On Wednesday, February 28, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice assembled members of his cabinet and key state, local, and federal officials for a day-long meeting on infrastructure investment in West Virginia.
The Governor’s Infrastructure Funding Summit was led by Gehan Elsayed, Chief Engineer of Planning and Program Implementation at the West Virginia Department of Transportation and Governor’s Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator.
In kicking off the event, Ann Urling, Senior Advisor to the Governor, urged participants to “pull the rope together” to ensure the best outcomes for West Virginia on federal discretionary grant applications, interagency collaboration and coordination, and conveying a message of positive impact to local communities. Mitch Carmichael, Secretary for the West Virginia Department of Economic Development, gave a rousing presentation on Winning in West Virginia. Secretary Carmichael noted several key metrics contributing to the success of infrastructure and economic development investments in the state, most notably the dedicated and loyal workforce in the state and the $9.5 billion in private business investment over the last two years.
Governor Justice doubled down on the skill, tenacity, and dedication of West Virginia’s workforce, communities, and public servants assembled in the room. The Governor reflected on record investments in infrastructure that began well before the large federal packages being discussed, beginning with $1.4 billion in state investments in 2017, which ballooned to $5.1 billion in 2020 – before IIJA passed – to $13.4 billion at the beginning of 2024. With so many of his senior leadership focused on the success of these investments, the Governor was confident that “nothing is going to stop us unless we get in our own way” – a sure way to encourage everyone on the team to pull together.
Next, the discussion turned toward West Virginia’s efforts in Washington, D.C., where Melissa Decker, Director of the Governor’s Washington Office, shared tools and tactics for success in the nation’s capital. NGA’s Tom Curtin emphasized the importance of the “D.C. ground game,” crediting the Elsayed-Decker duo with a successful state-up, state-out approach to implementing key federal packages. Next, Brian Anderson, Executive Director of the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plan Communities and Economic Revitalization spoke about federal resources and the opportunities to “bring the private sector to bear by taking advantage of tax credits in the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).” Kayleigh Kyle, Supervisory Community Liaison for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Partners Network (RPN), then talked about the on-the-ground community work RPN is doing with local government and community leaders.
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To round out the day, Senior Advisor Urling and Infrastructure Coordinator Elsayed led conversations on regional project development and how agencies are working together to prioritize IIJA investments. Ms. Urling spoke with economic and community development leaders on the importance of regional collaboration, an element of the “West Virginia style” the Governor highlighted earlier in the day. And Ms. Elsayed led discussions with leaders from the WV Department of Tourism, WV Energy Office, and Workforce Resiliency on how their work is contributing to West Virginia’s overall infrastructure investment efforts.
Infrastructure was clearly top of mind in West Virginia that day, as Governor Justice also announced, in a briefing, a significant upgrade to the West Virginia Infrastructure Hub website, with a newly-launched Investment Dashboard that allows users to explore infrastructure projects across the state that have already received funding. The West Virginia Infrastructure Hub is designed to efficiently distribute IIJA funds throughout the Mountain State. The website aims to ensure that the historic investment in infrastructure is distributed to where it is needed most.
NGA congratulates Governor Justice and his team on the launch of the Investment Dashboard and a successful infrastructure summit. To follow NGA’s ongoing activities and support for infrastructure implementation, please visit: https://www.nga.org/bestpractices/infrastructure/
Join the Main Street Morgantown family-friendly holiday shopping event from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 13) in Downtown Morgantown.
The event will feature a district-wide scavenger hunt for a chance to win prizes and the opportunity to explore holiday pop-up markets by Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op and Apothecary Ale House.
While exploring downtown shops, participants who spot DASH the Dog can collect stamps. Each stamp brings participants closer to the chance of winning prizes from downtown merchants such as gift cards and goods. To qualify for prizes, completed Downtown Dash Guides with five or more stamps must be turned into Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op, Apothecary Ale House or at Breezeline’s play-to-win tent on Courthouse Square.
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As a break from shopping, parents and their little ones can visit Kids Craft, Cookies & Cocoa Central at the WARD Building to enjoy a complimentary hot cocoa and cookie bar and children’s crafts provided by Hotel Morgan sponsored by Main Street Morgantown and Breezeline.
