daily304 - Episode 12.28.2023

Welcome to the daily304 – your window into Wonderful, Almost Heaven, West Virginia.  

Today is Thursday, Dec. 28 

Bright Futures Learning Services wins WV Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year.  The state’s recent investment in state parks is paying off in visitor spending. And Marshall’s Bill Noe Flight School gets a new plane for Christmas…on today’s daily304.

#1 – From WV SBDC – When Jill Scarbro-McLaury was in the first grade, an observant teacher changed her life. The teacher recognized Jill had a learning disability. Now Jill makes it her business to change the lives of other children with learning disabilities.

In 2007, she founded Bright Futures Learning Services to provide behavioral treatment for children with autism. In 2019, Jill was chosen the SBA’s West Virginia Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year.

In 2012, Bright Futures opened a clinic in a strip mall in Hurricane and eventually spread to three spaces in three buildings. The expanded clinic enabled Bright Futures to enhance its services to include medical as well as educational services.

Eventually, Bright Futures expanded to a house in Winfield. The clinic now contains 14 individual therapy rooms, a group room, a custom-built playground and two sensory-based play rooms with colorful drawings on the walls, fiber optics, black lights, trampolines and motor toys.

SBDC Business Coach Doug Spaulding is working with Bright Futures in strategic areas that will help the business grow. He also nominated Bright Futures for the SBA’s West Virginia Woman-Owned Small Business Award, to be presented May 8 in Fairmont during the national 2019 Small Business Week.

Doug’s nomination described Bright Futures as a company that has more than “11 years of staying power and has grown from a one-woman show to a million-dollar company with 25 employees who work tirelessly to improve the lives of vulnerable children. Bright Futures also serves as a training facility for young professionals and has helped West Virginia’s population of certified ABA providers grow from 17 in 2011 to 65.”

Read more:

https://wvsbdc.com/business-changing-lives-bright-futures-provides-aba-therapy-autistic-children/

#2 – From WV NEWS – West Virginia has been putting a lot of money into its State Park system and it’s been paying off. Officials have put around $87.1 million into various big projects.

Most of the money went to necessary repairs and building upgrades, but some of it went to fun projects. One of them was building a top-notch mountain bike trail at Cacapon Resort State Park. They also built new cabins in a few parks and created more places for people to camp.

The investment has paid off. In 2023, visitors spent about $483 million in the state parks. About $279 million of that was from people who don't live in the state. The numbers showed that for every dollar of tax money given to the State Parks, $18.54 was made. That's money that might not have been there without the park system.

Plan a visit or overnight stay to see some of those improvements for yourself. Visit www.wvstateparks.com to learn more and book accommodations.

Read more:

https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/west-virginias-state-park-investments-pay-off-87-1-million-creates-infrastructure-improvements-and-generates/article_0a5e8ae0-9dbc-11ee-b5b1-ef2f03d023be.html

#3 – From SOURCE – Students and staff gathered recently at the Marshall University’s Bill Noe Flight School near West Virginia International Yeager Airport to welcome in a brand new Cirrus SR20, and a water cannon salute from the 130th Airlift Wing Fire Department greeted it upon its landing. 

This now makes the school’s seventh aircraft to join its fleet.

Flight Instructor and Safety Director Brendan Laughton said the plane comes with the best safety features in the industry for the students to learn aviation with.

“It’s great, it’s a great way to serve the people of West Virginia who want to learn to fly, it’s a technically advanced airplane, it has the best avionics that money can buy in it, and it’s the best way to stay safe here in the mountains, as well,” he said.

Read more:

https://wvmetronews.com/2023/12/14/marshall-universitys-bill-noe-flight-school-adds-new-plane-to-its-fleet/

Find these stories and more at wv.gov/daily304.

The daily304 curated news and information is brought to you by the West Virginia Department of Commerce: Sharing the wealth, beauty and opportunity in West Virginia with the world. Follow the daily304 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @daily304. Or find us online at wv.gov and just click the daily304 logo. 

That’s all for now. Take care. Be safe. Get outside and enjoy all the opportunity West Virginia has to offer.