MORGANTOWN — Kingwood is one of six West Virginia communities that were officially welcomed as FHLBank Pittsburgh Blueprint Communities at a ceremony held earlier today in Bridgeport. Blueprint Communities is a place-based revitalization initiative created by FHLBank Pittsburgh and administered in West Virginia by The West Virginia Community Development Hub. The initiative provides training and resources to help local leaders create sustainable communities.
Attending today’s ceremony were representatives from each of the newly selected Blueprint Communities, as well as government officials, local dignitaries and community development stakeholders. Speakers included U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito; Stephanie Tyree, executive director of The Hub; Lori McKinney, co-founder and director of RiffRaff Arts Collective; Winthrop Watson, president and chief executive officer of FHLBank Pittsburgh; and John Bendel, senior director of community investment, FHLBank Pittsburgh. Also in attendance were Mara Boggs, state director for Senator Joe Manchin, and Dan Neff, district representative for Congressman Alex Mooney.
The six selected communities — Kingwood (Preston County), Lewis County, the Meadow River Valley region (Greenbrier County), the Monticello area of Clarksburg (Harrison County), New Martinsville (Wetzel County) and Parsons (Tucker County) — were chosen based on community need, existing capacity and readiness to participate in the initiative.
“We are excited to welcome these six communities into the Blueprint Communities initiative,” Watson said. “Our goal is to equip them with the tools necessary to build strong local leadership and the development capacity to achieve their long-term community vision.”
Leaders in the chosen communities will engage in a year-long training program facilitated by The Hub. Community teams are comprised of local government and organizational leaders, volunteers and representatives from FHLBank member institutions, including Citizens Bank of Weston, Citizens Bank of West Virginia, MVB Bank, Summit Community Bank (Summit Financial Group), Union Bank and WesBanco.
