Economy

  Timberline Four Seasons Resort is using crowdfunding to raise money for improvements.

The Tucker County resort launched an online crowdfunding on Tuesday at www.snowfunding.com. The goal is to raise $75,000 in 65 days.

Timberline CEO Fred Herz tells The Charleston Gazette that the resort sees crowdfunding as a way to engage customers in its activities and planned undertakings.

  An annual spring lecture series that explores the heritage of the coal industry kicks off the first week of February with featured musicians and poets.  

The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission announced this week that it will be offering free assistance to students and families looking to apply for financial assistance in pursuit of a college degree.

For all of the concerns about water compromised by natural and industrial sources (and the cancer, decay, infection, and disease that can come with that contamination), director of the West Virginia Water Research Institute, Paul Ziemkiewicz said the biggest threat in water supplies in southern West Virginia (and many areas in the state) by a long shot is raw sewage.

In an ongoing look at water infrastructure challenges in the southern region of West Virginia, we consider possible health effects of long-term exposure to contaminated water sources. First: the health impacts of industrial contamination, as well as naturally occurring pollutants.

Appalachian Railcar Services has acquired a Virginia company.

The company says the acquisition of BRC Rail Servics of Lynchburg, Virginia, will double its size to more than 300 employees. An additional 100 employees are expected to be hired over the next three years.

Appalachian Railcar Services was founded in Putnam County in 2000 and now has 34 operations in 14 states.

The company provides maintenance, repair, storage and other rail-related services. BRC provides repair, cleaning and interior and exterior coating services.

Federal officials say the U.S. Probation Office in Clarksburg needs more staff.

U.S. District Judge Irene Keeley noted the problem last week during plea hearings in two drug cases.

West Virginia higher education leaders are finalizing policy changes to help students more easily transfer college credits and earn degrees.

Jake Harriman is a Preston County farm boy who grew up to become a leader in the fight against one of the world’s biggest problems:  extreme poverty. 

Harriman is one of three leaders in science and business profiled in the public radio documentary Inspiring West Virginians.

The West Virginia Economic Development Authority has approved two loans to help Randox Laboratories expand its facility in Jefferson County.

Ireland-based Randox will receive a $1.6 million loan for the expansion and a $1.1 million loan to help buy new equipment.

The Charleston Gazette reports that the authority approved the loans on Thursday. Authority executive director David Warner says the expansion is expected to create 50 jobs.

Randox's facility in Kearneysville currently employs 27 workers.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is getting heaped with praise by environmentalists and scorn by business for a state ban on deep hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, even as he insists the decision wasn't his.

Nuisance and negligence lawsuits have been filed this year throughout West Virginia related to horizontal drilling activities. Noise, air, and water pollution, traffic and debris are among complaints. It’s a new industrial world for many West Virginians living in the growing rural gas fields.  

ArcelorMittal has laid off more than 50 workers at three coal mines in Southern West Virginia.

ArcelorMittal spokesman Bill Steers tells the Bluefield Daily Telegraph that the layoffs are necessary because of decreased demand for coal.

The layoffs affect 58 workers at the company's XMV, Concept and Extra Energy mines in McDowell County.

ArcelorMittal/Princeton general manager Greg Jessee tells the newspaper that coal mining in the U.S. has sharply declined in recent years.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration will move to prohibit fracking in the state, citing unresolved health issues and dubious economic benefits of the widely used gas-drilling technique.

A municipal ordinance to limit heavy traffic through the downtown district of Morgantown has been declared “unenforceable” in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Amid much controversy, two horizontal gas wells were drilled into the Marcellus shale rock formation in 2011 just barely outside of Morgantown. Now two more wells are slated to be drilled on the same pad in the summer of 2015, but the company, Charleston-based Northeast Natural Energy is teaming up this time with a host of researchers.

Auto parts manufacturer Diamond Electric is relocating its U.S. headquarters from Michigan to West Virginia.

The move is expected to bring 10 to 15 jobs to West Virginia.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced the change at a news conference Monday.

The automotive ignition coil manufacturer will consolidate its main Michigan office with existing operations in Eleanor, located in Putnam County.

The Eleanor location first opened in 1997. It now features Diamond Electric's largest production facility, including 335 employees.

Govenor Earl Ray Tomblin received a petition with 3,820 signatures requesting he disallow horizontal drilling under the Ohio River.

The owner of a hardwood flooring plant in southern West Virginia says it's laying off 47 workers.

Unilin notified workers at its Mingo County facility that the layoffs are effective Jan. 1. The facility at the Buck Harless Wood Products Industrial Park employs 182 workers.

Today from Capitol Hill, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a policy paper that addresses coal ash disposal.