Small Towns, Big Decisions with Matt Ford

This one matters more than people think.

I sat down with Matt Ford, who's currently running for county commission, and had a real conversation about what's actually happening in our county--and what's coming next. Not talking points, not rehearsed answers...just honest discussion about things that affect everyday life here. 

Because the truth is, most people don't pay attention to local politics until something hits close to home. And by then, a lot of the decisions have already been made.

We talked about the future of our community, what people are getting right, what they are missing and what's actually at stake.

No pressure, no agenda--just a conversation worth hearing before you form an opinion.

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The Amanda Reed Edit

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Amanda Reed Edit. I'm Amanda, where I talk about faith, business, relationships, mindset, and occasionally whatever I've been thinking at 2 a.m. Some episodes are just me saying the things people think but don't say out loud. Some are conversations with people who are building something, bleeding something, or figuring it out as they go. Either way, it's honest, it's unfiltered, and it's probably going to go off script at some point. So if you like depth, a little sarcasm, and conversations that feel more like real life than a highlight reel, pull up a chair, you'll fit right in. Today I've got Matt Ford with me, Greenboro County native, business owner, and someone who's been in the middle of a lot of real work happening around here. Not just talking about it. He co-owns Greenburgh Environmental Group, has worked on major environmental and redevelopment projects across the state, and has helped bring actual funding in this area, not just ideas, but things that move. He served on boards like Greenberg Valley Economic Development Corporation and the Community Foundation and has been involved in efforts to rebuild and invest in communities that a lot of people have honestly written off. And now he's running for county commission. So we're going to talk about what that actually means and what he plans to do with it.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Good afternoon. Matt Ford, I'm from Reno, West Virginia. Um wear a lot of hats in the community. Uh I always say in small town fashion, it's what you have to do. Um I'm president of Meadow River Valley Association and uh Greenbrier Environmental Group and on several boards in the county.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

So tell us about your connection to Greenboro County, to the Meadow River.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Well, I'm uh seventh generation to live here in uh in the region in eastern Fayette, Western Greenbrier. Um was born in Tennessee. I was in the early 80s. My uh dad had to go somewhere to find a job and ended up in Tennessee, and that's where I was born. But then shortly after he joined the army and we lived in Germany, and then we moved back uh when I was in uh second grade since then uh lived here until I went to college. Um but lots of family here and uh yeah, just been here for a number of years. I had no idea about you living in Germany and uh started school in Germany, which was an interesting experience. It was in a Department of Defense dependent school, and uh so I guess that was a good start. I was it started out in military school.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Yeah, that's a good start. What about kids here? Do you have kids here?

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Yeah, I've got two. Uh Peyton, he's the oldest, he's a freshman in college at Marshall University, and Jacob's a sophomore at Greenbrier West.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Okay. So what do they think about staying in Greenburgh County? Do they love it here? Are they in college, Peyton, and thinking about spreading his wings and going somewhere else?

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Well, I uh if if his homesickness on occasion is any indication of his willingness to move back home, I think he'll be back. Uh, I think one thing that's helped is uh we he's been involved in a number of different things that I've been involved in and building that connection has helped a lot, uh, which is what we want to do for a number of kids if they're involved in things and there's uh they can drive around town and around the community and see things they've worked on. You hope that it kind of inspires them to come back and keep working on things.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

For people who may not know you, who is Matt Ford and why are you stepping into this race right now?

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Well, um I guess I'll start with why I'm stepping into the race. I've I've been involved in a number of things for almost 20 years, and it seems like if there's something that happens in the county, people call me to get my take on it. Uh, and I'm involved in a lot of county commission projects already. Um But kind of the the one reason, what there's two reasons why I'm running now. One was a happenstance conversation with Blaine Phillips, um, which he's you know passed away now. But I stopped in his office. He was my insurance agent uh for the business, and uh I had to give him a check, which normally is a one to three minute uh stop, say hello, hand the check over. It turned into a three-hour conversation. Uh happened to be the last conversation that I ever had with him, and we talked about everything from how much he loved his wife and his kids and grandkids uh to his role when he as county commissioner. And uh he asked me if I'd ever run, and I I told him I thought about it, but I thought it would be something that I would do when I retired, and we kind of joked that I'll probably never retire. And if I ever got the chance to do it, uh to to take the chance and and make it happen. And when Tammy Tensher resigned uh uh here a few months ago, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to put my name in the in the hat and see what happens.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

What do you think the biggest opportunity in Greenborough County is over the next 10 years?

