people know what the truth
(26:36):
is by using common sense, which is at a premium,
it seems like anymore around our country.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
You just said a mouthful, that's for sure.
Speaker 5 (26:49):
Yeah, he will bring it. I guarantee you he will
bring a message that will especially in light of the
tragedy of Charlie Kirk, you know. And we're just a
side note here. We are providing security for the event,
so if anybody's worried about anything, we're going to have
a security presence so that that's taken care of as well.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Okay, good deal. Now, if anyone would like to get
some more information on their own, you can do that
by going to moncountygop dot com, or you can contact Dale.
He's normally pretty free with his cell phone number.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
Oh yeah, three oh four two eight two nine eight
nine nine. And I've filled a lot of calls, people
calling and asking So one thousand dollars table you can
buy online, which is ten seats for one thousand dollars,
or you can buy individual tickets one hundred dollars apiece.
(27:49):
We will have some special tickets available for veterans, so
you need to contact us and let us know about that.
But if you're wanting to sponsor at the fifteen, ten
or five thousand dollars levels, that's going to require a
call to me and we'll discuss the details and get
that taken care of.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Okay, good deal, hey, Dale, As always, really do appreciate
your time today, sir.
Speaker 5 (28:14):
Yes, sir, great to talk to you, Mike, and God
bless everybody in mon County and let's just keep this
momentum going.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Absolutely. You take care of Dale and have a great day.
Thank you, yes, sir. Nine forty one some light rain,
sixty seven degrees. When we come back, we're going to
spend a few minutes with Secretary of State Chris Warner
and we'll get a read out on the State Economic
Council conference that was held in Bridgeport this week. The
(28:44):
theme of that event was the silver lining. We'll talk
to Secretary of State Chris Warner about that silver lining
coming up next on Talk of the Town AM fourteen
forty FM. One oh four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two finy five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Well, good Thursday morning. It is nine forty seven, some
light rain and plenty of rain on the radar as
well sixty seven degrees in the University City. From Monday
through Wednesday, more than two hundred and seventy economic developers
gathered in Charles Point at the Conference Center there to
talk about economic development, the silver lining as they call it.
(29:45):
On the phone, we've got Secretary of State Chris Warner. Hey, Chris,
good morning, sir. How are you?
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Good morning, Mike. I'm calling in this morning from Pleasants County,
where we're here at Saint Mary's High School today for
voter registration drive its National voter Registration month. But yesterday
we were in Harrison County for the West Virginia Economic
Development Council conference, and boy, it was a crowded room.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
And you know what, Chris, I think. I took a
look at your comments, and I took a look at
some notes from that meeting, and it looks like we're
trying to develop a way to weave together some public
private partnerships to maybe more evenly distribute the wealth throughout
(30:33):
the state. That's probably not a good way to see it.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
No, Mike, we are and the people that were gathered
in that room yesterday were local development officials at the
county level. They had Regional Planning Development Council representatives, State
Development Office, REPS, Commerce Department folks. But these are the people,
(30:59):
these of the workhorses. They get it done. I mean,
you know, we've all been around for the huge announcements,
but these folks work with small business owners and developers
to create public private partnerships and connect people with financing
that is available, whether that's through the state or federal
(31:22):
programs like USDA Rural Development and the Small Business Administration
at the federal level. But that's exactly what was going
on yesterday, sharing best practices and figuring out where government
can help out when necessary.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
And it looks like one of the top tools for
these economic developers is the tax increment finance district.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
Yeah, tax increment financing is a great way to know.
The case study yesterday was Charles Point and Bridgeport had
been a couple of small farms and a mining operation.
But you know when those cease to exist, you can
take that area and develop it. And you can see
(32:11):
what's happened down at Charles Point with everything from a
new hospital, forty million dollar hospital being built, a fifty
million dollar sports complex, retail housing. But that that only
happens when you have a public private partnership. And you know,
in this case, they use the Economic Development Authority to
(32:34):
help fund some of the infrastructure. So you know, the
infrastructures you know needed in so many places around West Virginia.
