Workforce West Virginia has received a $250,000 federal grant to help establish economic development plans in the Advantage Valley region. While the money is earmarked for a state agency in our neighbor to the east, our hope is that this corner of Kentucky will see some advantages from it.
That’s the way it is supposed to be. After all, Advantage Valley not only includes Boone, Clay, Cabell, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, Putnam and Wayne counties in West Virginia, but also Boyd, Greenup and Carter counties here in Kentucky and Lawrence County in Ohio.
However, from our vantage point, Advantage Valley is an entity mostly created by business and government leaders in Huntington and Charleston for the benefit of those two cities and the West Virginia towns and counties surrounding them. The three Kentucky counties and Lawrence County, Ohio, were added to Advantage Valley as something of an afterthought to give it the appearance of being a Tri-State endeavor. As a practical matter, however, the Kentucky and Ohio counties have been something like the ignored and forgotten stepchildren of Advantage Valley.
Our hope is that the grant designed to create long-term sustainable growth and employment opportunities in the region will mark the beginning of a new era for Advantage Valley. We like the concept. Combined, the communities of Huntington and Charleston in West Virginia, Ironton in Ohio and Ashland here in Kentucky form a single, large metropolitan area that could do much more together than they can individually if only they would quit competing with each other and work more closely together.
The entire region benefits when a major new employer begins operation anywhere in Advantage Valley and when individual communities work together instead of competing with one another.
We are confident there are leaders in this region who easily could point to just what Boyd, Greenup and Carter counties have gained by being part of Advantage Valley. However, we think there would be far more advantages to the three Kentucky counties being part of Advantage Valley if their role in the Tri-Sate effort was more active and better appreciated.
We support the concept of Advantage Valley but, at least to date, we in Kentucky see few advantages to being part of it.
