MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center (NBAC) Associate Director Carrie Staton was one of 55 leaders from across the state to accept invitations to participate in the 2016 Class of Leadership West Virginia. Candidates were selected from a list of nominations that was submitted in late 2015.

Staton, who has worked for the NBAC for four years and recently stepped into the role of Associate Director, is excited for the opportunity to expand her knowledge through the Leadership West Virginia program.

“What drew me to the program was the emphasis not only on leadership skills but also on how those skills can be used to make a greater impact in West Virginia,” said Staton.

Staton, a native of Mullens, has a strong love for and commitment to West Virginia. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Nonprofit Administration from Bethany College, she worked briefly in park revitalization in underserved neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. before the draw of the mountains pulled her home to West Virginia to pursue a Master of Public Administration degree at West Virginia University. Since then, she has worked at the NBAC to help communities capture the maximum economic, environmental, and social benefit from the remediation and reuse of brownfields through a collaborative redevelopment process.

“At the end of the day, what’s most important to me is that I’ve made a difference, that I’ve helped the state and its communities improve for the benefit for those who live here,” said Staton. “I’m excited to find ways the relationships and knowledge I’ll build through Leadership West Virginia can help me better serve those communities across the state.”

Leadership West Virginia is now in its 25th year as the statewide education and leadership development program in West Virginia. The eight-month program identifies emerging leaders from a variety of employers throughout West Virginia and enhances their knowledge not only of the challenges facing the state, but also the state’s unique attributes and diversity. Recognizing that the cultivation of new leadership is of utmost importance to West Virginia’s future prosperity and progress, Leadership West Virginia works to develop and motivate a cross-section of leaders who will use their talents and abilities to inspire others and to foster a new spirit of energy, enthusiasm and vitality throughout the state. LWV is affiliated with the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

“Each year, the class participants are selected from a list of top-quality applicants from around the state. Individuals are selected into the program because they demonstrate leadership skills and experiences in civic activities and in their professional careers,” said Pam Farris, executive director of Leadership West Virginia. “We continue to see an increase in the number of applicants each year and we are very pleased with the diversity of candidates in the 2016 class.”

About the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center
The Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center is a program of the West Virginia Water Research Institute at the National Research Center for Coal and Energy at West Virginia University and serves the northern 33 counties in West Virginia.

The city of Fairmont and its partners have a new headquarters for their revitalization efforts.

The city held a ribbon cutting at a new studio for the “Your Neighborhood, Your Future” project - a partnership between Fairmont’s Urban Renewal Authority, landscape architecture students from West Virginia University, and the Brownfields Assistance Center. The project, which is supported by the West Virginia Redevelopment Collaborative (WVRC), affects the city’s Beltline community.

WBOY.com: Clarksburg, Morgantown: News, Sports, Weather

One of WVRC’s goals is to redevelop areas across West Virginia that have been in decline due to the growth of brownfields, according to a press release from the city. Officials say in this case, the Beltline is a community in Fairmont that has the potential to grow but has experienced problems because of the abandoned warehouses and industries that used to thrive in that area and housing transitioning from owner-occupied to rentals.

See more at: http://www.wboy.com/story/28313598/fairmont-community-partners-continue-citys-revitalization-efforts-by-opening-new-studio

MORGANTOWN — One of the many ways West Virginia University pursues its landgrant mission to help make lives better in the state is through an aggressive program called the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center, a project that helps communities revitalize blighted abandoned properties for new uses that lead to positive economic development. As communities across West Virginia strive to revitalize through broad development efforts, many are faced with abandoned and underutilized properties that impede the redevelopment of the community at large.

These abandoned properties, or “brownfields,” vary in size and historical usage, ranging from as small as an old gas station to as large as a multiacre former glass factory.

Many of these blighted properties are contaminated, causing potential investors and developers to be wary of purchasing and rehabilitating the properties. Instead, they choose to develop on previously undeveloped sites, or “greenfields.”