WV Chamber’s Steve Roberts earns lifetime achievement award at 16th Who’s Who Luncheon (The State Journal)

June 24, 2019

CHARLESTON — The 16th annual Who’s Who in West Virginia Business Luncheon paid tribute to leaders in a variety of industries and professions who are committed to improving the Mountain State for everyone.

Business can be a broad topic, but it isn’t just about making money, and the selection of the honorees reflected that by including innovators in health care, education, transportation and those who literally build up their communities. The honorees, along with their friends, family and colleagues, were presented with their awards during a celebratory luncheon in Charleston on June 14.

The 2019 Who’s Who winners:

David and Richard Biafore, co-owners of Biafora Holdings Inc.;

Todd Clossin, CEO of WesBanco;

Jerome Gilbert, president of Marshall University;

Joe Letnaunchyn, president and CEO of the West Virginia Hospital Association;

Diana Lewis Jackson, president and CEO of Action Facilities Management;

John McDaniel, director of engineering and technical services for Arch Coal;

Joe Miller, president of Old Colony Realty;

David Ramsey, president of Charleston Area Medical Center;

Rick Rock, director of North Central West Virginia Airport;

Mike Ross, founder of Mike Ross Inc.;

Austin Wallace, president, chairman and CEO of West Virginia Mutual Insurance Co.;

Bob Welty, Fifth Third Bank president.

The top honor, the Lorenelle White Lifetime Achievement Award, is named in recognition of The State Journal’s former owner, Lorenelle White, and is presented to individuals who have shown a love for West Virginia and its people through their business and community involvement.

That honor went to West Virginia Chamber of Commerce President and Huntington native Steve Roberts, who began his career with the Boys Club of Huntington and has dedicated himself to making the state more prosperous via economic growth.

“I’m really honored and humbled to be chosen,” he said. “I’m especially moved because I knew Lorenelle White. I knew her passion for West Virginia, and I knew what a hard-working and respected person Lorenelle was, and I’m just deeply honored and humbled.”

Roberts noted that with West Virginia’s 156th anniversary approaching, another date is coming up: The 56th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy coming to celebrate the state’s centennial. When faced with a torrential downpour, Kennedy remarked that the sun doesn’t always shine in West Virginia, but the people do. Roberts encouraged his fellow honorees to keep shining.

“Now is the time to drive even harder,” Roberts said. “We see job creation; we see tax revenue going up; we see our GDP growth being among the most competitive in the country, and that just tells us this is the time to push for more. It’s time we begin believing in ourselves.”

Roberts said the future looks bright, with the energy sector and the West Virginia High Tech Consortium adding so much value to the state that investors and employers will find it hard to ignore.

Brian Jarvis, president of NCWV Media, thanked the award winners for their attendance, as some had to travel for hours to be there.

“This is one of the best events we do every year,” Jarvis said. “It’s so important to honor them because they’ve done the things that made West Virginia great, really improved the standard of living for so many people. These are the people we need to show off and show that they’re here in this state and they’re staying and that they want to be here to continue to do the great things they’re doing. We want to encourage that every way we can.”

Awards aside, many of the honorees said they continue to move forward on major improvement projects.

Lewis Jackson said she’s looking at taking her facilities management company internationally. It already has a footprint across much of the United States, but she now wants to branch out. However, she still plans to keep Action Facilities Management based in the Mountain State so the revenue can keep flowing back home.

“I am just thrilled to be part of all the prestigious people who have won this,” she said in regard to the Who’s Who in West Virginia Business awards. “I was looking at the back of the magazine to see prior recipients, and it’s an honor to be named among them.”

Rock said the experience was humbling. Like Lewis Jackson, he said it was an honor to join the list of so many prominent West Virginians who were recognized in the past.

“We all love West Virginia, and I think it shows,” Rock said.

He plans to keep moving forward with efforts to attract more aerospace industry jobs to NCWV Airport, Rock said, noting that much of the work, such as that of Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences, has relevance across the country and around the globe, not just in the state.

Business Editor Conor Griffith can be reached by at 304-395-3168 or by email at [email protected]