Wood County, WV Economic Development

10/23/2026

Welcome to Wood County, Sam! Looking forward to witnessing your leadership at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport! ✈️

And a huge thank you to Linda for her work at the airport as well. You two will do amazing things working together! I’m excited to work with you on the economic development side.

Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport Assistant Airport Manager Linda Hedrick says she is excited to welcome Sam Dennis as the airport’s new Airport Manager >>> https://www.wtap.com/2026/10/22/mid-ohio-valley-regional-airport-welcomes-new-manager/

10/22/2026

Our member, United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley's food pantry is open until 3 PM today, if you have a need! ♥️

📍Outside of SW Resources- 1007 Mary St, Parkersburg, WV 26101

Our United Way Food Pantry is open from 12:00pm-3:00pm today! 🍎🍞🥦🧀

We are located inside of the SW Resources building (1007 Mary St, Parkersburg, WV 26101). You can enter from the parking lot side directly across from Sheetz.

If you are in need of assistance, please stop by and check us out!

10/22/2026

Where in Wood Co. is Wood County Economic Development?!📍

Recently the WCED toured the Sheet Metal Workers Local 33 hall!

The Sheet Metal branch of SMART, formerly known as the Sheet Metal Workers International Association, represents 136,000 members in the sheet metal and related trades. SMART construction apprentices and journeymen use the newest equipment and training in their day-to-day work. The Apprenticeship Program is a 4-year program that consists of on-the-job training and extensive classroom and lab time. The Parkersburg local has 57 apprentices currently and is looking for more!

Courses include:
🔹ITI Core
🔹ITI HVAC
🔹Welding
🔹Testing and balancing
🔹Architectural sheet metal work
🔹Math
🔹Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
🔹Blueprint Reading
🔹Fire Life Safety

For more information or to apply visit https://smwlu33.org/sheet-metal-workers-join-us/ or call 304-422-5549

10/21/2026

We had a very eventful (IYKYK) Business After Hours with the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley yesterday evening!

A big thank you to everyone who came to celebrate the renovation of our beloved 1843 Henry Logan House/Civil War hospital.

Thank you to my board for seeing the vision and for being supportive of this endeavor. Thank you to Sixmo Companies for the design work, to our General Contractor 3D Construction LLC who went above and beyond to make this building what we needed it to be, to all of the subs who worked incredibly hard to finish in record time, to Studio NorthSouth for the finishing touches and to Senator's Capito & Manchin and the late Congressman Dave McKinley for the congressionally directed spending support that got this project started.

We look forward to hosting companies here for years to come!

10/20/2026

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to attend the ribbon-cutting for the City of Parkersburg - Government’s new Simms Powell Pavillion in City Park.

This building was built by local union trades with Grae-Con Construction, Inc. serving as the GC and was designed by Pickering Associates.

We look forward to the many events and activities that will call this building home. Congratulations, Parkersburg!

10/20/2026

Today is the day, we can’t wait to see everyone!

If you're a community member that's planning on attending the 402 Avery Street open house/ of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley Business After Hours on Tuesday, October 20th, please use the link below to RSVP:

https://us18.list-manage.com/survey?u=b4a0b0031dedbe6c368e0f517&id=b1d6fbfc5a&attribution=false

Thank you to our member Highmark West Virginia for generously sponsoring this event. We look forward to showing you this renovated space!

10/19/2026

Our annual meeting wouldn't have been possible without the support of our generous sponsors! Thank you to the following organizations for always being supportive of economic development efforts and our organization-- we truly appreciate you!

The Bernard McDonough Foundation
Bowles Rice LLP
Community Bank - Parkersburg
McDonough, Eddy, Poling & Baylous
Peoples Bank
Pickering Associates
First Mutual Bank
United Bank
WVU Parkersburg

Also a big thanks to our website designer, Daniel Busch, for capturing some images of our event!

10/16/2026

So happy to be hosting a member of our Japanese delegation from July back for a second visit to Wood County today.

Here’s our Vice Chairman, Ryan Taylor, seeing their work on a VR headset.

I’m also thankful to WVU Parkersburg ITC for hosting us today and for the delicious lunch from Maka Mia Pizza.

10/16/2026

We LOVE to see an underutilized (though Jimmy’s car collection is super cool) be reactivated!

Proud of Aaron and his team!🥳

📍1831 Williams Highway