Category: Articles
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Vote for Berkeley Springs – #1 Small Town Art Destination
From our friend Jeanne Mozier, artistic promoter extraordinaire: Dear Folks, It’s that time of year again…an appeal to ONCE AGAIN VOTE FOR BERKELEY SPRINGS as the #1 art destination in America among small cities and towns. Last year we dropped to #12. It was embarrassing — or maybe we should feel proud that other towns…
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MLK Day Thoughts: How Do We Overcome?
It sometimes seems odd to greet someone with a “Happy Martin Luther King Day” greeting, doesn’t it? The seriousness of the topic of equality and justice, and the recency of Dr. King’s life and death (Were they really hosing kids in Alabama and segregating people all over this country when I was in elementary school?…
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Measuring Return on New Economy Investment
The recent proposal by Governor Manchin to essentially mimic Kentucky’s “Bucks for Brains” program on a smaller scale is an encouraging sign that our state is ready to think beyond traditional economic development boundaries. While it would be great if West Virginia were someday on the leading edge of creative initiatives like Bucks for Brains,…
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State of the Creative State
Charleston was abuzz this week as legislators opened their 2008 session and Governor Manchin delivered his State of the State address. As with most political speeches, there were things to be excited about and things that left you wishing for more. Here are a few things we’re excited about from a Creative Communities/New Economy perspective:…
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Things are Looking Up in Upshur County
Buckhannon just seems like one of those All-American towns. One of the rare West Virginia towns built on a fairly large swath of flat land in Central WV, Buckhannon is home to the famous Strawberry Festival and West Virginia Wesleyan College. Like most small towns, the downtown started to empty and deteriorate years ago. But…
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Kudos on Broadband Progress
Several additional communities in West Virginia are enjoying access to DSL broadband thanks for recent efforts by Verizon. And with support from Connected Nation, a DC-based nonprofit technology group, 2008 should be even better. From a Sunday Charleston Gazette-Mail article: Since August, Verizon, along with other high-speed Internet providers in the state, has helped Connected…
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What are Other Regions Doing?
There is no doubt that a shift in economic development strategy from “smokestack chasing” to “nurturing an entrepreneurial garden” is occurring around the country. While we don’t necessarily like the term “smokestack chasing” because it’s misleading as to what the hard-working folks in economic development offices do (who isn’t excited about Hino Motors and other…
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Creative Resolutions for 2008
Happy New Year! We thought it would be interesting to throw out some recommended resolutions to get us started on the right creative foot in 2008. In addition to the ones below, the createwv.com site has a list of “Big Ideas” your community might want to use as inspiration (see the Big Ideas link on…
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Create WV 2008 Plans
this is a placeholder for an archived post being imported soon
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New State Slogan: Open for Immigrants?
Since “Open for Business” has run its course on our welcome signs, perhaps it’s time to discuss who we’re open for as much as what we’re open for. In the New Economy, any discussion has to begin with the global competition for talent. And by global, we do mean global. It’s a simple equation: The…