SPEAKER_00 5:05

The next 10 years, I'm I'm I'm thinking it's gonna be tourism. Um I've traveled all over the state, and when I tell people I'm from Greenborough County, they talk about how beautiful it is and uh how much they enjoy all the opportunities that are here with recreation and tourism, and uh it just seems to like a natural uh plan to capitalize on what we're what we're known for and what we're good at and uh and grow off of that. Um we've been working on the Meadow River Rail Trail and the proximity to the national park just make it make sense to to make that happen and to tie that all in.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Absolutely. As you said, like if somebody wants to know what's happening in the county, they call you or text you, and I don't know how many phone calls and text messages we've had, like what's the progress on the trail, who bought this business, what's going on in here. You seem to know everything that's happening on both ends of the county.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Yeah, I'm involved uh with uh the the I also uh am chairman of the board of directors for the Greenborough Valley Economic Development Corporation. So it's good to kind of have a pulse on what's going on. That's how economic development happens, is you you have to take advantage of opportunities and try and make new opportunities to keep existing businesses going and create new business and um yeah, so knowing what's going on helps with that.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

And I think a lot of people, even on the Meadow River Valley end, don't really know about what the Economic Development Corporation, what kind of assets they have for people looking to start businesses and get help and get grants, and I think you being over here, having that voice will help to amplify what so many already here in the other end of the county.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Sure. Yeah, um, there are a lot of business resources if you wanted to start a small business that exists that uh unless you're connected, you you tend to not know about, and we're hoping to make those more visible. Uh, we've applied for grants to help with uh people to start businesses with the trail opening. Um, I always say there's going to be money made because of the Meadow River Rail Trail and the work that we're doing with Adventure Meadow River. Uh the question is, is it going to be people who live here now or is it going to be people who move here? I want to see the people who desperately need it that live here uh be able to capitalize off of those opportunities.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Yeah, absolutely. Where do you think our county has been getting it right and where do we need improvement?

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Well, um there's been a lot of development in expansion of the of the water system. So that's one thing that they're definitely doing right. They've done a lot of work in in broadband, uh, some things that uh maybe need some work. There's been a lot of discussion about planning and zoning, and um I think overall one one thing that government tends to get wrong is uh community participation, being able to have a discussion when there's public hearings, it's you know it's always one-sided. Um I'm all for those discussions that make things happen. Uh to be able to get ideas and um the the zoning thing. Um I guess first of all, I'll say I did not wrote write the zoning ordinance, uh, which I've heard uh I do help with some county things, but didn't didn't help with the zoning other than uh helping make maps to try and communicate a little better what what they were were planning to do. Um but yeah, I mean that it's we've we've seen some amazing things happen in Greenborough County, and particularly the western side of Greenborough County, because people got together and people talked and people had ideas and resources and in a lot of cases we've made the impossible possible.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

Right. And you touched on something there, this new zoning ordinance that they kind of brought up for um comment. A lot of people were upset about that. A lot of people thought that you did write it. Like you said, they it was rumored that you did, but um, I know that you didn't have anything to do with that. But what is your stance on that zoning proposal that came forth?

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Well, definitely not in support of the zoning as proposed. I'm not a fan of zoning at all. Um, I know over the years there has to be some sort of of guides to um how how property is developed. Um, but I think you can do that in ways that isn't overreaching broad zoning. Um, my concern is if you do that for a section of the county, what happens when that turns into it's it's the entire county that that applies to? Um I would like to see no zoning, um, but there's zoning required for the airport because of uh development around it for various safety reasons. And then there's people who would say there should be no restrictions on how you use your property, and I I'm in in agreement with that, but then one thing, and I know you we've talked about this whenever someone puts a junkyard on their property or becomes a uh a nuisance property for an entire community, there has to be some way to deal with those those properties that um create various hazards.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Um I agree, and also decrease your property value compared to where you are in relation to those things.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

