Huntington Call Center To Create 700 Jobs

PRC, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company, plans to hire 700 people for a new call center in downtown Huntington. The company will hire 100 people to start in January 2007, then hire an additional 100 workers every three weeks until it reaches 700, said Bob Johnson, PRC’s talent acquisition manager. The Huntington operation is part of a broader expansion for PRC, which has about 14,000 employees at 27 locations worldwide who provide customer management services for British Airways, Wells Fargo, Sprint and other large companies.

Dominion Acquires Interest In Wind-Power Project

Dominion, one of the nation’s largest energy producers, announced it will acquire a 50 percent interest in a wind-turbine facility being developed by a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc in Grant County, West Virginia. Under terms of the agreement, Dominion will enter a joint venture agreement with Shell WindEnergy Inc. to develop the first phase of a wind facility near Dominion’s Mt. Storm Power Station that will produce 164 megawatts of electricity.

The project will consist of 82 wind turbines producing 2 megawatts each. The turbines will be constructed on the Allegheny Front, which has an average elevation of 3,100 feet at the project site. The region around Dominion’s Mt. Storm Power Station has been identified as one of the best wind turbine locations on the East Coast.

C-5s Start To Arrive At Martinsburg Air Base

The first C-5 Galaxy aircraft to be part of the West Virginia Air National Guard’s 167th Airlift Wing base in Martinsburg was officially unveiled during a recent ceremony. Ten C-5 transport planes will be based at the Airlift Wing’s base in the Eastern Panhandle. The airplanes are part of a $235 million federal investment to upgrade and expand the entire Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport facility. Once the C-5 unit is fully operational, the 167th Airlift Wing anticipates an additional 200 full-time jobs and the annual economic impact is expected to increase to at least $50 million a year.

In addition to receiving the fleet of C-5s, Byrd announced that the 167th Airlift Wing has been selected as the Isochronal Inspection site for the Air National Guard’s C-5 aircraft. An average of 33 C-5 aircraft in the Air Force fleet will be scheduled for a comprehensive 40-day inspection and maintenance period every year and a half at the base. The additional responsibility will bring at least 120 new jobs to the base.

Wheeling Racetrack To Undertake $8 Million Expansion

Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center has announced plans for an $8 million expansion project. The expansion project, expected to be completed in June 2007, is the track’s third since 2003. The construction project will add 16,000 square feet to the gambling facility, including 12,000 square feet to the casino area on the main floor. The facility’s buffet kitchen area also will be expanded, and a covered walkway for charter bus guests is being built. The track now has 2,400 slot machines, 151 hotel rooms and live greyhound racing. There are four restaurants, a food court, a 550-seat showroom and meeting and banquet facilities.

Company Plans $1 Billion Clean Fuels Plant In W.Va.

A Colorado company plans to build a $1 billion coal-to-liquid fuel plant in southern West Virginia to take advantage of the area’s abundance of coal and mining infrastructure. Rentech, Inc. and the public Mingo County Redevelopment Authority announced recently a joint development agreement that aims to build a plant that would employ up to 400 full-time workers by 2012. The proposed plant would convert synthesis gas, a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide produced from coal, into 3 million to 9 million barrels of clean-burning transportation fuel per year, the redevelopment authority said. Construction of the plant could take three to four years.