Perfect Pitch Prize Brings $6 Million Investment to Smithers, WV
Smithers West Virginia is a scenic small city of 950 residents embraced between a bend in the Kanawha River and the Appalachian Mountains. Like many towns in the region, Smithers began as a coal camp for mining employees and once hosted coal processing facilities on the shores of its river, a bustling thoroughfare for barges carrying fuel to market.
Today, Smithers coal economy is long past. The rural city has seen a declining population and economy since the 1970s. The latest blow came when the nearby West Virginia Tech university closed in 2018, significantly reducing employment and education opportunities for the community. The closure took $15 million a year from the local economy. Residents’ and remaining businesses’ hope for economic viability wavered, and leadership struggled to keep basic city services funded.
Smithers needs a pivot to revitalize the town and uplift its residents, 27.4% of whom live below the poverty line. Town leaders knew they could leverage Smithers’ abundant natural beauty. From New River Gorge National Park (the nation’s newest National Park) to State Parks, kayaking, hiking, and leaf peeping, opportunities for outdoor adventures surround the City. Enter brownfield reuse! Inspired by Smithers’ natural beauty, the city sees a future in recreation and tourism on a site from its coal mining past.
Longacre Bottom was one an economic engine for Smithers. The 26-acre site hosted coal-camp houses, mining staging, and coke ovens – all the components necessary to mine and process coal. Long idled, this brownfield site is envisioned to be an economic engine once again. Located between Highway 60 and the river, it is the ideal location to develop lodging, a welcome center for visitors, and amenities for the community. In 2023 Mayor Anne Cavalier presented the vision for Longacre Bottom at National Brownfield Perfect Pitch competition in Detroit Michigan. The Judges awarded the City $20,000 in pro-bono consulting from Kansas State University and West Virginia University’s technical assistance programs.
Since the Perfect Pitch, Smithers has secured more than $6 million in investment from Federal and State funding, corporate pledges and philanthropic gifts. “Smaller communities have fewer opportunities to make their case,” says Mayor Cavalier, “Our consultant has helped us refine our ideas, understand our path forward, and sharpen our pitch to other funding agencies, allowing us to garner actual awards.” The City received funding to purchase the property, improve the rail crossing from the highway to the site, add sewer and electric on the property in preparation for development, and to begin a lodging feasibility study. A regional grocery store and a solar generation company are both interested in investment, which will increase community resiliency and health.
The future for Longacre Bottom and Smithers is looking bright. “You need to have a realistic plan and understand where you want to go or else people will not buy in with what you are trying to do. The Perfect Pitch gave us that,” says Mayor Cavalier, “I used to have to chase people down to listen to our story, but now people are contacting us!”
Perfect Pitch is back at the 2025 National Brownfield Training Conference! August 5-8
This year, everyone selected leaves a winner! From market analysis and reuse planning to community engagement strategy and pro forma guidance, these consulting packages are designed to help finalists pivot their brownfield projects toward real results.
1st Place: $50,000 in pro bono consulting support
2nd Place: $25,000 in pro bono consulting support
3rd Place: $10,000 in pro bono consulting support
Fill out the short initial application by Friday June 27th for a chance to win:
