The Mineral County Development Authority chose a strong, passionate advocate for the county  in naming Mona Ridder the authority’s new executive director.
A longtime columnist and reporter for the Cumberland Times-News, Ridder is a resident of Keyser, where she lives with her husband, newly elected Keyser City Councilman Jim Endler.
A unanimous choice of the selection committee, Ridder was chosen from among 30 candidates who applied for the position.
In confirming Ridder’s hiring, Rick Linthicum, president of the Mineral County Development Authority, noted her extensive knowledge of the state governmental scene in Charleston, as well as her many local, regional and statewide contacts.
He also cited the new director’s writing skills, honed over a decades-long career in journalism. That experience lends itself well to a myriad of tasks in the Development Authority, including correspondence, press releases and grant-wrting.
We concur on all points.
Knowing Ridder as a colleague, even if she did work for another publication, we can attest to all of those attributes. However, we also know her as a tireless, enthusiastic advocate for the Mountain State in general, and Mineral County in particular. Perhaps even more than her Charleston contacts, more even than her writing ability, it is her dedication to Mineral County and its people that will best serve the Development Authority.
Indeed, Ridder faces quite a challenge in her new position. As our ongoing News-Tribune series by Bobbie Carpenter attests, the Fort Ashby Industrial Park remains largely empty a decade after its purchase. As with the region as a whole, economic development throughout Mineral County is lagging, and the national economic picture certainly doesn’t help.
Still, we are confident that Ridder’s hiring will mark a turning point not only for the Mineral County Economic Development Authority, but for Mineral County itself.