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Marshall To Build Workforce Training Center At ACF Site

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program presented a $550,000 check to establish Marshall’s welding and robotics training center near the university’s campus.

State and local officials, as well as representatives from Marshall University, received a federal grant to redevelop an industrial site in Huntington Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program presented a $550,000 check to establish Marshall’s welding and robotics training center near the university’s campus.

The center will be built on the site of ACF Industries, which for decades built railcars and was one of the region’s largest employers.

The rails are still embedded in the concrete at the facility, but instead of building trains, it will now train a new workforce.

Brandon Dennison, Marshall’s vice president of economic and workforce development, said to expect more of these efforts.

“We’re going to see very real, very tangible investments leading to good paying jobs and building the new Appalachian economy of the future,” he said.

Construction is set to begin early next year, with the center in operation in 2025.

USDA Grants Support Local Projects In Rural Counties

In West Virginia, the investments announced on Monday total $16.9 million to address immediate needs and foster long-term economic growth.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Monday it is providing loans and grants to help people living in rural communities gain access to jobs, improved infrastructure, affordable housing and quality health care.

These grants are for communities in the federal government’s Rural Partners Network (RPN). Launched in April 2022 and expanded in November 2022, the RPN is now active in 10 states and Puerto Rico.

West Virginia has two community networks listed on the network’s website.

The first community network is “Southern West Virginia” and includes Mingo, Wayne, Lincoln, Boone, Logan, Wyoming, McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers and Fayette counties. The Southern West Virginia Community Network is hosted by the WV Community Development Hub.

The second community network is “West Virginia Pioneer Community Network” and includes Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer, Nicholas, Roane, Webster and Wirt counties. The Pioneer Community Network is hosted by Glenville State University.

According to the RPN, more than 448,150 people live within the twenty West Virginia counties included in the community networks.

Community networks receive support from full-time USDA staff who live and work locally, helping community leaders navigate federal programs and prepare successful applications for funding.

In West Virginia, the investments announced on Monday total $16.9 million to address immediate needs and foster long-term economic growth.

Ryan Thorn is the West Virginia State Director for the RPN. He said projects like the Boone Memorial Health clinic, announced Monday, are funding investments to build stronger communities.

“This project has been in the works for a number of years,” Thorn said. “Rural Development is proud to partner with them to bring this project to fruition. It is estimated that this project will help more than 32,000 patients on an annual basis.”

Boone Memorial Health received a $14.4 million loan to renovate a facility into a health and wellness clinic along with a direct grant.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., attended the announcement event and called the project “an amazing development,” noting the health care that will be available to current and former miners in the state.

“I was able to get a $3 million direct grant for this facility because it was a high area of high need,” Manchin said. “A lot of people in Boone County and all around surrounding counties that have done a lot for the quality of life that people all around the country providing the energy and the fuel they needed with the coal they mined here. And now to have the ability to live here and still have the quality of health care is even that much more important.”

In West Virginia, the investments total $16.9 million and will support five projects in RPN counties:

Boone Memorial Health will receive a $14.4 million loan to renovate a facility in Danville into a health and wellness clinic. The project will provide quality outpatient healthcare and wellness services to a service area of approximately 32,200 rural residents.
The town of Bradshaw will receive a $1 million grant to convert its current wastewater system into a traditional gravity system. This project will consolidate most of the existing customers onto centralized pumping stations for system efficiency and energy savings.
The Forrest Place Preservation Association will receive a $904,783 loan to assist in the transfer, assumption, and rehabilitation of Forrest Place Apartments, an existing multi-family housing complex in Kermit.
The Lavalette Public Service District will receive a $616,000 grant to upgrade the German Ridge and Dickson areas of the Northern Distribution System to better serve the system’s customers with fire flow, reduced water loss, and reduced operation and maintenance costs associated with leak repairs.
The City of Smithers will receive a $17,200 grant to purchase a commercial tractor for the city’s street department. The vehicle is needed to maintain the city’s green spaces and for moving and clearing rocks, mud and debris from public areas.

USDA Grant To Provide Rural Healthcare

Boone Memorial Health will receive a $14.4 million loan to renovate a facility into a health and wellness clinic along with a direct grant.

Alongside policymakers and community members, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office announced Monday the construction of a new health and wellness center for Danville in Boone County.

Boone Memorial Health will receive a $14.4 million loan to renovate a facility into a health and wellness clinic along with a direct grant.

