Michael D. Herron

September 2, 2008

The Advantage Valley partnership program set up by business and governament leaders a dozen years ago has gone international, President Mike Herron told Putnam Rotarians at their luncheon meeting today.

"We noted a population of about 50,000 in Charleston, and similar numbers in Putnam and Huntington," he said. "But when you look at the entire region which stretches from Charleston to Ashland, and across the Ohio River into Lawrence County, you are looking at one million people who live and work here.

"When we go in and represent an area of a million population, we become a player nationally and internationally."

Last year Advantage Valley undertook its first foreign trade mission. "We saw that France had been investing heavily in Pennsylvania, in Ohio, and in Virginia. There was a 'doughnut hole' in West Virginia," said Herron.

Last December Advantage Valley visited twenty companies in France. There have been three followup visits in the United States, and planning is underway for a second trip to Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and northern Germany.

Selling points for European investment include automotive supply and maintenance, chemical production, printing, small metal fabrication and bio-medical support.

They are looking for a trained and viable workforce, said Herron. "We are able to provide that through a strong community and technical college system which can adapt quickly to changing needs."

One French company visited by the trade mission makes SIM (subscriber identity module) cards, a step beyond the familiar magnetic-strip cards used in the United States. SIM cards have integrated circuits and their manufacture requires lithographic printing.

Herron called WVU-Tech to check on the supply of lithographic printers. "We don't have twenty in Montgomery, or in the whole state," he was told, "but we have a hundred printers that would give anything to come back home if we had jobs for them."

"We could call the local union hall for electricians, or carpenters," said Herron, "but the state needs an 'asset mapping' system for many of the skill sets now in demand."

The Advantage Valley partnership was established to promote economic development through leadership and collaboration -- cooperatively and apart from competition with the Charleston Area Alliance or local development authorities. Nor does AV have any type of agenda for consolidation or change in existing governamental entities. "We have a number of local governemnts with similar problems -- from Pratt to Charleston to Ironton. Many of them need assistance in dealing with their own local problems, such as compliance with increasing environmental standards."

Herron wants to see immediate results, but he admitted that economic development is a lengthy and difficult process.

Advantage Valley has been designated by the state as the lead agency for RIG (Regional Innovation Grant) awards through the US Departrment of Labor.

"We are putting together a core leadership team of chamber of commerce representatives, business leaders and government officials," he said. The committee will make recommendations on workforce asset management, and a regional strategic plan. "We also are looking at rural economic development in the tri-state, twelve-county region, even in several counties which are outside the Advantage Valley partnership program," he said.