Visitors can also visit the beautiful 25-foot-tall holiday tree on display at Courthouse Square, a collaboration between the City of Morgantown, Monongalia County and Main Street Morgantown.
Sponsored by Breezeline, the Downtown Dash celebrates the holiday season, promotes walking and shopping throughout the downtown district, and supports local businesses by driving foot traffic directly to storefronts.
WHEELING, W.Va. — The West Virginia First Foundation visited the Wheeling Police Department to commend its efforts in addressing the area’s mental health and opioid crisis.
Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger presented to the WVFF board, highlighting the department’s progress.
Schwertfeger attributed a 14% decrease in Group A crimes from 2024 to 2025 to the department’s crisis intervention program.
“Just another great partnership,” he said. “More collaboration in this area that we are very proud of and we want to keep the momentum going,.”
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WVFF Executive Director Jonathan Board praised the program’s success.
“This in particular, the CIT program, that isn’t just in the ether, but is showing success – actual scientific success about de-escalation, about bringing together services providers and to boots on the ground and first responders, this is vitally important to not only this region but the entire state,” Board said.
The visit was part of WVFF’s ‘Hold the Line’ tour across the state.
Now that you know about West Virginia’s2026 recruiting class, I figured it’d be a good time to give a little insight into those who were once committed to the Mountaineers and landed elsewhere.
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What happened, and where did they go?
QB Brodie McWhorter (Mississippi State)
McWhorter committed to Neal Brown and his coaching staff, but reopened his recruitment when the coaching change was made. Rich Rodriguez did recruit him at the beginning, holding several conversations with him before backing off and pursuing Jyron Hughley and Legend Bey. Hughley committed, Bey committed to Ohio State (signed with Tennessee), while WVU added two more quarterbacks in Wyatt Brown and John Johnson III.
RB Jett Walker (Texas)
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Walker fit the bill for what Rodriguez wanted in the backfield. A big, physical presence who could absorb contact and hammer it in between the tackles. With multiple backs committed and feeling good about a few others, WVU didn’t feel pressed to hold onto him. Walker flipped to Minnesota and then flipped to Texas just three weeks later
WR Jeffar Jean-Noel (Georgia Tech)
Jean-Noel was the second recruit to commit to Rodriguez in the 2026 class, but reopened his recruitment in mid-April. He then considered Purdue, Pitt, Kentucky, UCF, and Florida State before landing at Georgia Tech.
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OL Justyn Lyles (Marshall)
The Mountaineers had a number of offensive line commits, and with the late additions of Kevin Brown and Aidan Woods, and their chances of securing Jonas Muya, Lyles took a visit to Marshall and flipped his commitment.
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LB Caleb Gordon (North Carolina)
Gordon’s commitment to WVU was very brief. As a matter of fact, it was the shortest of the bunch, announcing his pledge on November 24th and then flipping to NC State on the first day of the early signing period (December 3rd).
LB Daiveon Taylor (Kent State)
Taylor was the first commit in the class; however, it was so early that he was committed to Neal Brown’s staff, announcing his decision in April of 2024. He backed off that pledge the very day Brown was fired (December 1st) and eventually signed with Kent State.
CB Emari Peterson (unsigned)
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Peterson decommitted from WVU just days before signing day, likely due to the Mountaineers zeroing in on a pair of JUCO corners in Rayshawn Reynolds and Da’Mun Allen. He will sign in February and currently has offers from Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Charlotte, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, FIU, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, Liberty, LSU, South Florida, Southern Miss, Texas A&M, Toledo, Wake Forest, and a few others.
S Aaron Edwards (committed to Tulsa)
West Virginia chose to part ways with Edwards and ultimately replaced his spot with fellow JUCO safety Da’Mare Williams.
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S Jaylon Jones (undecided)
Jones decommitted in late October and did not sign during the early signing period. He will likely choose between Central Michigan, Hawai’i, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and Texas State.
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S Taj Powell (Louisville)
Taj is the brother of former Mountaineer basketball guard Jonathan Powell, who is now at North Carolina. He decommitted the day after West Virginia lost to Ohio and flipped to Louisville that same day.
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Former West Virginia Coordinator Fired After Just One Season at Texas
Another West Virginia Running Back Expected to Hit the Transfer Portal
