Officials hope prison will draw businesses to industrial park
Officials hope prison will draw businesses to industrial park
By CHARLES OWENS
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
WELCH — As they await the arrival of inmates at the new $224-million federal prison facility, officials in McDowell County say they are excited about the future of the Indian Ridge Industrial Park.
“The county is now in the process of developing a marketing plan to attract businesses, industries, and other appropriate entities,” County Manager Clif Moore said. “The federal prison is the anchor. We just hope the presence of the prison, and hopefully the wellness center, can magnetize other kinds of appropriate entities at the site.”
Community tours of the new Federal Correction Institution McDowell concluded Wednesday, and inmates will begin arriving at the facility this fall. The prison, and the industrial park, are both located along the mountainous border of McDowell and Wyoming counties.
“We continue to look for and to advance any kind of spin-off (business) that would support the existence of the prison, and any other kinds of opportunities that will be available at the industrial park,” Moore, also a member of the House of Delegates serving the 23rd Delegate District, said. “So we continue to work hand-in-hand with economic development authority officials both locally and in the state, and if there is anybody in the community that has an idea and thinks it would be palpable at the industrial park — give us a call. Call one of the county commissioners, call the EDA, or call the County commission.”
Moore said one project that is currently being pushed for the industrial park is a proposed wellness and educational center. U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., also recently announced the award of $900,000 in federal funds that will be used to begin construction on the interchange of the Coalfields Expressway and the King Coal Highway at the industrial park.
“We are still working on it,” Moore said of the proposed health and educational pavilion. “We are more excited now than we were before because there is a growing body of scientific evidence that has been collected by scholars and reporters like yourself that justifies the need to have the facility in McDowell.”
Moore said 94 of the 174 people hired to date for the federal prison are from McDowell County.
“That’s not a bad statistic,” Moore said. “And it’s expected to have 360 employees there. So they are almost at the half-way point. This is certainly an economic boon to McDowell, hopefully to Wyoming and certainly to Mercer. And some of it may stretch even as far as Beckley as people will need places to eat and shop. So it’s a win-win situation for everyone.”
