Editor’s Notes: Missed region opportunities
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What is it about the central and northwestern edge of West Virginia that makes programs such as Ascend or First Ascent avoid our region? I was reading the other day about the partnership announced by West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee and Marshall University President Brad D. Smith to launch First Ascent, and as I scanned the list of communities and regions to be part of the program, there was a familiar omission.
First Ascent is supposed to connect students and recent graduates of Marshall and WVU to job opportunities in the Mountain State. Those accepted into the program would locate in or around: Morgantown, Huntington, the Eastern Panhandle, the New River Gorge, Elkins and the Greenbrier Valley.
Ascend (the recruiting program that pays out-of-state workers to move here and work remotely) is focused in the New River Gorge, the Greenbrier Valley, Morgantown, the Eastern Panhandle and Elkins. Huntington warranted inclusion in First Ascent because of Marshall's involvement, I'm assuming.
"What we're going to do is we're going to keep our talent here by providing the opportunities for the wisdom," Gee said. "That's what this is about."
"If you seek adventure, if you seek a career, look no further than your backyard," Smith said. "West Virginia has an opportunity, and I think this is going to create an amazing program for the state."
Wonderful. But, again, why not the Mid-Ohio Valley or Northern Panhandle?
We have outdoor recreational opportunities, adventure and certainly the kinds of employers who could use a hand from WVU and Marshall in finding the right talent.
"What we have done in West Virginia is we exported coal, oil, gas, but the most telling export has been of talent," Gee said. "We simply have to make sure that now what we do is we keep our talent here."
Well, in certain pockets of "here," anyway.
Now, I'm sure there are behind-the-scenes reasons a few regions of the state are having to wait their turn. And if one of those reasons is a lack of interest on the part of the larger communities in those regions, then it's time to speak up, folks.
If we wait, the next train could leave the station without us, too.
"We realized this was a platform that could be used for multiple opportunities," Smith said. "Imagine a military Ascend for the veterans who served our nation, choosing West Virginia as their forever home. Imagine nurses and teachers and inviting them in, or imagine the ability to convince our own native sons and daughters."
Every iteration of the Ascend programs (assuming the early versions are deemed successful) should include expansion into new regions of the state.
"This next generation is looking to us," Smith said. "We have the opportunity to help them see that the future is right here. If they can connect to meaningful job opportunities right here, and then let's offer them those job opportunities ... let's get creative and innovative and remove the barriers so that our sons and daughters can stay here in this state, stand on the shoulders of the giants who sit in this room (during the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Business Summit at -- you guessed it -- the Greenbrier Resort) and continue to build a great State of West Virginia."
Yes, the next generation IS looking to us. What are we telling young people in the Mid- and Upper Ohio valleys -- or the southern coal field counties, for that matter -- when we say we don't want to attract and retain bright young talent there?
There's plenty of time to get this right, and maybe I'm just being impatient. But goodness knows communities all along this river have already waited long enough.
Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com