After the funeral last summer, a church pastor who had just given the eulogy started thinking more about the legacy.
“I heard about Betty and Mike almost immediately,” Junius Lewis said. “All the things they did for the community, and for WVU.”
If you’ve been around for a while, you’ll know that Lewis was a former WVU basketball star who came to the school in Morgantown in the mid-1970s on scholarship.
The “Betty and Mike,” to whom he’s referring need no introduction.
They were Betty and Milan “Mike” Puskar, the husband and wife synonymous with altruism and economy in Morgantown and the region.
Mike Puskar relocated his Mylan Pharmaceuticals company to the University City in 1965, after co-founding it four years earlier in an abandoned roller rink in southern West Virginia.
The company was a success.
A good paycheck. Good benefits. Good works for the community.
And, a good boss: Mike Puskar, who died in 2011, who referred to Mylan’s employees as, “My co-workers and friends.”
Though long-divorced from her husband at the time of her death this past June, Betty Puskar kept her married name and shared vision — making Mylan just as much about community outreach as it was generic prescription drugs.
Lewis delivered the eulogy at Betty Puskar’s funeral.
The company, and the couple, couldn’t have been more established by the time the tall freshman hit town.
On Friday, another funeral story, of sorts, circulated concerning the now-former Mylan plant on Chestnut Ridge Road.
That’s when news crackled across the business wires that Viatris, Mylan’s new parent company, was closing the facility July 31 and that 1,500 jobs would be eliminated.
Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom’s cellphone was chirping hours before that.
“We got some rumblings last night,” he said Friday.
“We had individuals contacting us saying they had to close up and that they were going to be on a phone call today.”
Mylan merged with Upjohn last month to become Viatris.
The new company’s chief financial offer Sanjeev Narula said in a statement Friday that the fine print was still being honed on the closure and the compensation of the 1,500 workers whose jobs have been targeted.
“Today’s announcement is a significant next step in ensuring Viatris meets the financial commitments it has made to share holders and other key stakeholders,” Narula said.
The officer said “the majority of employees impacted” will stay on through July 31, after which “comprehensive separation packages” will be offered.
Either way, it’s still a hard trudge from corporate headquarters to the kitchen table, WVU’s John Deskins said.
Deskins, who directs the university’s Bureau of Business and Economics, said Friday’s announcement — coupled with the fact that Christmas is approaching and the state is still being roiled by the coronavirus — leaves a nasty economic and emotional bruise that won’t be fading any time soon.
“Given the facts that this is an exporting industry that brings dollars into the region, and that many of these jobs are well-paying and high-skilled, the loss will create significant ripple effects throughout the region,” Deskins said.
“Ultimately this will create further losses in employment, spending and tax revenue,” the director continued.
“It will also damage the housing market in the Morgantown area. Ultimately it would probably take at least a couple of years to recover from this loss of this magnitude, aside from concerns associated with the pandemic.”
Gov. Jim Justice, meanwhile, took time from his press briefing on the pandemic Friday to talk about the closure, which he called “devastating news” for the region and state.
Later, he talked with a management team at the company that told him the decision to shutter the plant was final.
Not that he’s ready for another eulogy, he said.
The team also told him it would work with his office to find a new operator, which the governor said is key to keeping jobs in Morgantown.
“As a business guy, I know this is not a commitment to be taken lightly,” Justice said in a statement.
“So I asked them, specifically, whether they really plan to honor their commitment — and they told me I had their word that they would do all they could.”
Official comments
A number of entities and officials shared similar sentiments on Friday’s news.
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), said the news was “heartbreaking,” for a company that was once a Mountain State success story.
“The closure of the manufacturing facility by July 31st and the loss of these jobs for the region is devastating,” the senator said in a statement.
“I will work with city, county and state leaders, Viatris, and all other parties to find alternatives to keep these West Virginians employed.”
David McKinley, a Republican who represents the W. Va.’s 1st Congressional district on Capitol Hill, said the move carries pandemic implications.
“At a time when we should be focusing on bringing manufacturing to America and securing our domestic pharmaceutical supply chain, this decision is a reminder of the challenges we face,” he said.
“Our thoughts are with the families of the 1500 workers who will be impacted. We will do everything we can to help them through this difficult time.”
Newly elected state Sen. Mike Caputo called for an economic “SWAT team,” to tackle the situation. The senator-elect, a Democrat and former coal miner from Marion County, also said he hoped some partisan favors could be phoned in to lessen the economic shock the layoffs will bring.
“It is my hope that Governor Justice can leverage his close personal relationship with President Trump to work on reversing the economic freefall our state has been experiencing at the hands of billion-dollar corporations and help us save these Mylan jobs,” he said.
WVU drew on the legacy of Mike Puskar, who was university benefactor.
“It is a sad, tough day for our community. We are hurting right now. Our University and our community have benefited so much from the generosity and vision of Mike Puskar, Betty Puskar, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, and the extended Mylan family,” the university said.
“We will be active in seeking to work with federal, state, and local leaders in working to minimize the impact of this announcement.”