And we're hopeful that people were able to, you know,
share their best practices yesterday see what Jamie and Jennifer
Corton have done and Bridgeport, and then reproduce that quite
(32:55):
frankly in other places. I mentioned one other place southern
West Virginia and Logan County. You've got Ronnie and Diana
Barnett with US gear Works and they are taking advantage
of a program through the State of West Virginia. Thus
again another public private partnership. They're going to create seventy
(33:17):
five jobs building gears, something that's only done in probably
five places around the world do you build gears, And
they're going very innovative. We're going to do it right
here in West Virginia. They need gears for mining equipment,
but they'll end up producing gears for all sorts of
industries around the world and won't have to pay the tariffs.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Secretary of State Chris Warners with us and now, Chris,
one thing I wanted to run by is I've had
the time, or I had the chance to spend a
few minutes with Jamie Corton, and you know what a
vision that that guy has. And you know, if he
could spend some time with some of these economic developers
in the southern part of the state, that'd be a
(34:03):
huge help, wouldn't it.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
You know, you got to remember, Jamie's been at this
for a while in the Charles Point development that everybody
goes by on the interstate now and sees everything that
has happened there. This has been twenty years of long,
hard work. Jamie did not used to have gray hair
when he got started in this project. So economic development
(34:29):
takes time, and it's a lot of times, you know,
working with you know, local officials. Jamie does a great
job of doing that. I know he's working closely now
with the new Mara of Bridgeport. But it takes a
lot of time and investment, and quite frankly, on these
two case studies that I mentioned, they've both put their
(34:49):
families time and money and investment. As they say, they've
got their own skin in the game, and that makes
a huge difference when it comes to having a successful
project like the one at Charles Point.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
One of the things the attendees got to do is
they got to go see places like the North Central
West Virginia Airport, the new terminal, the Aerotech Business Park
with all the development there as well as Charles Point,
the seventeen hundred acre plan development with an economic impact
of more than a billion dollars. You got an economic
(35:25):
impact of more than a billion dollars at the North
Central West Virginia Airport and Aerotech Business Park. There's lots
to see down there.
Speaker 4 (35:34):
You know, Tracy Miller with the aerospace industry there around
Bridgeport and Clarksburg, the North Central Regional Airport, you know,
they have numerous businesses that are they're producing for companies
all around the world right now right there in north
central West Virginia. She's doing a fabulous job. And you know,
(35:59):
we we admire and respect the folks that are working
with the airspace industry there. You know, it's very interesting
when you look across Route fifty and see what's happening
in the west with steel manufacturing and the energy industry.
You know, I see that that quarter will eventually it'll
(36:21):
be a quarter linked with businesses all the way from
Clarksburg to Parkersburg. And you know, with the tech based
businesses that we now have around Morgantown and Huntington and
remote workers. Looking at West Virginia, we are truly evolving.
Used to be the southern portion of the state was,
(36:43):
you know, the industrial area of the state focused on coal.
That area has been hit hard, and none of us
can you know, forget that industrial heart of West Virginia,
recognize the decline of coal and the significant hurdles they're facing,
you know, with job walls and population decline and lack
(37:04):
of access to capital. And I think we can take
some of these practices that are being used around the
rest of the state and get back and make sure
that we keep a focus on southern West Virginia as well.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Okay, Secretary of State Chris Warner, Hey, Chris, really do
appreciate your time. Good work, and we'll talk again soon.
Speaker 4 (37:25):
I'm sure, and Mike, thank you very much for having
me on.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Absolutely take care of yourself and safe travels by the
way as well. Secretary of State Chris Warner in Pleasants
County at the high School with Saint Mary's High School
registering young people to vote. That's Secretary of State Chris Warner.
We'll be back to wrap things up after this on
Am fourteen forty f M one oh four point five
w AJR
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