The story below appeared in the Feb. 24 Charleston Gazette.

By Veronica Nett
Staff writer

High fructose corn syrup is “evil,” said Lisa Lineberg, an exercise physiologist and certified fitness nutritionist, at Generation Charleston’s first health awareness event Wednesday.

High fructose corn syrup raises the blood sugar level to the point that the body cannot efficiently process it, Lineberg said. It has been linked to diabetes, and interferes with the body’s production of collagen and elastin, which helps keep the skin tight, she said.

“[It] makes us more soft,” Lineberg said to a crowd of about 30 Charleston residents and members of Generation Charleston at Ferguson Enterprises Wednesday evening.

The class is the first of six events the group will host that focus on the health and wellbeing of state residents, said Julie Cyphers, a Generation Charleston organizer.

Two-thirds of West Virginian adults are obese or overweight, Cyphers said. The classes are a way for Generation Charleston to do its part to educate the community about healthy lifestyle choices, she said.

A tentative schedule of the classes in the yearlong project includes bike safety, smoking cessation and a health screening, she said.

Lineberg also talked to the group about trans fat, which is often found on labels as partially hydrogenated oil and sometimes as soybean oil.

 The consumption of trans fat has been shown to increase cholesterol, interferes with the reproduction process in males and also decreases the nutritional value of breast milk, she said.

“We’re trading a longer shelf life for a shorter life,” she said. (more…)

More than 250 people attended yesterday evening’s Celebration of Young Leaders at the Governor’s Mansion.

Generation Charleston, the Alliance’s emerging leaders group, marked its accomplishments in 2009 and described its goals for 2010. Gov. Joe Manchin and First Lady Gayle Manchin spoke to the crowd.

Co-chairs Emily Bennington and Kate McCoy passed the torch to Brooke Pauley and Rob Rossano, who are taking over as co-chairs for 2010.

Click here to read the Daily Mail’s coverage.

Click here to view WOWK-TV’s coverage.

The column below about the Alliance’s Speed Networking with the Stars event from State Journal Editor Dan Page appears in this week’s edition.

Business is built on relationships, and the Charleston Area Alliance put together its first Speed Networking with the Stars event Nov. 8 to create meet-and-greet opportunities.

Many who attended the event at the Charleston Civic Center called it a success — and so did Matt Ballard, president and CEO of the Alliance. He said Suddenlink, the principal sponsor for the event, has signed on for two more years.

The concept was simple: In early September, the Alliance started recruiting Charleston area business executives and community leaders — the “stars,” so to speak — to meet with young professionals. The round-robin format called for younger professionals to stop at a station for three minutes — enough time to exchange business cards and greetings with a star — and then move on to the next station. All told, about 180 people took part in the event.

It was a high-velocity Business After Hours with more structure and a purpose: make connections.

Despite a few glitches, the system worked. I spoke to several who attended the session, and they were pleased with the opportunity to meet key business decision-makers.

“You just can’t get that many players in one room in this state,” a young woman commented.

It was an excellent mix of seasoned professionals. They represented higher education, banking, law, marketing, energy, technology, philanthropy, financial services, the arts, health care and small businesses. And political leaders were there, too: state Sens. Truman Chafin, Brooks McCabe, Dan Foster and Corey Palumbo, Delegate Carrie Webster, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant and several Kanawha County and Charleston officials.

From a reporter’s perspective, it was an informative evening.

Here’s an example:

Gene Papa, a native of Clarksburg, owns Central Van & Storage, which he bills as West Virginia’s largest moving company. Law firms and other businesses use his company when they pack up and relocate. So do families. And so does the West Virginia University football: Central Van & Storage carries the football team’s equipment to away games. A member of the WVU staff travels with the Central crew to game sites.

Papa said his family was in the moving business in Clarksburg, but he wanted to establish his own business. He headed south to manage his own operation in Poca.

Papa expanded his business from the Charleston area, and he now has operations in Parkersburg, Clarksburg and Pittsburgh. All told, he has 125 full-time employees.

Pittsburgh, he said, has been a special challenge.

“I pay more in property taxes on one operation in Pennsylvania than I do on all three in West Virginia,” he said.

To make matters worse, he said, government there makes business difficult. West Virginia may well have a reputation for having a challenging business climate, but he said Pennsylvania is in its own league.

I met young West Virginia natives who are eager to build their lives in their home state, and newcomers to the Mountain State who have launched their careers here.

A young Charleston native aspires to a career in political consulting. A college fund-raiser was looking for connections. A young Charleston native has returned home to build his culinary career, and he was reacquainting himself with the community.

I have been impressed with many young West Virginians I’ve had the privilege to meet the past few years, and the Alliance event reinforced that impression.

Before the event, the Alliance suggested we would have 20 to 25 encounters lasting three minutes each. I believe most of us made that many contacts.

The Charleston Area Alliance may be uniquely capable of putting together such a large event in West Virginia, but I believe other chambers of commerce may be able to do something similar. The Speed Networking concept was fresh, enjoyable and rewarding. It was a good idea that paid off for a significant number of people. The Alliance plans to improve the product and roll it out again.

This op-ed from President & CEO Matt Ballard and Chairman Jack Rossi appears in today’s Charleston Daily Mail.

For the sake of our economic future, West Virginia needs a phone company that is ready and eager to deliver broadband Internet service throughout the Mountain state.

It looks like we could get one in the form of Frontier Communications – if the state approves the company’s acquisition of Verizon’s landline operations in West Virginia.

Frontier has a track record of providing broadband technology to rural states and is pursuing an expansion strategy aimed at smaller cities and suburbs. The combination of rural experience and an eye for growth in traditionally underserved areas seems to fit with the needs of our state.   

To remain competitive, we need to ensure that businesses in our state have access to the opportunities and advantages that broadband provides. Broadband is the 21st century technology that will help our traditional industries and even our farms stay competitive in a global marketplace.

It is also a fundamental requirement for attracting new high-tech industries and research facilities that have the potential to drive our economic growth.

(more…)

The article below appeared in today’s Charleston Daily Mail.

This evening’s annual meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center, also known as MATRIC, will showcase the nine start-up companies it has launched since 2004.

MATRIC was established five years ago as a nonprofit research institute to harness the brainpower that Union Carbide Corp. brought to the Kanawha Valley over the decades.

The nine companies MATRIC has launched “are solving some of the most important environmental and technical issues facing our state and nation, such as selenium in run-off from surface mines to treatment of water from natural gas wells,” Keith Pauley, MATRIC’s president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.

This evening’s meeting will be in the Benedum Grand Lobby of the Clay Center.

There will be a reception from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with presentations and awards at 6 p.m.

The start-ups launched by MATRIC are:

(more…)