SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. — The West Virginia Hub brought community leaders throughout the state together for their 2nd Annual Hubapalooza Thursday.
Outgoing Executive Director Kent Spellman said these conferences are important because communities in West Virginia may face similar sets of problems, but every issue facing struggling communities is unique.
“Communities across the state are wrestling with dilapidated buildings,” he said. “Communities across the state want to build a more vibrant local food system. Communities want to deal with their obesity rates.”
“Bringing people together to talk about their future is the absolute necessary first step. And you don’t need The HUB to do that in your community.”
The Hub, which is responsible for programs like “Turn This Town Around” and the Physical Activity Network, is designed to avoid partisanship. Spellman said it’s more important to simply pay attention to what is working elsewhere.
“We are truly, what I call, trans-partisan,” he said. “We do not care about or get involved in, in any way, partisan issues. We try to work at a level above that partisanship.”
Incoming director and current deputy director Stephanie Tyree said the key to this conference is fostering a network of ideas.
“We have the ability to make change in our communities,” she said. “We do that best when we are connecting with other people around the state.”
“One of the things we stress to people at Hubapalooza each year is: You are here to steal ideas,” Spellman said. “We encourage people to steal every good idea they see or hear during the day because they need to take those back to their community and put them to work there.”
Tyree said they encourage “stealing” ideas because communities need to have a certain partnership to find resolutions to their most glaring issues–whether it be obesity, blight, Diabetes, etc.
“We don’t fight against each other for the scraps, but we think about how can we combine what we’re doing across communities and across the region to get new money coming into West Virginia, new business interested in coming here, and new ideas flowing,” she said.
A large array of speakers included West Virginia native Charles Fluharty of the Rural Policy Research Institute. Despite the numerous challenges facing West Virginia, there is reason for excitement. Tyree said The Hub–as well as those in attendance–were ready to accept the challenge.
“He lives in Iowa now, but he is closely connected to what’s going on in the state,” she said. “And he is very excited about the moment that we are in.”
For more information on The Hub, check out their website.