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Interstate 79 cuts a swath through West Virginia's Region VI. For the Mountain State, that swath is a band of gold. Known as the I-79 Technology Corridor, development along the interstate includes customized educational opportunities and sophisticated private and public facilities such as the FBI Fingerprint Identification Center in Clarksburg, which employs 3,000, and the Software Valley Corporation in Morgantown, where academia, business and government promote the application of advanced technologies.
Region VI is home to the NASA Independent Verification and Validation Center, established in the wake of the Challenger accident to ensure that software produced for the space agency will function accurately on the ground and in flight. You could say economic development in Region VI is flying high. Adjacent to NASA is the new 110,000-square-foot West Virginia High-Technology Consortium (pictured above), which promotes development, innovation and collaboration among the region's technology-based industries.  The Mid-Atlantic Aerospace Complex at Benedum Airport employs more than 1,200 people. The complex is home to some of the world's premier aerospace companies, including Northrup-Grumman, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, Bombardier-West Virginia Air Center, and Lockheed Martin. Ten million cubic yards of dirt are being moved around the airport these days as construction continuous on a runway expansion and a 45-acre industrial park with a taxiway to the main runway. These improvements will make the Benedum Airport a prime location for aircraft repair companies and airfreight operators.
"One of our driving forces was the needs of commuter-class aircraft. Most larger airlines do their own repair work, but the commuter-class aircraft. Most larger airlines do their own repair work, but the commuter class aircraft must go to several sites for maintenance-one for painting, another place for avionics. The concept is a one-stop shop for that class of aircraft." The National Guard has a substantial contract with Benedum industries to rebuild aircraft there. With seven hospitals in the region, health care is a growth industry. "These facilities are starting to work in tandem. There is potential for medical production, manufacturing, and research and development, particularly in Monongalia County." |
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