By Jessica Borders
Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT —
During a public meeting, a group of Marion County community members focused on making positive changes in the region through a shared vision.
A Community Conversation was held at Fairmont State University’s Jaynes Hall Tuesday evening to discuss the Power of 32 initiative, which is the largest regional visioning project ever undertaken in the country.
The Power of 32 includes 32 counties in four states: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland. Altogether, there are approximately 4.2 million people and 17,380 square miles of land in the region. In West Virginia, the following 10 counties are involved: Brooke, Hancock, Harrison, Marion, Marshall, Monongalia, Ohio, Preston, Tyler and Wetzel.
Selena Schmidt, executive director of Power of 32, said in a previous interview that the initiative focuses on finding ways to pull together the economic region centered around metropolitan Pittsburgh and looking at how to work collaboratively, rather than letting political jurisdictions and competition inhibit the success of the collective region.
