Trending
ELKINS -- The Randolph County Development Authority will host Gov. Jim Justice and West Virginia Cabinet Secretary Mitch Carmichael during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for 22nd Century Technologies Inc. on Tuesday, May 23.
The ceremony will celebrate the opening of the company's new facility on Wilson Lane, which is located in the former Reidbord Building. IBEX Global was the last company to be located in the facility.
In March, the RCDA Board of Directors agreed to buy the building from CGP Development for the price of $2.4 million. The RCDA will be leasing the facility to 22nd Century Technologies. The lease will be in perpetuity until the company fulfills several requirements. The company will then purchase the building from the RCDA for the amount remaining on the loan.
"The state played a big role in helping us land 22nd Century Technologies, they provided a million dollars toward the project as an incentive to get them here," RCDA Executive Director Robbie Morris told The Inter-Mountain. "We look forward to welcoming their company representatives and I think that it speaks to the importance of this to the state, that the governor and secretary of economic development are coming to help us celebrate as well."
Once it's operational, 22nd Century Technologies will open a secured Managed Services Facility at the location. It is expected to hire up to 40 local employees within the next year.
"Having an IT Cybersecurity Technology Development Firm moving into Elkins is a huge deal," said Morris. "We are excited about the opportunities that this is going to provide for the county -- it opens up a whole new industry sector.
"We are always looking to diversify our economy so that we are not reliant on any one particular industry, but several of them. So this adds a nice industry to our portfolio as we continue to grow."
Not all of the jobs at 22nd Century Technologies will require a college degree. It currently employs close to 7,500 people worldwide and offers a variety of IT services, software development, cyber security and other things having to do with government entities.
The celebration ceremony is scheduled to get under way at noon.
***
During last week's RCDA meeting,the agenda included an item about the Industrial Access Road Grant. The item was scratched, however, because of a delay from the design firm handling the project and putting together the construction plans for the entrance to the Randolph Industrial Park expansion.
The item will be addressed either during a special meeting or during the next RCDA meeting, which is scheduled for June 7. In early 2022, the RCDA purchased a 71-acre tract of land that is situated across the street from the IOOF home on Georgetown Road.
A road is needed to gain entrance to the park expansion and the entrance is planned to be off River Bend Park Road. It will be located just before the first turn in the roadway and the sewage treatment facility. The new road will cross the railroad tracks and lead directly into the park.