So, you know, uh how do you balance the need to have for personal property rights with being able to control stuff like that? Yeah, and I think some of the confusion on whether I wrote the zoning ordinance came from I was really involved in the public participation piece on the comprehensive plan development. Uh, because I actually had somebody come up to me at one of the public hearings and say, Matt, I'm disappointed in how you rep, you know, you misrepresented when I asked you if you wrote the the comprehensive plan or had something to do with the zoning. And uh I think there's there's a couple different things at play. I uh was very involved in the Adventure Meadow River plan, which is not a zoning ordinance. It's a plan to do great things in the Meadow River Valley. Um, but the comp plan, I was the face in front of the the county on a lot of those just because we're good at public meetings. Um getting people together to discuss ideas, and you know, if we're getting people together to talk, doesn't mean we're authoring the document.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

So you've secured millions of dollars in grant funding before. That's everybody around here, at least in our circle, we know what you do and what you make possible. How important is grant rating outside of funding for rural counties like ours?

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Well, we we simply don't have enough revenue uh in terms of taxes to pay for everything that the county needs to do. Um some would say raise taxes, but I say no way, you can't you can't put the the burden of that on the people who live here. So grant writing is very important. There's there's money that's out there that we leave on the table as far as a state, as far as a county, and uh I I feel like our local money, our tax money should be used as match. If and I mean that and it's great investments. If you're if you can contribute 30,000 or 30 percent to something and you know triple your money for a project, that's amazing. Exactly. Yeah, so um there shouldn't be a time when the when the county puts 100% of the funds in without exploring grant opportunities first.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

What industries do you believe Greenburgh County should be actively trying to attract?

SPEAKER_00 12:45

Well, we mentioned tourism, um, but with the expansions of broadband and uh the water system, um, we definitely need to be looking at uh technology-based uh infrastructure and uh and industries. Uh it's a it's a balance, right? Because we want to we all want that large employer like we used to have. Like if you're from Rain L or Western Greenbrier County, you want you want to see another Meadow River Lumber Company, but um that's probably not going to happen. Uh, one of the issues we have as a rural county is we compete with all over the country. And uh kind of get to see the inside uh discussions on uh tracting business with the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation. Uh there's certain things that they want to see, and there's a checklist, and um they don't really care how nice your community is if they're if you're just looking for a site that has water, sewer, gas, interstate access, they're just going through the checklist. So we get uh we don't check all the boxes. Um so there's things that we we do uh have the opportunity to attract, um, but we've gotta kind of work with what we're good at.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

If someone wanted to open a small business in the Meadow River Valley tomorrow, what obstacles would they face?

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Uh I'm gonna jokingly say the haters. But you know, it's it's difficult in a small town because there's a there's a finite number of customers, right? And until the customer base grows, when a new business is open, sometimes uh there's a concern that you're taking customers from other people, and sometimes that concern is a reality. Um you know, if you're the only person selling ice cream on Sunday and um somebody else opens an ice cream shop up down the street, they're going to take some of your customers for a little bit. So um, you know, helping people start businesses can be seen as an issue with with that in that regard. But, you know, there's so much opportunity uh when you drive through small towns and you see empty buildings. Um sometimes they're they're they're asked, you know, they're asking prices a little more than what we might think. But some people come from other areas and they think that's a deal, and um, I think that's going to be something that kind of helps us out in the future.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

How can the county commission help young families stay here instead of leaving?

SPEAKER_00 15:05

Um, well, uh I guess first of all, um it's it's it's important to remember that the county commission is three people, right? So um and the role of the county commission is is very I mean it's broad in the sense that there's a lot of different things the county commission influences. Um but I I think the one of the biggest ways the county commission can help is with the partnerships. Um you know, working with through GVDC with high school students to get those kids interested, um, creating new businesses, um, helping to lower taxes and uh alleviate some of the restrictions. Uh it should be the role of government to open doors, not close them. So all those things help help keep people here. But the biggest thing is is the job. I mean, like I was born in Tennessee because my dad couldn't find a job here.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Um, you know, he'll tell you he didn't join the army out of uh, you know, patriotic I mean it was he was very patriotic, but it wasn't why necessarily the only reason why he joined. He had two sons he had to put diapers on. And uh when you're pawing off stuff you own to put diapers on your kids, you gotta do something. Right. And uh so uh instilling that work ethic and uh giving people opportunities is what what we've got to be able to do to keep people here.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Yeah. I think so much of that is just dependent on people becoming entrepreneurs, teaching your kids like I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit, I've tried to instill that in my kids. They've both had their own businesses. Um I find that that's just something that's very important, but people don't understand necessarily how to get that going and how to keep it going.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

