Vienna City Council talks economic development efforts

VIENNA -- Vienna City Council held an economic development discussion during its Thursday meeting.

During the public forum, Friends of Vienna President Jack Mathers said Tina Ullman's book "Discovering Vienna, West Virginia: Origins. History. Heritage." was a top three finalist in the international A' Design Award in the Graphics, Illustration, and Visual Design category. She will attend the award ceremony in Como, Italy, on July 18, 2024.

Councilman Jim Leach moved to go into executive session at 6:47 p.m. to discuss a real estate matter. The meeting resumed at 7:30 p.m.

Leach also did a presentation on economic development in the Vienna area. He suggested the city should form a focus group with local professionals who have expertise in development, grant writing and entrepreneurship, such as Lindsey Piersol, executive director of Wood County Economic Development, Mathers, and Toni Tiani, Wood County Grant Writer.

He said that group can write a one year development action plan, focusing on business, residential, and cultural initiatives.

City Attorney Russell Skogstad asked Piersol what reasons Vienna is ruled out for outside companies coming into the area.

"It's kind of multi-pronged. Earlier this year, we had a German prospect. They came twice. They looked at a number of sites in Wood County. ... Their issues relied on housing. Where would their people live? Where would their kids go to school? We got ruled out of a project bed because the CEO's son played ice hockey and asked where the closest ice hockey rink was. I said Athens and we got ruled out."

Kristen Hainkel can be reached at khainkel@newsandsentinel.com