On Tuesday, March 31, all job seekers in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, Eastern Ohio, and Western Pennsylvania are welcome to come to the Troy Theater at Wheeling Jesuit University between 11AM and 7PM.  This Wheeling, WV job fair is being sponsored by the WORKFORCE WV Career Center and Wheeling Jesuit University.

If you’re currently between jobs or if you’re looking for a new career, come on down.  Bring a resume and dress sharp.  We’ll have plenty of Ohio and West Virginia employers in attendance and looking for candidates.

A Note to OH, PA, & WV Employers

If you are interested in reserving a booth, please contact Karri Mulhern, Workforce Manager, Regional Economic Development Partnership at 304.232.7722 or kmulhern@redp.org.  Booths are available for very reasonable costs and the number of participating businesses is limited.

Late last week a contingent of local leaders met at RED’s headquarters to meet with representatives from the United States Commercial Service about potential business opportunities in Turkey.  In case you hadn’t figured it out yet, this ain’t your daddy’s Wheeling anymore.

If you aren’t from around here, you should understand that “Turkey” has only one meaning to Ohio Valley-ans: the funny looking birds you see walking across your backyard in the morning that have their own hunting season.

For many years, our area – public and private alike – have focused solely on what’s worked in the past without an eye toward the future.  Although, the concept of an open global economy benefiting an area is not new, it’s refreshing to see our leaders exploring these options.

Too often the media and local residents have complained about things like the internet and how other areas are hurting us instead of looking at the opportunities that it presents.  Obviously I’m biased – I’m the president of a WV search marketing firm – but consider us for a minute.  We’re located in Wheeling, WV because we want to be here and our clients come from places like Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Chicago (as well as smaller towns in other states – we’re not elitists).

Our company is hardly alone.  Look at compaines like Schedule Star and their offerings for high school football, basketball, soccer, and more high school sports.  Or Orrick servicing their offices from all over the world.  And the list goes on.

Certainly meetings mean nothing if action doesn’t follow, but these meetings are the RIGHT thing to do and I’d like to applaud all involved.

Farmers Insurance recently released their Most Secure U.S. Places to Live list.  Wheeling, WV – The Friendly City – ranks 11th among small towns (metro areas under 150,000 residents) in their most recent list.  The study looks at factors such as crime statistics, extreme weather / natural disasters, housing  & job loss figures, air quality, and life expectancy.

So, no surprise to see Wheeling, but it’s still good to see the national recognition.

On a separate note, sorry for the long delay in posts – I doubt we’ll ever get to multi-day postings, but we should be able to get some news out more regularly – at least monthly if not biweekly.

Happy New Year!