CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The chief of the Kentucky Coal Association is coming home to West Virginia.
Bill Bissett, who has been president of the Kentucky Coal Association for the past six years, is being named president and chief executive officer of the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Bissett grew up in the Huntington area and has bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Marshall University.
“It’s a chance to come back home,” he said Tuesday.
Bissett officially starts Nov. 1. He was selected by the Chamber’s board after former President Cathy Burns accepted a position as city manager of the City of Huntington.
Bissett said his mindset about returning home was set after an appearance last spring on MetroNews “Talkline” with Hoppy Kercheval.
After the segment, as Bissett recalled it, Kercheval momentarily called Bissett a “former West Virginian” but then corrected himself to say you’re always a West Virginian.
The momentary slip gave Bissett food for thought.
“I laughed, but I also got choked up,” he said.
So a few days later, when he got a call about the Chamber job possibility, Bissett was in a welcoming frame of mind.
He has fond memories of growing up in Cabell County, where as a teen he would hop a ride on public transportation into Huntington.
“One of the reasons downtown Huntington is special to me is I would take the bus, go to a movie, go to the Arcade, go to Nick’s News. I would go to speeches and presentations at Marshall. Marshall felt like part of the cool stuff I would take the bus down to see.”
He’s happy to see downtown Huntington on a roll with the development of Pullman Square and other projects.
“Huntington has a lot of good things going for it, but we need more people to tell that story,” he said. “People in Charleston go to Huntington to do things, and a decade ago that was unheard of.”
Maribeth Anderson, chairwoman of the Huntington Chamber, said Bissett’s hiring provides presents several beneficial aspects.
“The institutional knowledge of Huntington. The skills necessary to run a large organization. The talent he has for communications and strategy. It’s the trifecta,” said Anderson, who is director of government and community relations for Southwestern Energy.
“Any time you bring talent back to West Virginia, it’s exciting.”
Bissett and his wife Lara, a Kingwood native, have two daughters, Molly and Maggie.
He said they’ll put some time into moving, and he’ll start listening to the businesses in the Huntington area.
“You still get choked up when you hear ‘Country Roads,'” he said.