Sen. Joe Manchin attended the announcement event and called the project “an amazing development.”

“We were able to do this because of the American rescue plan. We put $8.5 billion in there to help rural hospitals,” Manchin said. “And that’s what this is really about, and I was able to get a $3 million direct grant for this facility because it was in high need.”

Construction will take about two years. Once completed, the clinic will provide outpatient health care and wellness services to approximately 32,200 area residents.

Ryan Thorn is the state director of Rural Development for the USDA. He said the project has been under development for a number of years and will benefit all aspects of society in rural areas.

“A company is not going to look at an area unless there are adequate health services,” Thorn said. “This project is really a catalyst to not only ensure that folks have access to quality health care, but also it sets the stage as a spur or catalyst for other opportunities.”

Inflation Adjustments Raise WIC Income Eligibility

A family of four can earn $55,500 and still qualify for WIC benefits, according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), Bureau for Public Health, Office of Nutrition Services. That’s an increase of $4,162 from 2022. These guidelines are adjusted for recent inflation over the past year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the updated income eligibility guidelines for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children known commonly as WIC.

“Our goal is to provide nutritional services and information that help keep West Virginia families healthy,” said Dr. Matthew Christiansen, state health officer and commissioner for DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health. “West Virginia WIC serves more than 36,000 mothers and young children monthly. With the expanded income guidelines, we can serve more families.”

An additional 4,600 West Virginians could be served under the expanded WIC income eligibility guidelines. Families enrolled in the program receive nutrition education, breastfeeding education, nutritious foods, and access to maternal, prenatal and pediatric healthcare services that may otherwise be unavailable. West Virginia WIC serves 86 percent of all babies born in West Virginia.

The new income guidelines represent 185 percent above the federal poverty level for all 48 contiguous states.

Visit here for more information about West Virginia WIC. And here for more information regarding new USDA WIC eligibility guidelines.

USDA Awards $2.2 Million For Rural Projects In West Virginia

The USDA’s Rural Development Program grants will support 18 projects statewide.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is sending more than $2 million in grants for projects in West Virginia.

The USDA’s Rural Development Program grants will support 18 projects statewide.

Grants to the Pocahontas County Board of Education and Shepherd University will support distant learning in rural areas.

Several agricultural producers and small businesses will receive grants under the Rural Energy for America Program. These funds will help them install renewable energy systems such as solar arrays and improve their energy efficiency.

Another grant will go to West Virginia University for training and technical assistance to Central Appalachian communities to improve their water and wastewater infrastructure.

One grant aims to help the region’s communities eliminate illegal dumping.

Other grants will assist low-income residents in several counties repair or rehabilitate their homes.

Fighting Rabies From The Sky

This story was updated on 8/27/20.

If you look up into the sky, you might see low-flying planes over the mountains dropping brown pellets for the next couple of weeks.

It is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Rabies Management Program, which began in 1997. The pellets are oral vaccinations covered in wax and fishmeal, meant to entice raccoons. For context, the pellets are not toxic to other animals, according to Boehringer Ingelheim, the company that manufactures the vaccine.

“The vaccine has been tested in multiple species, over 60 species actually, for safety,” said veterinarian Joanne Maki of Boehringer Ingelheim. “They’re very rarely leftover doses in the environment, but if they would be there for months at a time, the vaccine inside will eventually die.”

Rabid racoons are most common on the East Coast, including West Virginia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2018, 17 counties in West Virginia reported at least one rabid racoon

Although there are typically just one to three human cases of rabies in the U.S. each year, as many as 60,000 people receive rabies treatment for potential exposure. If rabies is contracted it is 100 percent fatal.

Mackey said with the pandemic, more people are outside recreating near potentially rabid animals.

“We wish people will be thinking about rabies,” she said. “And that if they see an animal acting strangely in the environment, that comes into their mind.”

Planes will drop 740,000 vaccines across the state through early September in 14 counties, including Marion, Monongalia, Wetzel, Harrison, Taylor, Barbour, Preston, Upshur, Randolph, Pocahontas, Greenbrier, Monroe, Summers and Mercer.

West Virginia is targeted because the Appalachian Mountains are considered a barrier line for rabid racoon movement to the West.

*Correction: Joanne Maki’s name was changed to reflect the correct spelling of ‘Maki’ not ‘Mackey.’