Yeah, I mean there's a lot of uh there's a lot of fear about starting a business. And you know, you go through 13 years of school, you know, kindergarten through twelfth grade, and they don't teach you how to be a business owner, they teach you how to be an employee.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

And uh so it's important that we figure out how to connect businesses with the schools. Um when they used to have career fairs at uh at the movie theater in Lewisburg, and they'd set everybody up in front and always would tell the students, like, don't judge your future, your opportunities by based on who you see in front of you. I'm an environmental consultant and have been for 20 years, but the local environmental consultant didn't show up to Greenborough West High School in the year 2000 when I graduated for Career Day. It didn't exist. Um, and when I was in college, uh, you know, we talked about me living in in Germany. I think that leaving my grandparents early on and missing West Virginia and missing family. Um, when we got moved back at seven years old, it was never in the cards for me to move away. Uh I had already done that. Um I was to tell a story about my uh my grandmother on my dad's side had 17 siblings. They didn't have a TV apparently. I don't but you know, when I was when I was young, I would see her siblings come back, and they were in their 60s and 70s, and um they were thrilled to be here, and they eventually moved back, but um I know they all wanted to stay here, and you know, I always thought when I was young, how terrible would it be to live somewhere you really didn't want to live and do something you didn't want to do, and in hopes that when you get uh blunt on death's doorstep, you know, five, ten years from from the end of being here to move back home and be happy. I don't I didn't want to do that. And uh so I when I I remember a discussion with my grand grandpa Ford, and I was telling him, I was like, Paul, I don't I don't have any plans of uh leaving Greenborough County, I'm gonna come back after college. And he uh looked at me like grandpa's do, and he said, Well son, if you're gonna you're gonna have a job around here, you better bring one. And uh so I could I every time like there was something going on, you know, an opportunity, I could hear my grandpa's voice like, well, maybe this is this is your chance to bring that job. And uh in 2008 we were able to move back to Greenbrier County, and then in 2019 eventually buy a business that we helped uh helped to build and started Greenbrier Environmental Group. Now we hire 12 people. So uh I wish my grandpa was here to kind of see the end result of that discussion. We we talked about bringing a job, but I brought a job for myself and numerous other families, and you know, it's all the grant writing and opportunities. I hope I can bring jobs for a bunch of families, and uh, you know, so that somebody's not talking to their grandpa about if they want to be successful, they better better save themselves. Um I wanted them to see opportunities. I don't know. I don't I never call somebody and say, you know what you should do, or you know what they should do. Um I'm bad about if if there's something that needs done, I do it, which you know keeps me pretty busy. But um gonna put we're putting our money where our mouth is. Um I have uh no time to start a business, but we're gonna start Meadow River Guides and Gear on Main Street, and the whole premise of that is to give young kids an opportunity to um do things like lead bicycle tours during the summer on the rail trail. And what I want to do is get someone, hopefully somebody who graduates from Greenborough West High School, the opportunity to learn how to run a business and then get give them that business, and then um start working on redoing buildings and you know churning out entrepreneurs and filling up Main Street with people who are are young and eager to learn and willing to start something new.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Yeah, if you're not involved in tourism and you're not involved even in biking, I don't think you understand what this rail trail could do for Raynel and the surrounding communities. Gail and I travel down to Damascus and we go to the Creeper Trail, and there's outfitter shops, there's coffee shops, there's bars and grills, there's mom and pop shops. We love it down there. We know what it can do. Just like we're willing to travel down to Damascus, we know that people are willing to travel here too, and they're going to need those things, and they're going to need Airbnbs and accommodations, places to eat, places to drink, somewhere to buy a travel souvenir, a t-shirt from the trail. So all of those are opportunities that I see. Um, just like I see you sitting in front of me, they're going to be there and available. Um, I'm hoping that the people will start to see that and just have a little bit of hope in what this can do as an economic driver for the area.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Yeah, I know um I sometimes I can be seen as a kind of a crazy dreamer. And uh my motto recently has been turning hallucinations into ribbon cuttings, uh, which has been fun. You know, a lot of the work it it takes so long with the Meadow River Rail Trail. They pulled the tracks up, I think, in 2006, 20 years ago. Um, so this project, and then we're gonna have the ribbon cut. In on the Rainown Trailhead, hopefully in May. So 20 years later. While working on the trail, you talk about we're going to see people. The section that's open, it's kind of in the middle of nowhere. You got to drive 40 minutes into Fayette County and on some roads that most people don't drive by to get to. But being on the trail, I've met people from Italy. The last time I was there, there was a retired surgeon from Roanoke. I don't really have a good number on how many people are using the trail, but every time I go by, there's cars parked at the trailheads. I hope that the local people kind of take advantage of that opportunity to. And when there's more people, there's more customers. Hopefully the businesses that are here do significantly better. But I want to I de I really want to see the people who live here be successful. And I know the rail trail isn't the isn't the magic bullet to to solve our issues. But it helps, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:10

