“Improving The Community One Project At A Time” PO Box 117 -  Alderson W Va.  24910 Made with Xara © Alderson Main Street 2013 ALDERSON IN TURN THIS TOWN AROUND CONTEST   Alderson is one of four towns competing to win in the southern area of the “Turn This Town Around” contest  sponsored by WV Focus magazine.  Go to  http://www.wvfocus.com/turn-this-town-around/ to read the article and  vote for Alderson.                                                                                             In this article written by Nikki Bowman for the January 24, 2014 edition of WV Focus, she said, “The mission of our  company, New South Media, Inc., is to change perceptions about our state, not just how others look at us, but how  we look at ourselves as West Virginians. We do that by telling our state’s story—one town, one person, and one  business at a time. We connect our readers with our communities and the people and businesses that work  endlessly to champion them. In every issue of this magazine, we are going to take it one step further by including  one feature that will follow our Turn This Town Around campaign. With your help, two towns will be chosen—one  from the northern part of the state and one from the southern part. The two towns you select will become living  laboratories. Our goal is to help ignite change, to rally the community with a set of goals and deliverables, to  showcase the successes and failures, to identify challenges, and to figure out what works and what doesn’t.”                                  “Alderson is excited to have been chosen to compete” said Mayor Travis Copenhaver.  “We have made tremendous progress over the past 10 years but there is so much more to do!  West Virginia just learned a hard lesson about  the importance of water.  We are working to improve our water distribution system through new water meters and  applying for grants for larger fixes.  We have made significant investments in our water plant just in the few months  that I have been Mayor.  Nobody pays attention to this infrastructure until something goes wrong but it is essential  for economic growth.  We are working to lay the groundwork for future development.”  The WV HUB will help the winners, “look at the restoration and repurposing of existing buildings and assess  economic resources, employment opportunities, and ways to expand the tax base and keep money circulating in  the community. We will help our communities create programs to prevent blight and abandonment, improve livability  by attracting businesses and social activities, and foster incubators for entrepreneurship and the arts. We will reach  out to our local schools, encourage and embrace involvement from the youngest among us, and in doing so, hope  to inspire them to see their state as a place of opportunity.”  The process will be documented by WV Public  Television. Alderson Main Street President Betty Thomas said, “Alderson has done a great job in the last decade in cleaning  up, restoring its historical treasures, supporting a great Elementary School, getting involved in recycling, and  hosting a spectacular July 4th Celebration.  A strong core of dedicated people worked to make this happen and  many are still working for Alderson.  However, more work is needed and a renewed focus on economic  development to bring more businesses and people to the town would improve the opportunities for everyone.   Winning this contest would provide an opportunity for assistance from outside the community to get even more  people involved bringing ideas and energy to the effort of continuing Alderson's growth.”