Marion County is showing that a planning session may be the way. Local leaders continue to make strong progress on the plan they generated at a countywide business summit last November.

The seven-objective, 21-point action plan came out of three days of meetings that left the diverse group surprised at how closely aligned they really were.

"There were 24 of them, and I separated them into four groups. I said, 'OK, identify the top five problems as you see it,' " said summit facilitator Chuck Stump of The Performance Group in Charleston.

"Every one of them came back with the same top five," he said. "As different and as far away as they thought they were, they came back, and they were together."

That experience has translated into momentum, according to Marion County Chamber of Commerce President Tina Shaw, who detailed progress in several areas.

Housing is high among them. Business summit participants noted that while Marion County hosts the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation and a growing industry cluster, housing to meet the needs of high-tech employees is limited.

At the summit, a working group identified several sites in the county that could quickly be developed -- if the right people knew about them. That became an action item.

"We are planning a developer conference for the month of October where we are going to invite approximately 25 regional developers two days," Shaw explained. "We will partner them with financial institutions and with our Realtors. They'll take a tour of what's available, and we'll have the high-tech people there talking about their needs."

Retail options in Marion County are similarly limited, leaving residents to shop and dine in Clarksburg or Morgantown. But a new retail analysis is helping the group move along in that area.

"We have identified 20 retailers that match this county," Shaw said. "We are planning on meeting with those retailers some time over the summer."

They include Applebees, Chili's Grill and Bar, Fazoli's, Home Depot, International House of Pancakes and Value City, Shaw said.

As part of an objective that called for better communications with legislators, Shaw met at length with Congressman Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va.

"He came to the Chamber office in late February, and we were thinking if we could get him for an hour we would be thrilled," she said. "It was almost a six-hour meeting!"

The Congressman arrived with his marked-up copy of the plan in hand, Shaw said. She felt it was the proactive nature of the plan that engaged him.

Later this month, Gov. Joe Manchin also will meet with Shaw in Marion County.

Other plan objectives include promotion of Fairmont General Hospital and a new marketing campaign for the county, both of which are moving forward.

Shaw said the entire business summit, including the site, the food and the facilitation, cost about $9,000.

Was it worth it?

"Oh, my gosh, it was, yes," Shaw said. "It has done so much so far for this community."

She plans a half-day follow-up session in early September to update participants on the progress.

Facilitator Stump suggested that incorporating leaders from all sectors in the community was key to Marion County's success. He said that Putnam, Tucker and Wood counties have approached him to conduct similar sessions.

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