Right.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

And the the goal is uh it improves the quality of life for the people that live here just by using the trail. And then you tie in uh some of the motorsports things that we're working on with back roads of Appalachia, and uh then you got uh things that interest a wide number of people. Uh so there will be investment, and uh and I again I hope it's the people that live here that see the benefit. It's kind of neat. I think about we're we're one of the first generations to have to deal, uh and this is kind of a Western Greenbrier specific issue. You know, Lewisburg wasn't created around a one industry, it's not a it's not a coal mine town, it's not a timber town. Um Rainell, Rupert, Quinwood, all three related to industries that don't exist anymore. My great-grandfather moved here to work the mines when they first opened in the early 1900s. My grandpa got to work the mines until he retired. And of course, you know, the mines was was down in the 80s when my dad started working, but you know, he grew up with a dad that was a coal miner, and you know, my parents can talk about you know the heyday of Ray Now. I never saw the heyday, maybe the tail end of it. Um I got to work at Magic Mart. My kids don't know what Magic Mart is, you know. And uh my kids have only seen where we're at now. But um there's just uh I being able to kind of change the trajectory of where we're at is so important.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

I know you wanted to circle back around and talk about technology one more time. Um, where are your thoughts leading with that?

SPEAKER_00 24:51

Well, uh, you know, technology leads to a lot of remote working opportunities. I mean, it's something my uh siblings do. My brother lives in Richmond, so he can he can live wherever he wants to, and you can do that when you have good broadband. But I think another thing we need to focus on is what we're good at too. We've got agriculture and timber and coal, and those industries are are struggling at times, and if there's a way that we can can build the capacities of those, um that's important too, rather than trying to start something completely new, also. And uh hope we're able to do that with this trail. I mean, we were talking about data centers and what what I think about those. Um with everything you do with technology uses AI and and and data, and more and more companies are using it. So data centers are going to be much more of a need. A couple things I don't like when you look at the finances of those, um, we are giving away the farm on data centers. Um the the tax cuts that we're we're giving to try to attract those at a state level. Um I don't like the numbers. And uh especially in an area where we're trying to cut taxes and we're trying to build things, uh, I know the thought is, well, if you if you don't do that when you don't get any at all. But um, and if we're going to build a data center, I was like to see them on properties that are we got lots of mine-scarved lands that we have to treat water that goes into our streams. Um I know the state's kind of taking that uh away from the local um authorities to make decisions where those things go, but um, if we could put if we're if we're going to have a data center, let's put it on an area where um it's already been strip mined in the 80s and mined again recently, and the the old gob pile that sits there and leaches you know all the heavy metals into the streams, and and can that water be used to cool? Um, is there a way to be creative uh to clean those up and and use the water from those instead of taking a a fresh clean piece of property and um putting a data center?

SPEAKER_01 27:07

We spent a lot of time talking about the Meadow River Valley and what do you love most about it?

SPEAKER_00 27:13

The people. Um we um when I when I moved back from the Charleston area, I you know, I went to college and then went worked in that area, and there's nothing like walking down the street and people intentionally looking the other way when you walk by uh to avoid eye contact. Well, it's not that way around here. Uh when I moved back to town, um people throw their hand up at you and I'd be like, I don't know them. Why are they waving at me? And like, oh yeah, we do that around here. We're friendly, you know, and it's I I had a boss that uh the the company that we we worked for before we started Greenbrier Environmental Group, he was from Pittsburgh, and he was amazed at how friendly the people are. And a lot of people that move here have a story about you know, flat tire on the side of the road, and three or four different people stop to help them in other parts of the country. They just keep driving on by. And uh I think that's one thing that sets us apart. I mean that's what I do a lot of is with brownfield tree development, uh, especially in West Virginia, because if there's a flat spot in West Virginia, odds are it had a gas station or something on it at one point. So we we clean those up and find creative ways to reuse those properties. So I think data centers at one coal mine sites seems like a logical thing to do if we're gonna have them.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

What do you think the three biggest issues residents bring up to you when you're out talking to people?

