Remote Work Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Marshall, WVU Program Aims To Keep Graduates In State

Modeled after Ascend WV, the two year First Ascent program aims to keep recent graduates in the state. It is a collaboration of both Marshall University and West Virginia University.

Modeled after Ascend WV, the two year First Ascent program aims to keep recent graduates in the state. It is a collaboration of both Marshall University and West Virginia University (WVU).

Participants must have recently graduated from one of the two universities and have a remote or hybrid job. They will receive incentives such as access to free co-working space and outdoor recreation equipment, success coaches and professional mentorships and more.

Marshall President Brad Smith and WVU President Gordon Gee announced the initiative at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Business Summit Wednesday. Their presentation estimated keeping 1,000 students in the state after graduation will have a $317 million economic impact and will also create more than 900 additional jobs.

Gee said next to energy exports, the state’s biggest export in recent years has been young talent.

“We simply have to make certain that now what we do is we keep our talent here,” he said.

Applicants to First Ascent will be able to choose from five communities: Morgantown Area, Huntington Area, Eastern Panhandle, New River Gorge, Greater Elkins and Greenbrier Valley.

Gee said the effort is part of his and Smith’s “United Universities” approach.

“Between the two of us, we’re the largest employers in the state, we have the most economic value in the state, we drive almost everything that happens here with our colleagues in the legislature, the governor and others,” Gee said. “We make certain that we have a common agenda, a common bond and a common purpose. I think it is working very well, and I can tell you, that will make a real difference for West Virginia.”

Smith said in the meeting the next generation is looking to them to help them see that their future is in the state with meaningful job opportunities.

“Let’s get creative and innovative and remove the barriers so that our sons and daughters can stay here in this state, stand on the shoulders of the giants who sit in this room and continue to build the great state of West Virginia” he said.

In a press release, WVU said seed funding for the First Ascent pilot program originated from WVU Provost Maryanne Reed’s Innovation Summit and a subsequent award was provided by the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge Grant to Coalfield Development and WVU.

Ascend Remote Worker Program Adds New River Gorge Location

With the addition of the New River Gorge region, the Ascend West Virginia program now has five destinations that are welcoming new remote working residents to the Mountain State.

With the addition of the New River Gorge region, the Ascend West Virginia program now has five destinations that are welcoming new remote working residents to the Mountain State. By offering incentives of cash and free outdoor adventures, the program hopes to offset the state’s population decline.

Ascend West Virginia began with a $25 million gift to West Virginia University’s (WVU) Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative. Teaming up with the state Department of Tourism, Ascend selects applicants (more than 20,000 since its launch), who are willing to move to the state. The people selected get $12,000 in cash and another $8,000 in outdoor activity vouchers.

Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby called Ascend a progressive success.

“We have nearly 300 new West Virginia residents that have come over the last two years,” Ruby said. “They are spread across the state in various host communities. And the retention rate is at about 98 percent, so things are going well.”

Ruby said adding the New River Gorge region to the Ascend community roster offers options.

“They can live anywhere in the New River Gorge region.” she said. “It’s not just Fayetteville, it’s not just Oak Hill. They can basically live anywhere in the area from Summersville down to Beckley and all around. We’re looking for them to put down roots in those communities.”

Ascend executive team member Danny Twilley, a WVU assistant vice president of Economic Community and Asset Development, said the other four Ascend community regions continue to take applicants.

“So if you want a college town, you’ve got Morgantown,” Twilley said. “If you want the kind of access to the major metropolitan area in D.C. and in the growth of the Eastern Panhandle, you’ve got that area. If you want that cool art and food culture with some really unique outdoor assets, you’ve got Greenbrier Valley and Lewisburg. And then Elkins is a western gateway to the Monongahela National Forest.”

“Ascenders,” as they are called, hail from 34 states and two countries. Ruby said they are a diverse lot.

”We’ve got some that are singles, we’ve got some couples, we’ve got some families,” Ruby said. “I think we even have a couple of new babies that have been born into Ascend families since they’ve moved here.”

