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I am working for a predominantly European company looking to set up a branch of our company in West Virginia. We have locations in a few other states in the U.S. as well (for regulatory reasons we need a site in each state that we operate in).
I am myself located in Europe currently, and I have not personally visited West Virginia - which makes initial market research a bit challenging, but I thought I would ask here and see if I could get any valuable input.
We are looking to employ somewhere around 80-150 people. The company operates 24/7 (three different 8 hour shifts) - but have no external visitors. In Europe most of our employees are students or part time workers. There are no formal experience needed, the employees are taught what they need to know to perform the work duties. We want a safe area where it is easy for our employees to get to and from work. My main criteria for location is ease of recruitment (meaning a place where enough people would be willing to work, and be able to get to/from all days of the week).
It seems Morgantown will be the best location due to proximity of Pittsburgh Airport and University of West Virginia.
- Are there any other cities than Morgantown that I should consider in my research?
- Are there any specific areas in Morgantown that I should look closer to (given the needs that I mentioned about?). From what I can gather in this forum we should stay away from Downtown?
- Anything else that I should consider or know about when it comes to Morgantown?
I wouldn't really say Morgantown is near to the airport unless over 3 hours is your version of ”close”. But if that's still in proximity for you, then disregard the comment. Sounds like your workforce is mostly college kids so if that's your driving force that would be ideal for you.
Weirton could work for you, it's at the tip of the state, 20 minutes from the airport and 30 from downtown Pittsburgh. I don't know what kind of place you are running as far as zoning goes but there's space uptown as well as downtown for most types of places.
Morgantown is an ideal place for you to locate. I'm not sure why the previous comment said it's 3 hours away from the Pittsburgh airport when it takes you an hour generally. The downtown area isn't horrible just old and I doubt you could find a location downtown and locating near 79 or 68 would be less congested and easier access. There is a new development Westridge along 79 with new offices and shopping going in now that would be an ideal location. Huntington has an airport and Marshall University and would be a great location also. I would definitely check it out. Fairmont University is 30 minutes south of Morgantown and has access to 79 and there is also an airport in Clarksburg. I wouldn't think Weirton would be a good location if college students are the primary workforce since there is no college located there although it is close to the airport. Charleston has West Virginia State and the University of Charleston and a fairly decent airport so you may want to give them a look also. Those are the 4 cities I would look at. Morgantown and Huntington would be your best choices. Wheeling does have two smaller colleges in the northern panhandle and they are within an hour of the Pittsburgh airport and off interstate 70. Good luck in your search and welcome to West Virginia.
Morgantown is an ideal place for you to locate. I'm not sure why the previous comment said it's 3 hours away from the Pittsburgh airport when it takes you an hour generally. The downtown area isn't horrible just old and I doubt you could find a location downtown and locating near 79 or 68 would be less congested and easier access. There is a new development Westridge along 79 with new offices and shopping going in now that would be an ideal location. Huntington has an airport and Marshall University and would be a great location also. I would definitely check it out. Fairmont University is 30 minutes south of Morgantown and has access to 79 and there is also an airport in Clarksburg. I wouldn't think Weirton would be a good location if college students are the primary workforce since there is no college located there although it is close to the airport. Charleston has West Virginia State and the University of Charleston and a fairly decent airport so you may want to give them a look also. Those are the 4 cities I would look at. Morgantown and Huntington would be your best choices. Wheeling does have two smaller colleges in the northern panhandle and they are within an hour of the Pittsburgh airport and off interstate 70. Good luck in your search and welcome to West Virginia.
Thanks a lot for your answers! Proximity to airport is more of a "nice to have" rather than a "must have". Most important for us is the recruitment base. Most likely it will be a mix of part time colleague students, and others that would work closer to full time. Although Charleston has a larger population than Morgantown, my impression is that the number of colleague students in Morgantown makes it more attractive from my perspective - would you agree with that?
Do most colleague students own a car, or how do they get around? I did see the Westridge development and it seems very nice. My only concern was being able getting to/from work all times of the day, 7 days a week. I need to try to get an understanding how large part of the workforce would get to work by car, and how many would use public transportation.
As DTWV stated, Huntington would be a good option as well. Huntington is the second largest city in the state and is home to Marshall University, the second largest University in the state. You would likely have no trouble finding space downtown which would put you in the central business district. This would mean easy access for Marshall students and with the public transportation system based here. The Huntington MSA is also the largest in the state, drawing from WV and the 2 surrounding states of Kentucky and Ohio. If you need any further info on Huntington, I’d be more than happy to help.
I wouldn't really say Morgantown is near to the airport unless over 3 hours is your version of ”close”. But if that's still in proximity for you, then disregard the comment. Sounds like your workforce is mostly college kids so if that's your driving force that would be ideal for you.
Weirton could work for you, it's at the tip of the state, 20 minutes from the airport and 30 from downtown Pittsburgh. I don't know what kind of place you are running as far as zoning goes but there's space uptown as well as downtown for most types of places.
In what world is Morgantown 3 hours from the Pittsburgh Airport?
Thanks a lot for your answers! Proximity to airport is more of a "nice to have" rather than a "must have". Most important for us is the recruitment base. Most likely it will be a mix of part time colleague students, and others that would work closer to full time. Although Charleston has a larger population than Morgantown, my impression is that the number of colleague students in Morgantown makes it more attractive from my perspective - would you agree with that?
Do most colleague students own a car, or how do they get around? I did see the Westridge development and it seems very nice. My only concern was being able getting to/from work all times of the day, 7 days a week. I need to try to get an understanding how large part of the workforce would get to work by car, and how many would use public transportation.
A large portion of college students do own a car. Morgantown does also have a fairly extensive bus system. And there is also the WVU PRT but that likely wouldn't be relevant to you as it only connects campus areas/
I wouldn't really say Morgantown is near to the airport unless over 3 hours is your version of ”close”. But if that's still in proximity for you, then disregard the comment. Sounds like your workforce is mostly college kids so if that's your driving force that would be ideal for you.
Weirton could work for you, it's at the tip of the state, 20 minutes from the airport and 30 from downtown Pittsburgh. I don't know what kind of place you are running as far as zoning goes but there's space uptown as well as downtown for most types of places.
3 hours? Are you on horse and buggy? Easily reachable from Morgantown in less than 1 hour and 1/2.
I wouldn't really say Morgantown is near to the airport unless over 3 hours is your version of ”close”. But if that's still in proximity for you, then disregard the comment.
3 hours? I've gotten from downtown Pittsburgh to the West Virginia state line in roughly 45 minutes before. Pittsburgh International is further south from downtown along I-376, and I know that Morgantown is approximately 6 miles from the state line.
I'd estimate the drive from Pittsburgh International Airport to the first Morgantown exit near the Gateway plaza towards Monogahela blvd is roughly 45 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes if you're a slow driver that goes 55 on I-376.
Rush hour isn't a concern along I-79 (at least not currently, I don't know if anything has changed).
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