Wednesday’s ribbon cutting was attended by numerous leaders around Southern West Virginia, many of whom were involved in efforts to secure the new facility in Beaver. When it comes to what a new facility like this means for the local economy, the officials there were overwhelmingly positive.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito spoke at Amazon’s press conference and [R] applauded the development they will bring to the area:
“This is a fantastic investment from a fantastic company… Over 100 employees starting at $19 an hour. The economic development, I think, is just we’re just seeing the beginning of it.”
Representative Carol Miller of West Virginia’s 1st Congressional District [R] was equally thrilled:
“…The number of people they’re going to employ, the amount of dollars that are coming in, going through here. It’s going to make an incredible difference.”
West Virginia Treasurer Larry Pack [R] said the new facility is great for the region and will improve the quality of life and services available for locals:
“What an amazing day for Raleigh County. For Southern West Virginia. To have Amazon come to West Virginia. They want to be here, right? They’ve asked to come to Raleigh County. They want to be here to provide jobs and private investment—taxes for our schools. In the same time, I’ll be able to get better services so we can order from Amazon in the morning and get whatever it is we ordered probably that afternoon or that evening.”
Delegate Eric Brooks of West Virginia’s 45th Delegate District [R] told WOAY that Amazon is bringing the right kind of jobs to Southern West Virginia and will create lasting opportunities for current and future workers:
“Once you get a job with Amazon, I mean, you truly have a career for the rest of your life. And this is generational. So it’s going to be for the folks now, for the future generations as well, to be more excited to have partners like Amazon coming into our communities.”
The excitement isn’t just about the new warehouse itself, but what this kind of development means for the region’s future. Senator Capito said this is a step towards modernizing West Virginia’s industry.
“In Southern West Virginia, particularly in the coalfields, we’ve needed to diversify. And, you know, things are changing; the way you live, the way you shop, the way you provide for your families is different than it was 20 and 30 years ago. And we’ve always been a little slow to adapt, I think. So we’re adapting. And part of that is attracting great companies like Amazon to Southern West Virginia.”
Treasurer Pack added, “When you get that stamp of approval that Amazon says this is a good place to do business, others will follow.”
Some locals are concerned about the potential for increased traffic and stress on public infrastructure, but Jina Belcher, Executive Director of the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, says we can rest easy thanks to careful planning:
“Obviously, we addressed those concerns in the beginning with the D.O.H., and we made sure that the area was conducive for this type of traffic. However, I will also acknowledge that the Raleigh County Commission has made this particular area where Amazon is located a priority area for transportation planning to look at some alternative ingress/egress to other sites in the area. And so they have applied for some D.O.T. funds to help with planning of that. And so it is a priority for the Raleigh County Commission.”
Delegate Brooks added that solving problems like traffic is part of what our leaders do, and if any problems arise, he and his fellow officials are ready to handle them:
“We manage these kinds of things, and we’ll figure it out. It’s just a good problem to have instead of figuring out where our kids are going to travel south to find jobs. Now we’re figuring out how to get traffic around Raleigh County. I’ll take those problems.”
