By Greg Jordan
The Register-Herald
BECKLEY — Celebrating impactful economic development and successful entrepreneurs were the goals Wednesday during the Annual Client Showcase and Awards Banquet hosted by the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority.
Convening at the Historic Black Knight Club in Beckley, an audience including local leaders and business operators listened as the keynote speaker, West Virginia State Treasurer Larry Pack, spoke about the importance of local economic development authorities.
“We have fantastic economic development authorities all around West Virginia doing really, really good stuff,” Pack said. “Now a lot of times in the beginning state government will take credit for that stuff, but it all really came from the local stuff.”
While the state often highlights the openings and progress of large businesses, successful small businesses “bubble up” from the efforts of entities like the New River Economic Development Authority, he said.