By Charles Owens
For Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Bluefield — Efforts to attract new businesses to Nature’s Air-Conditioned City are ongoing.
The Bluefield Economic Development Authority at its last meeting authorized making an offer on a piece of property that is for sale in the city that can be utilized for a potential manufacturing-related business, according to BEDA Executive Director Sam Wolford.
“That has the potential to bring significant jobs to the city,” Wolford said of the proposed manufacturing project.
That project is one of several that city officials are working on.
“We are continuing to move forward on some potential projects,” Wolford said. “BEDA is actively talking to prospective businesses. We have ongoing conversations and meetings.”
This includes several small businesses as well which are looking at the city.
“The other ones I think are already moving forward,” Wolford said. “But it’s not exactly in the downtown area. One of the locations I think will be on Bland Street, and I think it is moving forward. The other one is a street off of Bland. These are a couple I think that are moving forward that I think our positive.”
Those two projects will be smaller businesses for the city, which are equally important to localities such as Bluefield, according to Wolford.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the community,” he said, adding that BEDA also doesn’t want to overlook existing larger businesses in the city.
For example, Alorica/Intuit currently employees more than 300 people at its downtown location and is one of the city’s largest employers. Wolford said he recently had an opportunity to meet with Alorica executives who said the company still wants to help the community grow.
BEDA also is moving forward with plans for the new West Virginia Create Center, which is located along John Nash Boulevard at the site that once housed Wisdom Media. The goal is to house several businesses inside of that structure.
“We are continuing to work on trying to move that project forward,” Wolford said of the Create Center. “It’s going to take some more planning and some more grant funding to try to get to where it should be.”
Wolford said it was his understanding that the Ominis Building Technologies project also remains active with equipment continuing to arrive at the facility, which is also located on John Nash Boulevard.
Federal funding also is still available through BEDA’s storefront facade program to help existing businesses spruce up their storefronts.
The facade improvement program was made possible in 2021 through a $600,000 Congressionally Directed Spending award in the 2022 Omnibus Bill. Only businesses in the city qualify for the facade program, which helps to enhance the curb appeal of existing structures while also improving the attractiveness of the city.
According to BEDA’s website, each participating business in the facade program will be eligible for 50% matched funding up to $15,000 and will be paid on a reimbursement basis. For example, if a business owner is part of the program and spends $20,000 on facade improvements, they are eligible for a $10,000 reimbursement.
If a business owner is part of the program and spends $40,000 on facade improvements, they are eligible for the maximum $15,000 reimbursement. The goal of the program is to beautify the city of Bluefield, boost foot traffic throughout the commercial district, and attract new businesses to the area.
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