Money portfolio

Miss. banker, developer

emphasizes cooperation

A banker and community developer from Tupelo, Miss., was thefeatured speaker at a recent regional economic development summit inRitchie County.

Lewis Whitfield told the crowd of about 150 people who gathered inEllenboro from an eight county region that West Virginia has somegood assets to promote, but communities need to truly work togetherto make an economic renaissance happen.

Whitfield talked about the events that led to Tupelo's economicrevival. He stressed the involvement of strong private sector leadersstepping forward and getting involved, and staying involved, in thecommunity's rebirth.

He stressed that a spirit of cooperation between corporations andcommunity groups is essential.

He also talked about the importance of the involvement of themedia, noting that the publisher of the town's newspaper became aforce for good in the area promoting education and establishing acommunity foundation.

Plan for long-abandoned

Parkersburg site dropped

A plan to turn one of Parkersburg's long-standing white elephantsinto an apartment complex has fallen by the wayside.

A Maryland company who had proposed turning the former UptownerInn into apartments for senior citizens has dropped its plans.

T.M. Associates Inc. had signed an option on the property inAugust, but a recent market study of the area by the company foundthere were already vacancies for senior citizens.

"It had basically come back and said it was a weak rental marketfor senior housing," Adam Stockmaster, an assistant vice presidentwith the company told the Parkersburg News. "We regretfully had toback away."

The former Uptowner Inn building has sat vacant for nearly 20years.

Group buys apartments

near Marshall campus

Two apartment complexes near Marshall University in Huntingtonhave been purchased for $7.55 million by a group of New Yorkinvestors.

Woodlark Enterprises Inc., of New Rochelle, N.Y., purchased theUpper-Classman, an apartment complex at 1415 4th Ave., and theThorntree Apartments, which consist of three apartment buildings inthe 1600 block of 7th Avenue and 1900 block of Buffington Avenue lastweek.

The company already owned the Emmons Apartments on Third Avenue,and now has 280 apartments in Huntington.

Federal official touts

Internet access project

Appalachian Regional Commission Federal Co-Chair Anne Pope toldlocal community leaders in Gilmer County recently that a project tobring high-speed Internet access to the Glenville area was just thetype of project her agency supports.

"This is exactly the type of project we like to be involved in,"Pope said during a roundtable discussion on the campus of GlenvilleState College. "ARC believes telecommunications are extremelyimportant to the growth of rural America. We like working on projectslike this that prove the money we put into them will work."

Glenville was selected as the site to use wireless technology toconnect the community. The project since has expanded to BraxtonCounty.

Toastmasters chapter

seeking new members

The local chapter of Toastmasters International is seeking newmembers.

The Town Center Toastmasters Club meets the first and thirdWednesday each month at the main branch of the Kanawha County PublicLibrary in downtown Charleston from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.

The organization is designed to help people improve theircommunication and public speaking skills.

For more information, contact Rebecca Suthers at 744-4713 or JoeSmith at 344-1347.