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PARKERSBURG - Although it has been a down year in the economy, Keith Burdette, president and CEO of the Area Roundtable, said there are many opportunities in the area.

Speaking at Thursday's annual meeting, Burdette said one of the top opportunities is the project to build a civic center complex and a National Guard Armory on Fort Boreman Hill.

The area was one of the 17 tracts Thrasher Engineering looked at in its study of potential development areas along Corridor D, Burdette said.

Burdette said the project could be moving along much faster than once thought.

"The appropriation has passed both Houses and it is waiting for the president's signature," Burdette said. "Our planning efforts will be stepped up and we are working on a master plan for the property."

One of the requirements from the U.S. Economic Development Administration is for the property to be in the hands of a non-profit organization - which is where the Wood County Development Authority came into the picture, he said.

While no concrete plans have been set for the facility, Burdette said it could be large enough to seat 5,000 to 7,000. He said the only cost to the county or city would be for anything beyond the basic building the Guard would need.

"If you want meeting rooms, you have to pay for them," he said. "Anything above and beyond the basic building outside of the purview of the Guard will not be included."

Burdette said other positive developments have been seen locally as the economy has started to show signs of a rebound.

"Some of these occurred in spite of the economy or because of the economy," he said.

Examples he used included the turnaround of Fenton Art Glass and the Matheny Motors expansion near Mineral Wells.

"When Benson Manufacturing consolidated everything at their headquarters, that made it possible for Matheny to relocate their truck sales to the site and expand," he said.

"When All-Lite Louvers consolidated the local operations with their main office in Texas, the local managers formed their own company here as Atom Architecturals and sent their first order to Disney World."

The opening of the Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield building has been a boost to the downtown area and has encouraged others to come downtown, Burdette said. He pointed to the Awakening Cafe on Market Street and the buildings that have been renovated or under renovation by Charles Abdella as examples of investment in the downtown area.

Also heard at the meeting was an update from the Downtown Task Force.

Cecil Childress, chairman of the task force, said he has had people tell him what the downtown area used to be like years ago. He said to revitalize downtown the key is not to try to make it what it was at one time.

"You can't rebuild it to what it was; that's not the way retailing is now," he said. "You have to take it to what it should be for today."

Childress said the task force recognized Don and Debra Smith, owners of Awakening Cafe, and Abdella for reinventing downtown. He said the Vision 2020 award was given to Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield for its new building.

New officers elected to the Area Roundtable board are chairman, Jeff Forbes, president of Woodcraft Supply; vice-chairman, Mike King, CEO of Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital; treasurer, Chad Mildren, market president, United Bank; secretary, Fred Earley, president, Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield.

New board members are Edwin Dils, retired, Dils Brothers; Mike Fleak, vice president/general manager of Huntington Bank; John D. "Jack" Julius, CEO, St. Joseph's Hospital; David Nohe, mayor of Vienna; Dominick Perfetti, plant manager, Sabic Innovative Plastics; Shawn Sandy, city executive and senior vice president, BB&T; Judy Sheppard, president and CEO of Professional Services of America; Randall Snider, president and CEO of Community Bank, and Sam Winans, vice president, Winans Supply.