Oct 15, 2024
On October 14 at the University of Charleston, the West Virginia Business Roundtable (WVBRT) hosted its annual leadership meeting. The theme of the evening was West Virginia Forward, and more than 80 West Virginia Business Roundtable members and their guests enjoyed an evening of learning about new opportunities in the Mountain State and networking with one another.
Steve Hedrick, President, Chairman and CEO of AVN Corp., and newly elected Chairman of the WVBRT, welcomed everyone and thanked outgoing Chairman Jason Harshbarger, State Director, West Virginia and Ohio, at BHE GT&S for his leadership and guidance over the past several years.
Attendees heard from Johnny Jacobs, Vice President and General Manager of Nucor, who provided an overview of significant economic development project to date.
Nucor North America is the largest steel and steel products company on the continent. The company is constructing a 3 million ton sheet capacity facility at Apple Grove, West Virginia, with an investment of $3.1 billion on a 1,700 acre site. When fully operational, Nucor expects to have 800 full time employees.
Our guests also heard from Bill Fehrman, CEO and President of American Electric Power (AEP), who spoke about the availability and reliability of electricity to support facilities such as Nucor and other economic development projects throughout the AEP service area.
The evening also offered an opportunity to elect new leadership for the Business Roundtable. In addition to Steve Hedrick assuming the role of Chairman, the following officers were elected:
• Allison Ballard, Assurance Partner at Forvis Mazars, Treasurer
• Louis Weisberg, President and CEO, Service Wire, Secretary
• Bob Welty, Managing Director, Industry Consultants and Advisors at Frost
Brown Todd, Vice Chair
We look forward to hosting our next major event in April 2025. Additionally, throughout 2025, the WVBRT will be hosting a series of area membership meetings and dinners around the state. Dates and locations of these meetings will be announced shortly.
You can view more photos from our annual leadership meeting here.