Tag: Chelsea Ruby

State Legislators Receive Update On Ascend WV Program

State legislators got an update on the Ascend West Virginia program from Chelsea Ruby, Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Tourism and Danny Twilley, Assistant Vice President of the West Virginia University Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative

During Monday’s legislative interim meetings, Chelsea Ruby, Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Tourism, and Danny Twilley, Assistant Vice President of the West Virginia University Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative, gave the West Virginia Legislative Oversight Commission on Workforce Investment for Economic Development an update on Ascend WV.

In exchange for moving to the West Virginia towns of Morgantown, Shepherdstown, and Lewisburg, workers were paid $12,000, given access to professional development through West Virginia University, co-working facilities, and one year of free passes and two years of free rentals for outdoor recreation as part of the Ascend WV Program.

For the Ascend program in Morgantown, 7500 people applied for 50 spots. The applications came from all 50 states and from more than 70 countries.

Of the people who eventually moved to Morgantown, 23 percent originally hailed from the Mountain State. One of the new Morgantown residents hailed from Berlin.

“We’ve really seen a very diverse set of applicants,” said Ruby.

Contrary to earlier estimates, the program didn’t primarily appeal to people working remotely in the tech industry.

“There’s healthcare, computer systems, manufacturing, management, and then professional services,” she said.

The primary challenge was finding housing for new residents. Ruby indicated that the tax incentives from the recent passing of the Build WV Act will make it easier to find housing for new residents.

“The hope is that we can find some private developers to help us do that work rather than the state or WVU taking on that type of rehabilitation,” Ruby said.

Danny Twilley told legislatures that Ascend WV doesn’t just incentivize individuals to West Virginia, but tries to help them join the local community with events.

“We ask them to bring their families along with their significant others because, again, it’s all about building that sense of community and sense of belongingness,” said Twilley.

Secretary Ruby said the program was successful in presenting the state as a place to work remotely and even retire. She added that data shows Ascend advertising having a positive effect on the state’s image.

“The exposure of this Ascend program is really starting to get some traction. People are really starting to think about West Virginia as a place to work remotely,” she said. “That data shows Ascend advertising having a positive effect on the state’s image. These tourism ads layering on top of the remote worker ads are also starting to help, and we are continuing to improve West Virginia’s image overall.”

Ascend WV looks to expand to 1000 remote workers across five West Virginia towns.

Senate Completes Work On Bill Boosting Economic Development, Tourism Posts To Cabinet Secretary Positions

The West Virginia Legislature has completed work on a bill that elevates two high-profile state government jobs to cabinet-level positions.

Members of the Senate unanimously approved House Bill 2019. The measure will elevate the director of economic development and the commissioner of tourism to cabinet secretaries within the executive branch.

House Bill 2019 was introduced at the request of Gov. Jim Justice, who championed the idea at the beginning of the legislative session during his state of the state address. During that speech, Justice noted the officials who will be immediately affected by the bill as he announced the proposal.

“I will put Mitch Carmichael in the economic development position and Chelsea Ruby in the tourism position. Mitch is stuck on ‘on.’ Everybody that knows Mitch knows he’s stuck on ‘on’ all the time,” Justice said. “He could probably sell bread to starving Russians on credit. And Chelsea has done an amazing, amazing job. That’s all there is to it.”

In recent weeks, former Senate President Mitch Carmichael took on the role as director in the Office of Economic Development. Chelsea Ruby has been the Commissioner of Tourism since Justice first took office in January 2017.

House Bill 2019 would carry beyond Carmichael and Ruby’s respective tenures and create departments focused on the work of both positions. The current salaries for those positions would not change as a result of the bill and no other new positions within those departments would be created.

When the bill passed the House of Delegates last week, some Democrats argued the elevation of Carmichael to the cabinet-level post was done as a favor.

But there was little discussion ahead of the measure’s passage Friday in the Senate, although a couple of lawmakers spoke briefly in favor of the bill.

“This is merely a reorganization and, really, a change in title,” said. Senate Finance Chair Eric Tarr, R-Putnam. “It doesn’t really add any people to the process. It does add some significance to the titles when these people go out and represent the state of West Virginia [and are] marketing our beautiful state.”

Senate Judiciary Chair Charles Trump, R-Morgan, also spoke in favor of the measure.

Trump also championed an idea from Sen. William Ihlenfeld, D-Ohio, to bump the director of the Office of Drug Control to a cabinet level. Agreeing with a floor speech from Ihlenfeld on Monday, Trump said elevating that post could help combat substance use disorder in the state.

“I think he’s on to an excellent idea. It’s not embodied within this bill. But I did want to say publicly that I hope the governor will look at that and maybe even introduce his own bill,” Trump said.

