Bank To Create 150 Jobs In Charleston

BB&T will be consolidating its operations and moving 150 jobs to its Charleston, W.Va., operations center. In April 2002, BB&T announced plans to bring as many as 200 new jobs to this center. The new positions will involve check processing and retail collections for the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based bank company’s national network. During the past two years, the company has added 70 of those 200 committed jobs at its Charleston operations and collections centers and this announcement brings the total number of new jobs created to 220 - exceeding BB&T’s original projected commitment.

“West Virginia’s new business atmosphere and the outstanding skills, work ethic and excellent track record of BB&T’s West Virginia workforce have enabled us to keep and exceed our promise to create 200 new jobs in the state,” said Phyllis H. Arnold, BB&T Central Regional President and West Virginia Group/State President.

$84 Million Hospital Expansion Underway

Cabell Huntington Hospital broke ground today for its North Patient Tower, an $84 million project that will double the size of the emergency room and nearly double the percentage of single-patient rooms at the hospital.

The five-story building will be constructed on the site where the Cabell-Huntington Health Department stood just a few months ago. It also will house labor and delivery and neonatal intensive care, making room for expansions of pediatric services in the original facility.

$122 Million Natural Gas Storage Project Gets Go-Ahead

Construction is set to begin on a 12-billion-cubic-foot underground gas-storage field jointly owned by NiSource Inc. and Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Federal regulators have given approval for the $122 million project, which should begin operation in the spring of 2007. The new company, Hardy Storage Co., will convert an existing production field and facilities in Hardy and Hampshire counties. The field is designed to deliver up to 176 million cubic feet of gas per day and involves the construction of nearly 37 miles of pipeline. Columbia Gas Transmission Corp., a subsidiary of Merrillville, Ind.-based NiSource, will operate the field.

$300 Million Wind Farm Proposed For Greenbrier County

An Illinois company is looking to invest $300 million to build a major wind power farm in southeastern West Virginia. Invenergy Wind plans to request a state permit to build 124 electricity-generating wind turbines on 500 acres in northwestern Greenbrier County. The 186-megawatt project would produce enough electricity for about 50,000 homes. The $300 million project, called the Beech Ridge Wind Farm, would be about three times the size of the state’s only existing wind energy project in Tucker County. If constructed, the wind farm would be one of the largest wind-power projects east of the Mississippi River.
The wind-turbine towers would be about 260 feet tall, each with three blades about 130 feet long. The company, which has worked on the project for more than two years, plans to build the turbines on the higher ridges north of U.S. 60 at Rupert, south of Monongahela National Forest. The company plans to buy most of the land from Connecticut-based MeadWestvaco.