West Virginia University at Parkersburg is one of 43 institutions of higher education in the world being honored for having a positive impact on its regional economy.

WVU Parkersburg’s involvement with the Polymer Alliance Zone has been cited for inclusion in the "Benchmark Practices for Local Economies," an international project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s "Fund for Rural America."

Purpose of the project was to identify exemplary programs and practices at non-metropolitan community colleges that have a positive impact on regional economies.

The "best practices" project attracted more than 120 nominations from throughout the world. A panel of expert community college administrators, policymakers and rural development researchers reviewed the nominations, narrowing the field to 62 in the first round and 43 in the final process. Managed by Regional Technology Strategies, the project received nominations from community and technical colleges around the globe, including Denmark, Austria, South Africa, Iceland and New Zealand.

The three-year project also includes dissemination of its findings. Planned are an interactive web site, a volume of the winning case studies, articles and conference presentations highlighting the 43 colleges and their exemplary programs and practices.

"The primary goal of this project is to share successful models for supporting rural economies with other colleges and regions facing similar circumstances," WVU Parkersburg President Erik Bitterbaum noted.

"We are pleased that our collaboration with the Polymer Alliance Zone has been recognized and we welcome the opportunity to share our efforts."

The Polymer Alliance Zone is a public/private partnership among the plastics industry, higher education and government to encourage new investment and employment in plastics-based businesses in Jackson, Mason and Wood counties. As a PAZ partner, WVU Parkersburg is providing services and programs to support the Alliance’s industrial partners and their customers through training and research.

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For additional information, contact:
Connie Dziagwa
Director, Communications and Public Relations
WVU Parkersburg
(304-424-8203)