This “Member Market” is a paid announcement sent by the Alliance on behalf of a member to business and community leaders and young professionals.

As another successful year draws to a close, the Charleston Area Alliance is grateful for the visionary businesses, organizations and people whose support helped build a stronger future for our region.

Through Alliance membership and participation, they – and you – played an integral role in creating jobs, enhancing our community and investing in people.

Look for your colleagues and friends in this slideshow above showcasing the people, projects and programs that made a difference in 2011.

It’s been an honor to work with you over the past year to:

• Spearhead a coordinated and comprehensive effort to recruit an ethane cracking facility to our region.

• Launch Vision 2030, a 20-year economic development initiative for our region developed by more than 300 area business, community and government representatives.

• Support West Virginia Regional Technology Park’s (formerly Dow Tech Park) successful efforts to secure a $5.25 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, (the largest federal EDA grant this year).

• Provide technical assistance to Cabella’s during the site selection process for its new store at Southridge Centre.

• Aid Audubon Engineering in establishing its West Virginia headquarters in downtown Charleston, which will create up to 30 to 40 jobs by the end of 2012.

• Grow Generation Charleston (sponsored by BrickStreet), our young professionals program, to more than 1,000 members, and graduate 35 future leaders from Leadership Kanawha Valley (sponsored by Chesapeake Energy).

• Play a key role in securing one of only five EPA “Greening America’s Capitals” grants for an innovative redesign of Slack Plaza.

• Expand “Inclusion=Innovation,” an initative to help businesses profit from the diverse talents of all segments of our workforce (sponsored by Ernst & Young).

• Celebrate the grand opening of the Kureha specialty plastic plant in Belle, which the Alliance helped recruit to the Kanawha Valley.

• Salute the people and organizations making Charleston a better place to live, work and play through our “We Love Our Community” awards (sponsored by City National Bank).

• Connect and educate more than 2,000 members through programs such as the Charleston Small Business Summit & Showcase (sponsored by Frontier Communications), online member directory, Facebook page and blog, Business After Hours, Annual Celebration (sponsored by Jackson Kelly), SUCCESStrategies (sponsored by Dixon Hughes Goodman), Speed Networking with the Stars (sponsored by Suddenlink Business), Issues & Eggs (sponsored by AEP) and our annual golf scramble (sponsored by United Bank).

• Help members successfully enter international markets through skills development courses and organization of our April 2011 business mission bringing 45 local leaders to China. Our 2012 trip will connect area business people to opportunities in Eastern Europe.

• Enrich and empower women to achieve success through “Elevations,” our professional women’s network (sponsored by DOW). This group now has 1,765 members.

• Draw thousands of visitors and shoppers to downtown Charleston through the monthly ArtWalk event.

• Continue to provide a Small Business Incubator that continues to be a valuable resource for start-ups and entrepreneurs and worked with the West Virginia Small Business Development Center to hire a small business coach.

• Assist Siam Precision Components, a Thailand-based manufacturer of precision laminated components, in its selection of the Kanawha Valley to open its $6 million factory, which will create up to 25 jobs.

• Work to identify, preserve and promote public art projects in Charleston through a National Endowment for the Arts grant.

• Launch an online open letter of support for construction of an ethane cracking facility in the Kanawha Valley, which has been signed by more than 600 citizens and business, community and government leaders.

These successes just scratch the surface of what we achieved thanks to our 600 members and their 40,000 employees. We look forward to sustaining this progress in the year ahead with your help.  Please accept our thanks for your continued support and participation of this dynamic organization that is making things happen for our members and our community. We’re not waiting around for things to change and we hope you won’t either.

See you in 2012!

Matthew G. Ballard
President / CEO

INVESTORS PANEL

Chairman’s Circle

AEP
BB&T
BrickStreet
Charleston Newspapers
Chesapeake Energy
City of Charleston
Kanawha County

President’s Circle

Monarch Holdings
State of West Virginia

Cornerstone Partner

Chase
DOW
United Bank
Verizon

Market Maker

Dixon Hughes Goodman
Jackson Kelly
Spilman Thomas & Battle
West Virginia American Water

Executive Partner

Arnett & Foster
Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love
CAMC
Capitol Conference Center
City National Bank
Dickinson Properties
Embassy Suites
Frontier Communications
Jacobson Foundation
Masters Law Firm
Steptoe & Johnson
Suddenlink Business
Thomas Health System

Vision Builder

BBL Carlton
Charleston Marriott Town Center
Dingess Rum Properties
DuPont
EnerVest
Ernst & Young
Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh
Huntington Banks
Kanawha Scales & Systems
Kanawha Stone
Maier Foundation
Mardi Gras Casino & Resort
MotionMasters
NGK
Summit Community Bank
The Property Centre
Triad Engineering
ZMM Architects & Engineers