MARTINSBURG,W.Va. — Berkeley County officials weren’t waiting for Tuesday’s announcement from Proctor and Gamble to start planning for the manufacturer’s arrival. Local officials had long been customizing efforts on “Project Independence.”
“This is a game changer for us,” said Berkeley County administrator Alan Davis. “We’ve been working on this for a long time and we are so excited and so delighted to have Proctor and Gamble here.”
The Berkeley County Council last year restructured and added staff to the county’s planning commission. New personnel and inspectors were hired in anticipation of an increased number of permit requests for various buildings. Davis said the housing industry in the region is already starting to pick up after a five-year dormancy and this is expected to fuel more home construction.
“We have a list of pre-approved lots and we know some of the local builders are already starting to build spec houses,” said Davis. “That’s something we haven’t seen in about five years.”
Preparing the local workforce was also a consideration underway for several months. Proctor and Gamble has been in communication with Blue Ridge Community and Technical College and Shepherd University to turn out a sizable pool of potential employees when the facility is ready to open in 2017.
“Knowing the available workforce east of here as well as north and south of here, we fully anticipate being able to provide the skilled workforce that Proctor and Gamble needs,” Davis said.
Davis said he expects the workforce will be drawn not only from West Virginia’s eastern panhandle, but also nearby areas of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.