Ruby said the Ascend remote workers come from a variety of businesses and industries, highlighted by health care, advertising and educational services.

“Just skimming the list, you know, we’ve got folks from Deloitte Consulting, KPMG, Ocean Spray, UnitedHealthcare, Vivid Seats, Walgreens,” she said. “They really are a very broad spectrum. They come from nearly every industry.”

Twilley said a majority of Ascenders have advanced education.

“Whether it’s a four year degree, a master’s or beyond, 25 percent of them have a very direct connection to the state and 75 percent don’t have a family member or have lived here before,” Twilley said. “It’s a relatively broad swath. We’ve had applications from over 80 different countries and all 50 states.”

The goal is to have 1,000 Ascend families come to West Virginia in the next six years. Twilley said one new group target will be military veterans.

“West Virginia produces more military veterans per capita than any other state in the country and we have the least amount to return home, right?” Twilley said. “They learn tremendous skills, they have lived a life of service, they have built a sense of community and what it means to be a military veteran. We had the highest population in 1950. Over the next 71 years, we lost over 200,000 people – about 12 percent. I think we can replenish it back to that era of a population. That’s really a long-term goal that we’re focused on.”

Ruby said what Ascend is selling is the kind of outdoor lifestyle a remote worker can have in West Virginia.

“I firmly believe it is the nation’s premier remote worker program,” she said. “I’m really excited about the results that we’ve seen over the first two years and am really excited about the future.”

Library Benefits And Remote Working Opportunities To Offset Population Decline, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, summer is the perfect time for students of all ages to relax, but it’s also a time when learning loss can occur. One of the best resources to avoid the so-called “summer slide” is the library. Chris Schulz has the story.

On this West Virginia Morning, summer is the perfect time for students of all ages to relax, but it’s also a time when learning loss can occur. One of the best resources to avoid the so-called “summer slide” is the library. Chris Schulz has the story.

Also, in this show, with the addition of the New River Gorge region, the Ascend West Virginia program now has five destinations that are welcoming new remote working residents to the Mountain State. With the incentives of cash and free outdoor adventures, the program hopes to help offset the state’s population decline. Randy Yohe reports.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.

Teresa Wills is our host.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Ascend West Virginia Adds Another Community To The Program

Elkins will be the fourth community in the Ascend West Virginia program.

Elkins will be the fourth community in the Ascend West Virginia program, which aims to attract remote workers to the state with more than $20,000 in incentives, including cash and free outdoor recreation.

The program is the brainchild of Brad and Alys Smith. Ascend has already placed 75 remote workers and their families in Morgantown and the Greenbrier Valley, with another group of 22 coming to the Eastern Panhandle in early 2023.

Robbie Morris, executive director of the Randolph County Development Authority, said he was grateful for the opportunity the announcement presents for Elkins.

“Elkins and this entire region of West Virginia has a tremendous amount to offer. For remote workers, for families, for a wide array of businesses and industries,” he said. “We could not be more proud to be a part of the Ascend community as the fourth community.”

Since its launch in April of 2021, the program has received more than 20,000 applicants, including more than 2,900 to make the move to the Eastern Panhandle.

Applications are now open for the Elkins location, as well as the other three Ascend communities, at ascendwv.com.

W.Va. Lawmakers Hold First Remote Interim Legislative Session In 8 Years

In 2022, seven interim meetings are scheduled, usually held at the Capitol building. But this week, the legislative branch left Charleston and went on the road.

The West Virginia Legislature meets every January for a 60-day general session. Lawmakers also meet several times a year in smaller committees and commissions during what are called interim sessions. The three day interims give legislators a chance to hear from public and private leaders and experts. These meetings help Delegates and Senators draft legislation specific to their constituents’ needs.

In 2022, seven interim meetings are scheduled, usually held at the Capitol building. But this week, the legislative branch left Charleston and went on the road.

The remote three day interim session was hosted by West Virginia University in Morgantown. This is the first remote interim meeting since 2014 in Bridgeport.

