Tom Crooks of the Stonewall Group, a local marketing firm, and Wood County Resiliency Center Director Sydney Weber appeared before the Wood County Commission on Monday to talk about setting up a website and doing different types of branding for the center. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — Wood County officials are looking at ways to better market the Wood County Resiliency Center to bring in meetings and gatherings under the banner of “The Center on Market.”

Resiliency Center Director Sydney Weber and Tom Crooks of the Stonewall Group, a local marketing firm, appeared before the Wood County Commission on Monday to talk about setting up a website and doing different types of branding for the center.

Crooks has been working with Weber for the last couple of months on a website design for the Resiliency Center.

“What we are talking about is enhancing the brand for the Resiliency Center and positioning the center for the long term,” Crooks said. “An organization that has multiple offerings needs to strategically position each product offering to the community.”

The center was built with federal money to help improve conditions in the community in case of an emergency as well as being a space that can host meetings and conferences that cannot be handled in other locations in the area.

As water service was interrupted to the Shaver Judicial Annex, court hearings being conducted by Wood County Circuit Judge J.D. Beane were temporarily moved to the Wood County Resiliency Center on Tuesday. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

“The two need to be marketed and positioned a little differently to have the ultimate amount of success for both,” Crooks said.

Meetings can help generate revenue in times when there is not an emergency, he added.

“It is a world-class space there,” Crooks said. “We believe it is important to position them separately, but together under a common brand.”

He said people planning out meetings and other events may not make the connection that the Resiliency Center would be a good place to hold a large meeting or gathering.

“A strong brand name is important and we believe in sub-branding the meeting space is critically important to (Weber’s) mission to book meetings and generate revenue,” Crooks said.

He felt the “Resiliency Center” is a good name for the overall building and its primary mission. It also has high recognition throughout the community.

“That is a positive we want to build on,” Crooks said.

However, they want to market and promote the meeting room spaces under the banner of “The Center on Market.”

Crooks presented a proposed logo for the center.

“We wanted something modern and that would stand the test of time,” he said.

It also represents a convergence of people coming together, whether for an event, a meeting, a wedding reception or some other gathering. It also has a basis in Appalachian quilt design.

Commissioner Jimmy Colombo said they have had to use gymnasiums and more to hold meetings and gatherings. He felt the Resiliency Center was one of the finest buildings to hold events in the state.

“I think people are starting to realize that,” he said. “I love ‘The Center’ idea.”

In coming up with a website design the focus will be on the meeting space as well as outlining how the building will be used in times of emergency, Crooks said. It will also include a map to help people be able to locate the building.

“The most important marketing tool is a website,” Crooks said. “It is available 24/7 and anyone can get there with a phone (and computer). We have been focusing on that.”

They have done work on what information would be available on the site, including meeting room sizes and other things to support that space, such as catering services and more. They are also working on how a website might be laid out and how it functions as well as how to position it so it comes up on internet searches for people looking for meeting spaces.

The center has been open since February and has had 58 bookings so far and 92 bookings scheduled for this year with the goal of reaching 100 which was the original goal, Weber said.

“We should be able to surpass that,” she said.

Upcoming conferences include the Appalachian Regional Conference as well as bookings for the firefighters union, the West Virginia Department of Highways Adopt a Highway Program, the West Virginia Sheriff’s Association and others. There is a wedding scheduled at the center this fall.

“We are definitely getting a lot of bookings for conferences and there will hopefully be more for next year,” Weber said.

Commission President Blair Couch said the center will help generate hotel stays in the area which will provide money to local parks through the hotel/motel tax as well as generate business for restaurants

On Monday, the Resiliency Center’s drive-thru garage bays were used as a collection point for donations to help flooding victims in Ohio County. Weber said over 50 cars came through to drop off donations.

On Tuesday, Wood County Circuit Judge J.D. Beane moved a number of court hearings over to the Resiliency Center’s big meeting room after water service was interrupted at the Shaver Annex.

“It is a building where we wanted to do a whole variety of things,” Couch said.