The Concordian

Media Credit: Steven Wilder Davis Democratic Congressman Nick Rahall of West Virginia's third district stands alongside President Aloia after Monday morning's workshop in the teleconference room [Click to enlarge]

West Virginia Congressman Nick Rahall came to Concord Monday to hold a workshop and to address questions from regional politicians and citizens regarding the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on southern West Virginia.

According to the congressman’s website, the goal of the informational workshop was to “target stimulus funds to assist local development officials identify funding for their initiatives”.

Rahall, a Democrat, represents West Virginia’s third district, which includes approximately 600,000 residents within the counties of Boone, Cabell, Fayette, Greenbrier, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Raleigh, Summers, Wayne, Webster, and Wyoming.

The workshop was broadcast live from the video teleconferencing room in B19 below the Joseph F. Marsh Library. Attendees in the Rahall Center for Academic Technologies – named after the congressman, who helped secure funding for the building – as well as attendees from eight remote locations throughout the district asked questions of four panelists about the stimulus package and how it may help their region or certain projects within their districts.

Among the attendees at Monday’s workshop teleconference were citizens and local politicians located at Bluefield State College, Marshall University, New River and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, the Public Higher Education Center, Pocahontas County High School, as well as those in Concord’s Rahall Center. The entire event was also broadcast live on Rahall’s website at www.rahall.house.gov.

Before passing the floor over to a set of panelists of experts representing different four different government divisions or areas of interest to the stimulus package, Rahall gave a brief statement regarding the workshop and the general effects and potential of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“Our first goal is to open a dialogue as to how southern WV goes about building and sustaining development,” the congressman said. “One wise way to do that is a large part of our second goal, which is to partner and not duplicate efforts on multi-county projects. We can seize on each county’s strength by serving a fellow county’s need.”

The full video of the event will soon be available on Rahall’s website at www.rahall.house.gov.

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