“Wild, Wonderful &
Almost Heaven WV Open For Business”
Mountain State
Rural Express January, 2011
Message From WV State Director Bobby Lewis Inside this issue:
We are well into Fiscal Year 2011 annual report and, furthermore, we
and a lot is happening in Rural Amer- hope you and/or your community
ica. However, right now we are were served by my eager staff in one Rural Development 2
under a continuing resolution and way or another. For additional infor-
have limited appropriations authority mation on our programs, please visit Assists With
until a federal budget is passed for u s o n t h e w e b a t Improved Public
USDA Rural Development. www.rurdev.usda.gov/wv. Safety for Barbour
County
By this time, you should have re- If not, that remains my challenge to
ceived or seen our Annual Progress each and every one of you for Fiscal Gilmer County 2
Report highlighting activities, events Year 2011—contact your local USDA
Ambulance Authority
and funding ventures of Fiscal Year Rural Development office (see page 3)
2010. We hope you enjoyed our to find out what we can do for you! Receives Funding For
New Ambulance
Rural Development Bids Good Luck To Recent Retiree Office Directory 3
Randy Plum, who served as West Vir- On his last working
ginia USDA Rural Development’s Com- day, December 29, USDA Rural 4
munity Programs Director for 15 years, State Director Bobby
retired from Federal Government ser- Lewis (pictured here
Development
vice December 29, 2010. Randy had on the left) pre- Employees
oversight to the Water & Wastewater sented Randy Participate in United
program and the Community Facilities (pictured here on Way Combined
program for the State of West Virginia. the right) with Cer- Federal Campaign
tificates of Apprecia-
Randy worked for the agency for over tion from both the
33 years. He began his career in the Water Programs
Winfield County Office as a County Division and the
Supervisor. He then worked some in Community Facilities USDA Rural
the Parkersburg Area Office as an As- Division in Washing- Development’s
sistant Area Director. After that, he ton, DC. Mission:
trekked to the State Office in Morgan- To Increase
town as a Loan Specialist prior to being “We would like to Economic
selected as the Program Director in extend our sincere gratitude to Randy Stepping up to the plate, Community Opportunity
1995. for his dedicated years of government Programs Specialist Janna Lowery and Improve The
service and wish him a happy and applied for and was selected as Quality of Life for All
During his tenure as Program Director, healthy retirement,” commented Randy’s successor. Janna has worked Rural Americans.
the agency provided over $793,000,000 Lewis. for USDA Rural Development for
for water and wastewater projects over 16 years, all of which have been USDA Rural
throughout West Virginia. Pictured below with Randy (center) is in Community Programs. She Development’s Vision:
Community Facilities started in 1994 under the Student A Rural America
Specialist Paula Moel- Cooperative Program. That Is A Healthy,
ler (pictured on Safe & Prosperous
Randy’s left) and After time spent in the student pro- Place To Live and
Community Pro- gram, Janna became the Community Work.
grams Specialist Steve Programs Technician and then Spe-
Collins (pictured on cialist. She has been a Specialist for
Randy’s rig ht). 11 years until her recent selection as
Randy’s other staff Program Director, effective 1/2/11.
members—Harry
Taylor (State Engi- “Randy should be very proud of his
neer) and Janna Low- many years of service in providing
ery (Community assistance to people throughout our
Programs Specialist) State. He will certainly be missed.
were not available for The Community Programs staff
photos. looks forward to continuing to pro-
vide quality assistance to West Vir-
ginia’s rural residents,” stated Low-
ery.
Page 2 Almost Heaven WV Mountain State Rural Express
Rural Development Assists
With Improved Public Safety For Barbour County
A ribbon cutting ceremony and The Commission engaged the
open house were held on Octo- architectural services of MS Con-
ber 27 to celebrate the comple- sultants, Inc., in 2008. The project
tion of the new Barbour County was advertised for construction
911 Communications Center and bids and the contract award went
Office of Emergency Manage- to Manheim Corporation in the
ment. Fall of 2009.
The next momentous date was USDA Rural Development pro-
at 11:30 a.m. on December 10 vided the financing with its Com-
when the 911 operations went munity Facilities program with a
“live” to the new site. low interest fixed rate loan of
$2,000,000 and a $50,000 grant.
This is the result of three years
of planning between the Barbour The new state-of-the-art facility
County Commission and Larry Pictured above: Gerald Fogg (member, Barbour County Building Com- will provide increased communica-
Allen, Director of Office of mission); Jim Freeman (member, Barbour County Building Commission); tions capability to more remote
Emergency Management. Tim McDaniels (Barbour County Commissioner); Larry Allen (Director areas of Barbour County where
of Barbour County Office of Emergency Management); Cindy Hart communication has been ex-
The 911 Center was operating in (Deputy Director of Office of Emergency Management); Kevin Chambers tremely difficult. The facility is
a steel building constructed in (Manheim Corporation); Bobby Lewis (USDA Rural Development State also equipped with updated map-
the 1940s that no longer met fire Director); Delegate Mary Poling; Phil Hart (Barbour County Commis- ping software and its own water
and safety standards. sioner); and Chuck Foley (Barbour County Administrator). and power for use in a natural
disaster.