SPEAKER_00 28:40

Drugs and jobs and housing. Um I d I the drug problem um it it's it's kind of frustrating on the on the verge of infuriating. Um there's a there's an issue there that we just kind of I don't know if it's years of legal cases or whatever, but it just seems like people are allowed to to keep having those those same problems. And um I don't know if it's not enough money into recovery or what, but um seems like fear is a little bit of a deterrent on some of that sometimes, but then there's also terrible situations. So that's a definitely a hard issue to uh to navigate. And then the um people complain a lot about the the wages that you get when there's lots of jobs, but do those pay living wages? Um so having jobs that pay living wages and then and then housing. Um I I kind of feel like such a some people would say a boomer because I bought a house before COVID, and uh I could, you know, it's we paid 180, I think, for the house that I live, and it would probably be 300 and something now. Um and then you take someone who's making the same thing that they did before COVID. How in the world do you do you for afford a house? And that's one reason why with the Rupert School when they uh when the school board announced closing it, uh, we wanted to look at housing because it seemed like a perfect opportunity to to build affordable housing to help keep a school from being empty and to put housing that people could actually afford.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

It really is, you know, with Lydia in real estate, I see the lack of housing. Like she has buyers, but she doesn't have sellers. You know, people are holding on to what they have and then people are looking for specific properties that they can't find, and you know, we're not seeing just developments pop up like we do in other parts of northern West Virginia where housing comes in and you'll get a development, you'll get affordable housing developments. We're just not seeing much of that here yet.

SPEAKER_00 30:47

Yeah. And I think it'll it'll come. I I know my my siblings, they've had multiple times that they've they've built houses, sold the house, and it's sell a day or two after being listed, and the people pay cash for it.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

Um, I mean that's how hot the housing market is in other areas. So um, yeah, I don't wouldn't I don't know when you could say a little. I mean, a lot of we're still living in company housing, you know, that that Meadow River Lumber Company made. Right. And there hasn't been a significant um increase in the number of houses built on the western side of Greenbark County, especially since then. Um and then on the eastern side of the county, there's restrictions with availability of water. And um I know that the the uh subdivision ordinance, I hear a lot about it from realtors. Uh it's sometimes problematic with uh building subdivisions, but yeah, um it's just difficult. There's there's doesn't seem to be the housing uh investment. But a lot of it goes into material costs and right. But yeah, it'd be good to see some more housing stock in place for sure.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

Why should voters trust you on the county commission?

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Well, um I am everybody says I'm not a politician or a typical politician, but I've I've been doing this work for 20 years. Um, it always frustrated me when we would have meetings trying to accomplish good in the community. And election season was always the time of year that I hated to try and accomplish things because you would have people running for office that you'd never seen do anything before in the community uh on a small or a large scale, and they would come to meetings and try and take over those meetings because they were running for office, and they had all the answers all of a sudden because they wanted a political position. Um so uh one example, uh, there was a gentleman we were having meetings about Rupert School and he was taking over the meetings, and I asked him after I was like, if you're not elected, will I ever see you again at these meetings? And he's like, Oh yeah, you will. Well, guess what? He wasn't elected, and I never saw him in a meeting again. Uh, I can be trusted because whether I win or when I or whether I lose, I'm still working for Greenbrier County. Um and odds are if I if I lose the election for county commissioner, um the skill set that I have, I mean, the county puts it to use now on the Meadow River Rail Trail and other projects. Um, I'll still be working for the county as a contractor. Um when most people stand to gain from politics, I'm actually losing because I can't do that work anymore if I'm a county commissioner. And I can't work for the county commission. I can't work for any of the county of the boards that the uh county commission appoints seats to. Um my business partner's not exactly thrilled about that, but I'm at a point in time in my life where um it's it's time to step up, you know, kind of follow Blaine Phillips' advice and and run for office now that it's time to do that.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

A lot of people in the Meadow River Valley feel overlooked compared to other parts of the county. Do you think that's a fair assessment?

