Representatives of the Mineral County municipalities, along with county government people and agency heads gathered at the Keyser City Hall on Monday evening to hear two guests speakers give presentations that could give a boost to the economic outlook  within the county.
The  meeting of the city/county officials began to be held months ago on a regular basis at the urging of County Commissioner  Wayne Spiggle, who wanted the towns to gather to share information and bond together with ideas for improvement for the county as a whole.
One of the speakers, Alison Hanham of the West Virginia Extension Service, gave a power point presentation introducing those present to the First Impressions program.
She stated that the program basically allowed a group  of four to six people, depending on the size of the city or town, armed with a standard manuel, to visit the area announced and see “the good, bad, and ugly of the community.”
According to Hanham, several of the items that will searched out within the community is “welcome signs, educational facilities, business area, and health care options.
The additional speaker was Delphine Coffey, program coordinator of the West Virginia Main Street Program.
She gave an overview of  ON TRAC (Organization and Training for Revitalization and Capacity) which uses “the Main Street approach.”
Coffey noted that a four-point strategy of this  particular program can be successful by the communities “taking the initiative and going forward,”
 She gave further details on how to obtain the ON TRAC designation for communities, Coffey stated that only 15 areas statewide will be selected, through a process that begins with attendance at one of three workshops to be held during the last part of August.