Gilmer County Ambulance Authority
Receives Funding For New Ambulance
Gilmer County Ambulance Au- Pictured to the left (l to r):
thority applied for and received a Shelly Hickman, USDA Rural
$50,000 Community Facilities Development Area Specialist; Jeff
Grant to replace their 2000 ambu- Hunt, USDA Rural Development
lance with over 140,000 miles with Area Specialist; Mike Moody,
a new 2010 ambulance. Gilmer County EMS Paramedic;
Paula Moeller, USDA Rural De-
On October 1, 2010, USDA Rural velopment Community Facilities
Development employees held a Specialist; Ed Messenger, Gilmer
check presentation ceremony to County EMS Financial Manager;
celebrate Gilmer County Ambu- and Bobby Lewis, USDA Rural
lance Authority’s successful fund- Development State Director.
ing venture and presented them Not pictured, but present at the
with the “key”(see picture to the ceremony—Gail Bennett, USDA
right) to their new ambulance. Rural Development Public Affairs
Specialist.
Page 3 January, 2011
OFFICE LOCATION (AREA) COUNTIES SERVED TELEPHONE (304)
Beckley Area Office (III) Fayette, McDowell, Mercer, 253‐9597
481 Ragland Road Raleigh and Wyoming Ext. 111, 141 or 118
Beckley, WV 25801
Cross Lanes Area Office (IV) Boone, Cabell, Clay, Kanawha, 776‐5298
418 Goff Mountain Rd., Rm. 103 Lincoln, Putnam and Wayne Ext. 114, 117 or 119
Cross Lanes, WV 25313
Elkins Area Office (II) 636‐2158
Randolph Center Building
1200 Harrison Avenue, Suite 150
Elkins, WV 26241
Lewisburg Sub‐Area Office (III) Greenbrier, Monroe, Nicholas, 645‐7422
179 Northridge Drive Pocahontas and Summers Ext. 104 or 118
Lewisburg, WV 24901
Logan Satellite Office (IV) Logan and Mingo 752‐8427
Fountain Place
1103 George Kostas Drive, Ste. 247
Logan, WV 25601
Martinsburg Sub‐Area Office (II) Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan 263‐7547
151 Aikens Center, Suite 4 Ext. 112 or 111
Martinsburg, WV 25401‐6211
McMechen Sub‐Area Office (I) Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio, 242‐0576
1 Ball Park Drive Tyler and Wetzel Option 4
McMechen, WV 26040
Ripley Area Office (I) Calhoun, Doddridge, Jackson, 372‐6231
530 Freedom Road Mason, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Option 4
Ripley, WV 25271 Wirt and Wood
Romney Sub‐Area Office (II) Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral 822‐3891
500 East Main Street, Suite E and Pendleton Ext. 102, 108 or 109
Romney, WV 26757
Weston Sub‐Area Office (II) Barbour, Braxton, Gilmer, Lewis, 269‐8431
24 Gateway Drive, P.O. Box 626 Randolph, Tucker, Upshur and Ext. 111 or 113
Weston, WV 26452 Webster
White Hall Sub‐Area Office (II) Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, 366‐2921
7009 Mountain Park Drive Preston and Taylor Ext. 217
White Hall, WV 26554
“Wild, Wonderful & Open
For Business”
State Office
1550 Earl Core Road, Suite 101
Morgantown, WV 26505
Phone: 304-284-4860 OR 800-295-8228
Fax: 304-284-4893; TTY/TDD 304-284-4836
Gail.Bennett@wv.usda.gov
Almost Heaven WV
Mountain State Rural Express
We’re on the Web!
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/wv
USDA Rural Development
Employees Participate in CFC
Seven of USDA Rural Develop- the sick, and children and families
ment State Office’s 18 employees in need.
participated in the United Way
Combined Federal (CFC) 2010- Federal employees review all the
2011 campaign. charities so that only those that
meet high standards can partici-
Six of the seven employees partici- pate in the CFC. Employees can
pated through payroll deduction then direct their support to the
and the other gave a cash dona- charities that work on the issues
tion., totaling $2,322. they care most deeply about.
Charities supported through the As CFC’s motto states, this gives
CFC focus on those that need federal employees an opportu-
help—the hungry, the homeless, nity to “Live United!”
USDA Rural Development is an Equal Opportunity Lender, Provider, and Employer. Complaints of discrimination should be sent to:
USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Washington, DC 20250-9410.