SPEAKER_00 34:09

I think it's fair and accurate for sure. Um, I do work all over the county, and uh one thing that I've noticed over the years, more so as an adult, I mean, you always hear that there's a divide somewhere along Alta. Um, but you know, it's Greenborough County is interesting, and it goes back, we talk about the differences between the two sides of the county, and I don't know that people realize just how um real those differences are, all the way down to the geology is different. If you're on the eastern side of the county, it's limestone, karst, agriculture. On the west side of the county, you're into sandstone and coal, and so the geology is different. And I can tell you the number of times that I've shown up in Lewisburg with with snow all over my truck, and and nobody in Lewisburg had snow. Um, there's there's a weather difference. So from the ground to the sky, uh, we're different, and those differences, especially the geology, has has changed or influenced the way the towns are set up. We talked about, you know, these towns on on the western side of the county were built to support the industries that don't thrive anymore. Um, so trying to overlook that. But when I go to meetings in Lewisburg, sometimes I hear, or you know, in other different parts of the county, and even people that I'm here, uh, people talk about Lewisburg, they talk about Alderson, they talk about Rontriert, and White Sulphur Springs, and then they say the West End. When you look at plans, like written government documents, this we're listed as the slums on the western side. Um so yeah, I mean it's it's definitely uh uh the assessment that's there. And that's why we started Meadow River Valley. Um it wasn't to strengthen that divide, but it when when when the flood happened in 2016, there were people from all over the country that came here. And they would talk to people that lived in Rainy Allen Rupert, and they would say, you know, this place is beautiful. And the people who lived here would say, Really? You think where I live is nice? I don't I don't see it. Um and they would hear that I I would see it over and over again with people who would come here to volunteer. Um and it and I didn't know whether it was, you know, the whole West End thing or whatever, but um so we kind of intentionally thought, well, we'll just rebrand the place. Um it's kind of interesting. I'm a kid from Norton Hill whoever thought I would rebrand where we lived at, you know, but uh we started the whole campaign to with Meadow River Valley. Um we're not Greenbrier Valley. We I could read a map. We the water that flows here goes to the Gally River, and there's a there's a watershed boundary. You know, again, very different between the two sides of the county. And to my surprise, it worked. Um people took pride with the whole Meadow River Valley moniker. Um, I remember the first time I was driving to work one morning and I heard your rock station, WRLB, your rock hits for the Meadow River and Greenbrier Valley, and I almost wrecked my truck because I'm like, yes, like it's working. Um and it almost to a point where it's it's uh I'm not gonna say it's annoying, but everything's called Meadow River now, which is good. Um, but it starts with those little little uh the hearts and minds things, right? Um so yeah, there's differences, there's a reason why there's a difference. We don't have to use those differences as a crutch. Um all of Green Borough County is great. Um we just we're just if you live in Rainell, Rupert or Quinwood, or we're kind of just we're dealing with what we're dealing with, being uh a community that's trying to recover from or the reason why we exist doesn't exist anymore. How do you deal with that? And you and I were the first generation to have to figure that out.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

Right. I can I can remember when you um called me about rebranding the West End and you were like, Amanda, don't say the Western End anymore. Don't say the Western End of Grubberg County, don't say the West Side. If you make a post on social media or you're talking to a friend, I need you to say the Meadow River Valley. And I think I told everyone in my family that, and we really try to stick to that. I know Lydia even tries to brand herself as the the premier realtor of the Meadow River Valley because she grew up here in Snow's the area.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

She's the homegirl of the Meadow River Valley.

SPEAKER_01 38:56

She's your homegirl. And that's like me. Like when people wanted to go somewhere for a portrait session and they'd say, Oh, well, let's go to this park, and I would say, Let's go to my backyard. Yeah. And when they walk out, they're like, Oh my gosh, this is your backyard. I feel like I'm in a state park. And the Meadow River Valley is really beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 39:14

Yeah, and I think that there's portions that I that very few people have seen. Um the the whole section of the Meadow River trail that's open now, if you when you compare it to the part of the river that you see in Rain Al and Rupert, it's it's world class. I mean, it really is. And I I'm I'm a little biased, but it it it truly is. I mean, it's yeah, absolutely stunning how beautiful the river is just below Rain Al. And that's the the incredible thing is um we get people connected uh and they see it and they'll they'll come they're definitely gonna come here. They're already here, um, but they'll be here to see what we have that a lot of us don't even know we got in our backyard.

