The Clarksburg Exponent Telegram

By Nora Edinger, REGIONAL EDITOR

BRIDGEPORT  Friday, September 6, 2002

Just hours before their $11.5 million bid for state development funds went public, officials from the city of Bridgeport and Genesis Partners revealed a $15 million high-tech office building and a $10 million Hilton Garden Inn Hotel are tied to their proposal’s success.

"We’re trying to make the pie bigger, not fight for what pie there is," said Jenny McVaney of Genesis Partners.

Genesis Partners and Bridgeport have asked the state Economic Development Grant Committee to fund road and infrastructure installation at the Charles Pointe planned community. McVaney said the Hilton and the 100,000-square-foot office building would be located in the area covered by those installations, which is northeast of the Interstate 79/W.Va. 279 intersection.

The proposal indicates a potential 1,900 jobs are involved and that every $1 of state funding would be matched with $3 of private investments.

Bridgeport officials – and others ranging from former West Virginia University football coach Don Nehlen to Harrison County Commissioner Roger Diaz – spoke on behalf of the proposal Thursday night. They attended a regional meeting in Morgantown that featured more than 20 of the nearly 70 projects vying for $200 million in gambling-generated funds.

Also tied to the proposal, according to McVaney, is the contribution of commercial land to the city of Bridgeport. The city could use the land to leverage the financing of a conference/convention center it plans to build at Charles Pointe, she said.

McVaney also said 1,000 housing units are planned for this first phase of Charles Pointe development but are not specifically tied to the grant proposal.