CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia’s builders and contractors are on their way to Charleston with the return of the West Virginia Construction and Design Expo at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center this week.
The event is expected to draw several thousand participants to the capital city for education and networking, as well as a large number of industry exhibits.
“We have about 350 this year, give or take, and expect about 3000 to 4000 people to come through the civic center coliseum starting tomorrow morning, and we’re really excited about them and excited to bring this back to Charleston for a 47th year,” Contractors Association of WV CEO Jason Pizatella said.
The show runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday and continues from 8 a.m. until 12 p.m. on Thursday. The second day doubles as “Workforce and Safety Day,” which is designed to introduce students and job seekers to construction careers, connect employers with future talent, and emphasize the importance of jobsite safety, training, and workforce development.
“We teamed up with our partners at the West Virginia Manufacturers Association and the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia because all of us, collectively, have workforce recruitment and retention issues, so what we decided to do was add an emphasis on safety and workforce recruitment,” Pizatella said.
Pizatella believes that this year’s expo can serve as an example of why West Virginia’s construction industry is growing. He said that with more projects coming to the state, more opportunities are coming for builders and contractors.
“People are really believing in West Virginia. They’re believing in the industry. They know that there are some really exciting things ongoing as we speak here today, but also some really exciting announcements planned for the future, and it’s going to keep our workforce busy for a long, long time, and we’re really excited about that,” Pizatella said.
More work means a need for more workers, and Pizatella wants this week’s expo to foster some of those necessary connections. He knows there is an untapped supply of construction workers just to start.
“It’s keeping our members busy, but what it’s also doing is making that recruitment and retention for our workforce that much more pressing because we have a lot of second- or third-generation-owned companies in West Virginia, and they’re looking to see who is going to be the next generation,” he said.
Admission to the 2026 West Virginia Construction and Design Expo is free.