SPEAKER_01 39:53

Right, yeah. Lydia was actually here the other day talking to somebody about the Meadow River, and they were just like, Oh, I don't know if I want to get into that. And they were like, Oh, she was like, if you just get on the trail a little bit, once it opens, it opens up. She said, I've laded most of that river. She said, It's beautiful, it's clear, and it's just inaccessible. So people aren't familiar. And hopefully the trail will open that up to people.

SPEAKER_00 40:16

Yeah, and we still got work to do. Um, the great thing is um the National Park Service, I'm getting calls from the regional level, not New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. I'm regional level in Philadelphia. They um they want to see the Meadow River Rail Trail open because all of the hot spots with the New River Gorge are getting more out. Long Point Trail, the New River Gorge Bridge. People are coming from all over the world to see those. And they need other places to send those people to to have an enjoyable time when they're here in wild and wonderful West Virginia. And um, so the the Park Service is working on their section of the trail. Uh they're doing some studies on the two bridges or the two tunnels that are there, and then we're working on our part. Uh there's a private property section we have to have to work out. Uh, but once all that's worked out, they all they both meet together. Um and then you have that connection from Greenborough County to the to the Gully River National Recreation Area, and you get all those people who are coming to the um to the national park. I mean the numbers, the visitation numbers, the economic value that the park is, it's it's absolutely incredible. And if we can just get a piece of that in in Greenbrier County and in Fayette County, um, on the along the Meadow River Rail Trail, it'll it'll be should be a game changer.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

If you don't win, what does your commitment to Greenboro County look like going forward?

SPEAKER_00 41:48

Um, I have devoted my life to Greenbrier County. Um I mentioned, I never really had um an interest in leaving. I spend more time thinking about Greenbrier County than anyone should. Um my wife gets so mad at me because she'll wake up and she'll look over and I'm looking at my phone and she's like, what are you doing? It's like, well, I had an idea and I gotta I gotta look something up. But win or lose, I'm you know, maybe I shouldn't say that because then you I don't get elected because they know I'll keep working whether I'm elected or not. But I keep doing what I'm doing. Um I think where the county commission seat gives me is I don't have to go to county commission meetings and try and convince somebody that something's important. I'm sitting in the chair. Um I've got years of experience and a skill set that I don't think any commissioner's ever had in terms of project development, grant writing. Um I've got a track record with millions of dollars brought into this county. Um, and if things go as planned, I'll I'll do that from the county commission seat. And if they don't, I'll do that from where I'm at right now. Um, and that's one thing I want to teach people is uh and I've told people over the years, you do not have to be elected to do something. Um, the vast majority of people that we voted into office um haven't done anything until they got elected, and they won't do anything after they're out of the office. I don't know how where that mindset came from. Um I think a lot of it is people don't understand volunteering. Um I have put in thousands of hours with Meadow River Valley Association, and I have received zero dollars as a paycheck for Meadow River Valley Association, and that's uh six million dollars brought in to redevelop Rupert School, um all the work at the park, um at the Rhodeside Park in McGross. Um yeah, I mean I I just I just think people don't understand that uh the value and we're looking for. your community and I'll I'll do it whether I'm a county commissioner or not.

SPEAKER_01 44:04

Well I am so glad that you joined me today and talked about all this things that you and I have been having in conversations for the last I don't know ten years probably. And now we can kind of open up like what our text messages and phone calls to each other look like to the rest of Greenberg County as uh we lead up to this election. Um is there anything you want to add before you go?

SPEAKER_00 44:26

Well I'll I'll just say that uh it's been good to sit down with you. Um I've been a terrible neighbor. One one disadvantage of uh being busy all the time and and working so much is you kind of neglect uh the the time to just sit down with your neighbor and have a conversation and I know we're you know we're sitting between a microphone and all that stuff but it's been good to talk with you.

SPEAKER_01 44:49

Yeah it's been great um I'm glad you came over today.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 44:52

Alright all right we covered a lot and if you're still here I feel like we're basically friends at this point. If this episode made you think laugh or question your entire life for five minutes go ahead and share it with someone who would get it. And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss the next conversation because you already know it's probably going somewhere unexpected. I'll see you next time