No such legislation has so far been introduced, although Ihlenfeld told West Virginia Public Broadcasting he is planning to draft to a standalone bill to elevate the director of the Office of Drug Control Policy to a cabinet-level position.

“The substance abuse crisis has gotten worse during the pandemic — it hasn’t gotten better,” Ihlenfeld said Friday by phone. “We know that we need to do more in West Virginia to address this problem. This is not just a public health problem, this is also an economic problem.”

A spokesperson with the governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

House Bill 2019’s passage marks the third bill completed by the Legislature so far this session. It now heads to the governor’s desk for a signature.

New Partnership with Award-Winning Video Game Publisher Aims to Boost Tourism in W.Va.

The award-winning video game publisher Bethesda Softworks is launching a new online game set in post-nuclear West Virginia, and the West Virginia Tourism Office is partnering with the company to promote both the game and the state.

Gov. Jim Justice said in a news release the West Virginia Tourism Office will collaborate with Bethesda Softworks to create advertising strategies to educate players about West Virginia’s landscape and culture, as well as offer an open invitation to visit the state over the coming months.

“It’s finally time the rest of the world sees what a gem West Virginia is,” said Justice. “For years, I’ve been saying we have it all: beautiful scenery, the best people you could ask for and more. And now, we get to share a piece of that with people all over the world through the unique lens of this video game.”

The game, called Fallout 76, was officially announced in June and is a prequel to the family of Fallout video games that started in the late 90s. All Fallout games are set in post-apocalyptic times with cyberpunk and retro futuristic art and style.

Credit Bethesda Softworks, LLC
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Fallout 76 will be the largest and most ambitious of the Fallout family of games. Tourism Commissioner Chelsea Ruby said in the news release she feels the partnership with Bethesda will be a major benefit to the state.

“Our goal is to welcome each and every one of the game’s players to Almost Heaven,” said Ruby. “Bethesda has been a terrific partner since day one. They’ve really embraced West Virginia and its beauty. We believe this unique partnership has tremendous potential to bring folks to visit the Mountain State.”

Fallout 76 is set to launch in November.

Opinion | What Makes West Virginia #AlmostHeaven To Me

West Virginians — and everyone who loves West Virginia — I have a small but very important favor to ask: This month, take a few minutes to tell the world what it is you love about our state.

West Virginia’s birthday is June 20 (birthday number 154, if you’re counting). The West Virginia Division of Tourism is celebrating West Virginia’s birthday with a list of reasons West Virginia is #AlmostHeaven to us. For the two weeks leading up to the birthday, we’ll post every day — on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter — a reason the Mountain State is an amazing place to live and travel with the hashtag #AlmostHeaven.

The idea is to get out the word about what makes West Virginia special. And while our list will be a nice start, it isn’t going to finish the job. So we need your help.

Starting Tuesday, June 6, get on your favorite social media sites and talk about West Virginia —loudly, proudly, and often. Whatever #AlmostHeaven means to you, share it with everyone you know. Post that great selfie in front of fog-covered mountaintops, or the one with the bass you caught last summer, or the family at a Mountaineer or Herd football game. Post all of them. And don’t stop there. Overwhelm your friends and followers with West Virginia pride for the next two weeks.

Think of it as a competition. The person with the most and best #AlmostHeaven posts by June 20th is the one who loves West Virginia most of all. And that, dear reader, should be you.  Not to mention that we’ll be giving away great West Virginia vacations to our favorite posts each day.

This is fun, but it’s also serious business. West Virginia has an image problem. Those of us who love her know how marvelous she is. But much of the world is blinded by ugly stereotypes perpetuated by folks who’ve never set foot within our borders.

Those stereotypes have held us back for years. They drag down our tourism industry. They hinder us from recruiting new businesses. They deter talented people from moving here. All of this is enormously frustrating to those of us who want our state to prosper.

Today, though, social media gives all us a way to fight back. In modern America, social media networks are powerful shapers of public perception. In the tourism industry, for example, research shows people now decide where to vacation based on what others are saying on social media. It’s a major factor in travel planning.

The upshot: Your #AlmostHeaven posts will do more than just convey your love for your state. They will grow our tourism industry. Most tangibly, they will create jobs for your fellow West Virginians – and maybe even you. If everyone who loves this state spends just a little bit of time during the next couple weeks posting, tweeting, Instagramming, liking, and sharing how great West Virginia is, the message will reach people across the country, even the world, to tell our story in an authentic, personal way. Your social posts will dramatically multiply the impact of our paid advertising.

So this year, give wild, wonderful West Virginia a birthday gift she can really use: the gift of grassroots marketing. Flex your social media muscle and let the rest of the world see the West Virginia you know. You can change minds and start breaking down stereotypes just by doing something you already do every day. Use #AlmostHeaven, and visit gotowv.com to see the very best posts and pics from your fellow West Virginians.

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