DAVISVILLE - The construction of a manufacturing building in Davisville represents how serious the state is in securing potential investments in new businesses, the governor said Tuesday.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin came to the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley's July Business-After-Hours event at the new process technologies building at Polymer Tech Park in Davisville. The chamber, in conjunction with the Polymer Alliance Zone and the Just Beneath The Surface Campaign, hosted the event to bring representatives together from the local business community to learn about the state's business climate.
The 80,000-square-foot building is situated on a 7.5-acre lot, less than three miles from Interstate 77. The building has been designed with 20,000 square feet of 40-foot-high ceilings and 60,000 square feet of 30-foot-high ceilings.
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Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin meets with local residents Tuesday evening at the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley’s Business-After-Hours event in Davisville.
It features a suite of offices that could be expanded, if needed. The facility includes a loading/unloading dock and incorporates all utilities.
''It started out as a spec building, because we have had a lot of people stop by and wanting places to rent and lease to put their business in,'' said Karen Facemyer, president of the Polymer Alliance Zone. ''There has been really nothing in the area available.''
Facemyer, a state senator from Jackson County, went to state agencies to see about getting low-interest money to build a facility.
The money was secured and the building process moved forward.
Companies such as Pickering Associates Engineering, Pioneering Piping, Murray Sheet Metal and Ohio Valley Bank participated in the construction of the building.
''We had some good ideas from talking to companies with what exactly they would be looking for and we were able to build it from that,'' Facemyer said. ''Right now, we are marketing it to a number of businesses.
''We don't have anyone's name on the dotted line yet. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we will have someone in here.''
The industrial park has 165 acres with the potential of four to six more sites to build on and hopefully bring in more companies, she said.
Tomblin talked about how attitudes about doing business in West Virginia are changing and how the state is becoming a desirable location for many to do business.
''For a long time in West Virginia, we did not build spec buildings,'' Tomblin said. ''With this project, it is something we are doing again.
''These spec buildings are so important for economic development in our state.''
Such buildings show businesses how serious areas are to have them locate there, Tomblin said. Many business developers want to get to work immediately and having a building ready to go can persuade them to locate there, rather than having to wait years to have something constructed.
''It is a fine facility here and I am sure you will not have to wait long to have a tenant and many West Virginians working here,'' Tomblin said. ''West Virginia has changed the way we are doing business.
''We have concentrated the last several years in making West Virginia more business friendly (in lowering taxes).''
The state's finances are solid, the state is managing its long-term debt and has improved its bond rating, Tomblin said.
''Businesses notice that when they come to a state looking to invest,'' Tomblin said. ''This building is just one more example of how we partner and make good things happen in the state of West Virginia.
''It has always been my philosophy that it is not government's job to create jobs, but it is government's responsibility to create a business climate where private investment can come in and create the jobs.''
