My family and I had our first Mystery Hole experience last weekend. We’ve driven by several times, but it was finally open at the right time and we couldn’t pass it up. If you aren’t familiar with Mystery Hole, you probably haven’t been in West Virginia that long.
You’ll find Mystery Hole in Ansted along Rt. 60 near Hawk Nest State Park in Fayette County. From RoadsideAmerica.com:
Will and Sandra Morrison own The Mystery Hole. Original owner Donald Wilson “discovered” its mysterious powers in 1972, and did a good business from the tourists who flock to this part of the New River Gorge, which is a mecca for rafters. Time, however, was even more powerful than the Hole. Wilson closed his attraction in 1996 and died soon afterward. The Hole was left exposed to vandals and other chaotic forces.
West Virginians have always been savvy in making an extra buck. From moonshiners to oil and gas tycoons, we’ve seen it and sold it all.
Today, although West Virginia has a low percentage of adults involved in entrepreneurship (well, a low percentage who admit to it), we’re seeing a resurgence in young people sticking their neck out to create new opportunities.
We’re starting them young with the DreamQuest high school business plan competition and the statewide college business plan competition run by WVU’s Business and Economics School. And we have a support community taking shape to support young entrepreneurs in the YES Network.
We’re seeing a mini-blip trend in people hanging up their shingle, often in very high-tech fields. Many are moving back to the state to live their dream. We’ve shared before about some of these folks, but they are worth mentioning again: George Rogers and Brandon Holmes of Weldcreative.com (who have also purchased an abandoned building in Oak Hill and turned it into a LEED-certified office building), Ken Allman of PracticeLink.com in Hinton. Justin Seibert of Direct Online Marketing in Wheeling. Sarah Sable-Antry of Tri-State Audiology. Lisa Minney of twolanelivin.com.
Yes, West Virginia does lag other states in entrepreneurial participation, and it’s something that we need to strengthen big time. It is the difference between a healthy, progressive economy and a stagnant one. We need to make sure everyone knows it’s OK to try and fail, then try again…and again. That’s how businesses get built. We need more local investors willing to put some money behind ideas that they may not be comfortable with right away.
But we need to embrace the fact that we have a growing community of new entrepreneurs and a legacy of successful entrepreneurs in this state who are role models for others. What about you? Are you ready to build your business plan and get started?
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