| Fayetteville expects boost from future Boy Scout base |
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BSA board adviser Jack Furst says Southern West Virginia is ‘family friendly’ but that’s just one reason they picked the site. "Anytime you bring that amount of people to a particular area over a long period of time, good things happen from an economic perspective," he said. "A big part of our program is the magic that occurs in the great outdoors, and West Virginia gives us the fourth leg on our stool or chair, if you will, to offer our constituency a fantastic outdoor experience," Furst said. But it’s not just an opportunity for scouts, Fayetteville will reap the rewards as well. The base is expected to bring up to 50,000 scout visitors per year, and with it an estimated $10 million in revenue to the area. The base is expected to bring 80 permanent jobs as well as 1,000 seasonal jobs. Executive Director of 4-C economic development authority, Judy Radford is hoping the boy scouts will bring Fayetteville 'back to the future.' "You know we spent two decades losing our youth, and although these young people will come from somewhere else, they will come in and they will experience this area," she said. "We don’t know a decade from now, what some of those young people who will be adults will decide to do here just because they were exposed." Radford is calling this development, a once in a lifetime legacy project. This West Virginia site was selected among 26 states. |