Does going remote cost taxpayers more than staying at home?

House of Delegates Communications Director Ann Ali said lawmakers who stay overnight get $131 in daily per diem for hotel and meals. Those who commute get $55 a day per diem no matter where the meetings are held.

So, Ali said taxpayer costs should be about the same as meeting at the capitol.

Clerk of the House Steve Harrison’s rough estimate showed if all 134 lawmakers attended meetings all three days and all sayed overnight, there would be less than $38,000 in legislative costs for the remote interim. However, not all lawmakers attended every meeting or stayed three nights in hotels.

Other costs incurred include audio visual and information technology needs (all meetings were streamed with help from WVU), meeting room fees, House and Senate staff lodgings and mileage. Those bills are still being calculated.

Ali said taking interims back on the road for the first time in eight years stems from a desire among legislative leadership and members to get “up close and personal.” They wanted to see issues facing different areas of the state first hand, to hear directly from local residents and to see some state successes and challenges up close. On this trip, one committee took a field trip to see proposed WVU physical plant repairs, another surveyed the area around a proposed I-79 interchange.

The next remote legislative interim session will be in November at Cacapon State Park in Berkeley Springs.

Remote Work, Digital Networking To Become New Reality For Pandemic-Era Grads, Marshall Economist Says

Last year, the coronavirus pandemic upended thousands of 2020 college graduates’ career plans, but how does the landscape for jobs look now to the class of 2021?

In a nutshell, there have been fewer opportunities over the past year across the country — and also in West Virginia.

“We know that across the country, nearly half of the [2020] college graduates are stuck looking for work,” said economist Avinandan Mukherjee, a professor and dean of the Lewis College of Business at Marshall University. “And when they do find jobs, I found some numbers that suggest that about 69 to 70 percent are expecting lower salaries than they would before the pandemic.”

However, there is employment hope looming for 2020 graduates and the soon-to-graduate class of 2021.

“The market is definitely still pretty depressed, but we are looking at a pretty good recovery and rebounding of the economy in a very robust way,” Mukherjee said.

The virtual economy is booming, and telecommuting and remote work are likely the No. 1 trend in the future of work, according to Mukherjee.

Extended: Remote Work, Digital Networking To Become New Reality For Pandemic-Era Grads, Marshall Economist Says

He said that’s where the employee landscape is heading, but West Virginia has to be ready — by way of adequate broadband connection and functional infrastructure, both digital and physical.

Mukherjee said West Virginia is on the right track, though, pointing to the recently announced Ascend West Virginia project, which provides a $12,000 incentive, plus a year’s worth of free outdoor recreational opportunities. The goal is to attract more people to move to West Virginia.

“It is, I think, the country’s best remote worker program right now,” he said.

Mukherjee also points to the recent signing of House Bill 2002 — a comprehensive broadband expansion bill. The bill offers new consumer protections to broadband users, makes the deployment of publicly owned infrastructure possible and expands on existing data-collection efforts to identify areas of the state that need high-speed internet.

All of this, Mukherjee said, will help West Virginia enter this new job landscape. He also said the gig economy, people who work in a variety of jobs as independent contractors, is seeing a shift.

“One of the things that’s particularly relevant in this gig economy is this focus on reskilling and upskilling,” he said. “So, for students coming out of colleges and people with experience in the world of business, upskilling and reskilling is all that’s going to matter.”

He said individual skill development, individual accomplishments, and stackable credentials will be important. Stackable credentials means a set of courses, also known as nanodegrees, to show a variety of certifications and skills. Mukherjee said these will be much more attractive to employers in an evolving gig economy.

Finally, Mukherjee said there are three top things that both 2020 and upcoming 2021 college grads need to remember: build skill sets, be comfortable with all kinds of technology and rely on and develop digital networking.

“It is more important than ever, because the jobs that many of these students … will be doing in the new economy of the future, the post-pandemic economy, aren’t there yet,” Mukherjee said. “So, focus on skills, not just knowledge … skills are the currency of the labor market right now.”